Are You Trying To Fail At Golf?
Improvements in your golf can only come about from hard work. Really? Firstly, you have to know what you’re going to focus all that hard work on and, secondly, whether your effort is applied in a way that will bring about the best results. What do you do when you say to yourself that 'you're going to try harder' or 'focus your efforts on ....insert your weakness here'?
What do you then do differently? From my own experience and from working with many golfers, when we ‘try harder’ we invariably add a bit more of what we’re already doing to the task in hand. This usually involves furrowing our brows, fixing our eyes and jaw, holding our breath, and tightening up a little for good measure. Test it out next time, I bet you’ll do at least one of them!
Do they help or are they going to make things worse? The stereotypical ‘trying harder’ face is not good for promoting the poise necessary for golf. Although these actions may convince us that we really are trying harder, we are in reality reducing our chances of a free, relaxed shot. The more you try, the more your muscles will contract, reducing sensitivity and ultimately the control you have over your club. Take a few shots and see how little effort it takes, and let the club’s momentum do the work for you. Also, notice how much more you become aware of when you remove even a small amount of unnecessary tension. The same can apply to concentration. At a critical part of a game you will obviously feel the need to concentrate on what you need to do. But how do you concentrate? Do you put on your 'trying harder' face? Check whether you feel the need to furrow your brow, tighten your jaw or hold your breath. All these will have an effect on your coordination and lead to excessive use of your muscles. |
You don’t actually need to do anything physical to concentrate, but many of us do!
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