When Right Is Wrong: Overcoming Problems With Your Golf Technique
If you've ever struggled to overcome a technical problem with your game, you will have come up against the dark, hidden force influencing your game, otherwise known as habit.
To understand the power of this harmless sounding aspect of your game we'll look at the case of a semi-pro called Tom as he struggles with a problem that’s affecting his swing. Tom has started to hook the ball off the tee, whereas previously the ball went straight down the fairway more often than not. Once he started to compete at a more senior level stress became a factor, resulting in a small but unperceivable amount of tension in his neck and shoulders.
Gradually this tension became part of his technique because it felt right. So now he will unconsciously prepare for his shot by tightening the neck and shoulders in anticipation of the swing. He won’t start to play until everything feels in place. It’s a bit like revving your car’s engine before pulling away from the lights.
The first indication Tom has of the problem is the obvious outcome of the ball landing in the rough and not the feeling of tension, because this is now an automatic habit and therefore ignored. Tom knows something is wrong and will try to alter his swing. But his attempts to correct the problem start too far down the chain. He’s focusing on the preparation and execution of the act – and not on how he prepares to prepare, that is, to stiffen his neck and shoulders slightly. This feeling is his template or foundation for the technique. He won’t be aware of the tension because it’s there before he’s conscious that he’s getting ready to play. However, Tom’s attempts to correct the problem only complicate matters further. The harder he concentrates on getting it right, the more he tightens his neck and shoulders – because his feeling of what is right demands this. Other changes he makes to his swing will take him further away from his previously natural swing, because they are now built on top of the suspect foundation. So the more he tries to be right, the more he will rely on his familiar but unreliable habit of getting set for the shot. His confidence takes a nosedive because he can no longer trust his judgment or his ability to make adjustments. |
In his own mind he’s doing the right thing, yet if he’s oblivious to these actions in his technique, he can’t change them. Things get worse when he seeks the help of a coach who sees Tom raising his shoulders and instructs him not to do it. Now his confidence in his ability is further dented as he’s told not to do something that feels right. When he tries to carry out what he’s been told to do, it will feel wrong and he’ll start to believe he doesn’t know anything about golf.
So how can Tom break his dependency on trusting his habits and trying to do the right thing all the time? He has to relearn a skill he had as a two-year old – one that unfortunately he’s spent most of his life trying hard to lose.
To find out how Tom managed to overcome his bad habits using skills developed outside of golf you'll have to read my book :0) For details see Golf Sense. More golf articles..... |
