About Me
Roy Palmer MSTAT
I'm a teacher of the world-renowned Alexander Technique, runner, martial artist and published author. I have over 25 years experience in competitive sport and have spent the last 12 studying performance enhancement.
In common with most athletes, I suffered from injuries. But even when I was fully fit, my form remained erratic. Examining my experiences at both ends of the performance spectrum highlighted one main difference: it was how I moved, or more accurately, how the movement felt. On a good day, I felt light. My body was so quick to react, I felt I was ahead of the game.
In contrast, when my form dipped, I experienced a heaviness and apparent reluctance for spontaneous action. An average performance would be somewhere in between. Perhaps it should have been obvious to me; but because I was totally preoccupied with the what, getting the right result, I was unaware of the how.
Eventually, I found an answer to my dilemma that would radically change my attitude to sport and physical activity. It came from an unexpected source. Whilst trying to resolve a long-standing back problem, I came upon the Alexander Technique. At my first lesson, the teacher pointed out something I was doing that made movement much harder than it should be. This ‘something’ resulted in using far too much effort to carry out even simple activities - and yet I wasn’t even aware I was doing it! This came as quite a shock.
I had mistakenly thought that my years of running, swimming and karate training, whilst achieving respectable results, should have taught me at least how to move efficiently. Apparently not. In my case I had spent that time learning to do things badly and the longer I trained, the better I got at doing things badly. My situation had deteriorated because the poor habits I had unknowingly developed resulted in poor movement, which in turn conditioned my muscles in a way that led to yet more inefficient movement. It was a vicious circle and as my standard of movement declined, so did my appreciation and memory of what good movement actually felt like. Whoever said ‘practice makes permanent, not necessarily perfect’ must have had me in mind!
Golf Sense
Golf Sense
For the last two years I have been working with golfers and devised a number of innovative techniques to help players simplify their game. I found that many golfers, in common with a lot of people from all sports, are unintentionally doing things that interfere with their movement. What they did on the range and course was different to what they thought they were doing!
The result of my study is a book called Golf Sense.
For more information please click here.
The result of my study is a book called Golf Sense.
For more information please click here.
Zone Mind, Zone Body
Zone Mind, Zone Body
My previous book, Zone Mind, Zone Body (Ecademy Press 2005), examines in detail the heightened state sports people refer to as The Zone. It in I examine,
It is a little controversial as I question some of today's conventional training methods, but it has been well received by many in professional sport. Here's a sample of the reviews to date.
"This book will be a very useful addition to the tool kit of any coach or performer." Greg Chappell, MBE, former Australian Test Cricket Captain.
"In this terrific book Roy Palmer succeeds where many have failed: namely to talk about 'the zone' coherently, elegantly and best of all practically." Malcom Balk, author of Master The Art of Running
"I have just finished your book and had to give you feedback. I thought it was excellent. I don’t think anyone could fail to get something out of it. It belongs on the shelf beside any book, sporting or medical/philosophical, that has the intelligence to recognise the mind-body connection in full. How much better we would all do if we applied it to the whole of our lives. It makes such perfect sense." Wendy Goodman, competitive rower and acupuncturist, UK
To order your copy of Zone Mind, Zone Body from Amazon or to find out more, please click here.
- What exactly is The Zone
- Why all sports people should strive to get into it
- What can we do to increase our chances of getting into The Zone
- What are most of us doing that keeps us out of it!
- Why a peak performance can feel effortless
It is a little controversial as I question some of today's conventional training methods, but it has been well received by many in professional sport. Here's a sample of the reviews to date.
"This book will be a very useful addition to the tool kit of any coach or performer." Greg Chappell, MBE, former Australian Test Cricket Captain.
"In this terrific book Roy Palmer succeeds where many have failed: namely to talk about 'the zone' coherently, elegantly and best of all practically." Malcom Balk, author of Master The Art of Running
"I have just finished your book and had to give you feedback. I thought it was excellent. I don’t think anyone could fail to get something out of it. It belongs on the shelf beside any book, sporting or medical/philosophical, that has the intelligence to recognise the mind-body connection in full. How much better we would all do if we applied it to the whole of our lives. It makes such perfect sense." Wendy Goodman, competitive rower and acupuncturist, UK
To order your copy of Zone Mind, Zone Body from Amazon or to find out more, please click here.
