My recent coaching and research has driven me to question what is the most important thing a player can do on the course, why is it that the range swing is a distant memory on the first tee?
Sometime ago I chatted with Karl Morris asking what single piece of advise he would give the club the club golfer to improve their experience/performance. Karl suggested, without hesitation, that the player should have “acceptance” and that by accepting the result of a shot would have a significant influence on the management of state.
I can’t argue that acceptance is a huge factor in determining state and flow. Once the ball has left the club face there is nothing that can be done to influence the result. Allowing your state to be effected by a bad or unfair result is never helpful. It’s very damaging, however, I think there could be another aspect of the process that has a greater bearing on performance.
ATTENTION.
What do I mean by that? Surely we are attentive when we swing! Well no.
We simply are not and without full attention, throughout the whole process, we are not present and are playing in either the past, future, or both. Without full attention we allow our mind processes a huge amount of information. Unless we are in a state of deep meditation we are”somewhere”, our minds are busy with something. If we accept that premise then I question whether anything outside of “our attention in the swing” can be helpful.
So two fundamentals, two essentials, that though seemingly simple are very difficult to effect, even distinguish.
- Awareness without trying. Being aware is not the same as trying and we all get overtaken by the “try”. Find the difference between the two. Become aware of what you feel during a effortless swing and one where flow is lost. Know where you lost your attention in the swing. Experiencing those differences without any judgement is a great skill to develop.
- Attention on something. So, you are going to be aware of your entire swing, your turn, stability, tempo etc but you need to send the ball to your target and to this end, without trying or manipulation, have your attention on delivering the club face to the ball square to your target.
Having your attention on the club face at impact whilst being fully aware of your swing can get you “into”the process. It rids the mind of distraction and builds a foundation for solid hit.
if you want to find out more just contact me. The improvement in performance using this type of coaching can be rapid, unbelievably quick as evidenced by those who, having embraced this would testify. Handicap reduction of 7 shots in 4 months, from total beginner to winning three club competitions and significant handicap reduction and complete beginner to winner of an open golf competition on a course never played before.
All this and a genuine enjoyment of the game, the experience.
This is golf coaching in the Isle of Man.