Jack had played golf for over 20 years and was suffering from lower back pain – especially after 18 holes. I went with him to the driving range and saw he was putting far too much effort into his swing. He just couldn’t relax during his swing and would regularly pull the ball off the tee. We looked at his preparation and managed to free up his neck and shoulders, get him a good stance and move freely during his practice swing. However, as soon as the ball was brought into the equation he would tense up during his back swing and try to hit the ball hard. He just could not accept that he didn’t need to swing hard to hit the ball 300 yards.

Later, sitting in the bar, he told me he was demolishing an old brick building in his garden and enjoyed swing the sledgehammer to knock down the walls. I asked him to try an experiment and not try to hit the wall hard but let the weight of the hammerhead (around 7 pounds) to do the work.

He rang me later to say he’d tried the experiment and was amazed that with less effort he could dislodge more bricks – he’d figured out that anything he added to the swing of the hammer actually slowed it down. So away from the golf course he realised all he needed to do was to get the momentum going and then let the hammer/club do the work. After this experience he was able to swing more freely the next session at the driving range and saw the ball go slightly further with less effort!

Also see: A Simple Golf Swing Tip
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I'm afraid I let the male population down (again) this morning. All I had to do was to get the honey from the cupboard to put on my porridge - but could I see it? Just as I was about to blame the kids for putting it back in the wrong place, my wife appeared behind me, reached in and picked it straight up. It was right in front of my eyes and I hadn't seen it!

In a pathetic attempt to defend myself, I mentioned an article I'd read in The New Scientist a while back about how this situation can happen. The problem was the squeezy honey pot was upside down! (so someone had put it back in the wrong place...) I had opened that cupboard with the expectation of seeing the pot in exactly the way it usually is. My brain was looking for that specific image and because there was no match I couldn't see it.

But... this doesn't just apply to vision, the same process occurs for movement. Before you go into your stance, take your grip or prepare to swing, you'll have a concept of exactly how it's going to feel and set yourself up to play your shot in that way. If something puts you off, like a sudden gust of wind, a loud noise or a fly landing on your arm, you'll stop and go back and start putting everything familiar back in place again.

Unfortunately, if there is something in your routine that isn't technically correct, you'll not 'see' it because you're happy that you're feeling familiar sensations you associate with your shot. You may be tightening your lower back, your grip on the club or stiffening your ankles (none of which will help) but because you're setting yourself up to play in your usual way you won't notice.

I coach many golfers, runners, tennis players and people from all sports that don't 'see' that many of their habitual actions are not helping their performance, and may even lead to injury. The answer? To get into the right state of mind so you can expand your awareness to notice exactly what you're doing and how you can improve your preparation. I have many practical tips on how this can be done in my book 'Golf Sense'.

Back at breakfast, I was told to stop being a smart a*** , sit down and eat my porridge :0)

Also see:-
When Right Is Wrong: Overcoming Problems With Your Golf Technique   
And The Most Vital Golf Skill Is ....?
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Right from an early age we're led to believe that to achieve anything we have to work hard. Obviously we can't just sit back, do nothing, and then expect to become great golfers but I see too many players who try too hard in the belief that more is good. The concept goes that 'to get better I need to be doing more or adding something extra to progress' . However, I often see improvements when players take something out of their game. In their attempts to improve they've added layer upon layer of small technical changes to their swing or putting technique and have invariably complicated the whole matter. If they have a technical fault they've just pasted another tweak over the top of it until the house of cards is in danger of collapsing when one too many is added. Then suddenly there is a crisis of confidence as they feel its all gone wrong.

So why not ask yourself this question - is it something I'm already doing that's limiting my ability? And if so, stop doing it and see what happens.

Read more at What Makes A Great Golfer
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