Category: Game Improvement

Training the Body for the Full swing

walkHave you ever observed an infant learning to walk?  Once it has sufficient leg strength, the child learns to stand with both feet under its shoulders.   After a number of falls, the child quickly learns to balance with one foot forward.  After more falls, the child is able to stand with the other foot forward.  And in no time it is off and running.  Here’s the neat thing; the child basically learns to walk, once it has successfully developed the memory for three basic positions, feet under shoulders, one foot forward, and the other foot forward.  As the child gains experience the movements to move from one position to the next become more skilled, more precise.  And the child develops this life-long ability without thinking.  At this stage in their development children are not capable of sophisticated thinking to analyze what’s necessary to walk and consciously control its movements to become a skilled walker.

This is critically important for developing a fundamentally sound swing quickly and easily and being able to repeat it consistently time and again.  Like walking, the golf swing comprises three basic positions, address, backswing, and finish.  Develop the physical memory for these positions and with time and practice, the movements to move from one position to the next become more proficient just as in learning to walk.

Now the golf swing is a little more complex than walking, we have motor programs for other physical skills, like eating and drinking that can deter our efforts to develop a fundamentally sound swing, and we have the ability to think which could also interfere with the natural development of movement skills  so it is necessary to adapt the process.  In my teaching I advocate five positions, address, backswing, down-swing, follow-through, and finish.  Other professionals advocate additional positions including impact.  I find that more positions are unnecessary and purposely do not teach the impact position.  If you successfully learn to move through these five positions all others will also be precise and focusing on impact can create more difficulties, like a condition known as “being ball bound”.  I will explain this a little more fully in the next installment.

The process I use to help students develop s sound swing is as follows.  I model the correct position so they can see what it looks like, and then help them create each position, and show them what they look like in each position in a mirror so they can simulate these same positions when they can practice on their own.  I then provide drills so that they can successfully learn to move from one position to the next.  There are drills for moving from address to backswing, backswing to down-swing, address (or impact) to follow-through and the full swing (address to backswing to finish).

When they learn each movement, students place themselves in the starting position (ex., address) and then use the drill to move to the ending position (ex., backswing) and hold.  If they don’t move to the correct position I adjust their body until they are properly positioned and have them hold the adjusted position for ten seconds to their body has the time to physically memorize the correct position.   We continue this process until the student moves correctly from the starting position to the ending position.  Within a short time the student has physically memorized each of the five major positions and has learned to move successfully from address to backswing to finish.  If they practice each of the positions and movement drills for thirty minutes daily for a month they will be able to produce a fundamentally sound swing on command.  How long have you tried to develop a fundamentally sound swing?  Have you succeeded in your efforts?  Can you produce it on command?

Now, just because you have a fundamentally sound swing doesn’t mean that you can hit balls long and straight.  There is still one more skill that must be developed to make that happen.  It’s referred to as visual separation or in golf jargon, a “target orientation.”  We will discuss that is and how to learn it quickly and easily next time.  The information and drills described here have been excerpted from my upcoming book, “Training the Eyes, Mind, and Body for Golf.”

This is part two in the series on Training the Eyes, Mind, and Body for Golf.

photo credit: Cristiano Betta

Training the Eyes, Mind, and Body for Golf

driving rangeVisit any driving range and you will see golfers engaged in a ritual as old as the game itself – hitting balls in hopes of discovering that secret move that will improve their game forever. At best, this method is inefficient. At worst, it’s an exercise in futility as very golfers will ever learn to play the game beyond a mediocre level and those that do will find their game infected by slumps, inconsistency, and surprised poor play. Just look at USGA statistics. Over the last 60 years golfers, as a whole have not improved their average score one iota. And for the non-professional very little, if any improvement is achieved after the first three years. This is not to demean those golfers who have drastically improved their performance over the years, but even professionals don’t score any better, as a whole, than their counterparts did six decades ago. This is tragic, given the fact that science and technology have helped today’s golfers hit the ball farther and straighter than any time in history. We also have video analysis equipment that can pinpoint exactly where in the swing golfers make mistakes. So what’s the problem?

I am firmly convinced that our lack of success is due to how we learn and practice – hitting balls on the range. I am also convinced that given the right practice strategies any golfer can play dramatically better or more consistent than they do now. Consider that to develop a fundamentally sound swing we must train our body to move in a very precise manner that is different than anything else we do in life, train our eyes to remain focused on a single spot, and learn how to focus our mind appropriately for the skill being executed. And we try to learn to do this all at the same time. Let’s examine why it’s difficult to simultaneously train our physical, visual, and attentional systems for golf. Let’s start with the physical.

Physically, there is nothing we do in life that prepares us to hit a golf ball long and straight. On a daily basis, we eat, drink, drive (if we old enough), write, use a computer, and so on. All of these actions use the muscles in our hands and forearms. In a fundamentally sound swing the large muscles in the torso and legs move the club and our hands and forearms just respond to that movement. Without the proper training techniques your hands and forearms will naturally take over and violate sound swing principles. Even if we know which muscles to move and how they are supposed to move but have the wrong focus we will still end up using our hands and arms to control the club. In addition to being unnatural, the golf swing is complex and over almost before it starts. There simply is not enough time during the swing to deliberately control the arms, legs, hips, back, and head with the precision necessary for success. The swing takes about 2 seconds and describing the swing takes at least a minute. Try to fit a minute’s worth of concentration into two seconds. Can’t be done!

Visually, we’re told to keep our eyes on the ball. That is not completely accurate. We don’t want the eyes to move during the swing until slightly past impact at which time they naturally move forward with the head into a good finished position. Trying to keep your eyes on the ball does not create a good swing and could actually destroy a fundamentally sound swing. Why do the eyes move and how do we keep them from moving without “trying” to keep them on the ball? We have to develop a new visual skill, which I refer to as visual separation. Professionals refer to it as a target orientation. You can’t develop a target orientation at the same time you develop the physical requirements of a fundamentally sound swing – at least not very quickly.

Finally, each skill (full swing, short putt, long putt, chip, pitch, and chip) require a different mental focus. That is, the focus on short putts is different from long putts, which is different from the full swing, etc. Because the practice range is far different than the golf course in that the range doesn’t have trees, bushes, sand bunkers, stress, rivers, ponds, OB once we develop sound fundamentals we have to find ways to practice that simulate the golf course. If not we will be distracted by these things when we play, lose our target orientation and hit the ball who knows where. These things can also create fear and concern which also distracts us from the proper focus and leads to our demise.

Over the next several articles I will provide readers with information and alternative approaches that I believe are more efficient and effective in developing requisite golf skills and success on the course.

photo credit: redjar

The Pressure to Succeed (part two)

pressureToday is part two of the Pressure to Succeed series from Tony Piparo. If you missed part one you can read it here.

Here’s why it’s so important to take the appropriate actions immediately when fear, stress, and anxiety infect your performance. First, remember stress is an instinctive, unconscious, and primitive response to threat and fear that, as mentioned above, triggers the fight-or-flight reflex. This powerful reflex helped our earliest human ancestors survive their hostile environment by releasing neuro-chemicals, called hormones, into their bloodstream that helped them detect danger quickly and to respond to it swiftly, powerfully, and instinctively by activating their survival response mechanisms and switching off all internal mental and physical processes not necessary for survival. Because our nervous system has not evolved since the time of cave men and women, it reacts to all threats, fears, and uncertainty as if we were being chased by a saber tooth tigers.

The pupils in our eyes dilate to increase our peripheral vision so we can see danger better, keeping our eyes in constant motion. Unfortunately for golfers, increased peripheral vision and constant eye movement make it difficult to keep our eyes on the ball. This makes it difficult to strike the ball solidly and could be the reason that Mahan chunked his chip shot. The stress reaction also tenses muscles or makes them jittery. This interferes with the fine motor control necessary to chip well. The fight-or-flight reflex also disconnects our thought control center from our emotional control center and from our memory centers for non-survival intellectual and physical skills. Our thoughts can run a mile-a-minute, interfering with our ability to focus. We may become angry, frustrated, sad, depressed, and experience feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and rage in severe situations. Our problem solving abilities and creativity are compromised. None of these reactions are conducive to good performance in golf or any other achievement activity.

You may never be standing just off the 17th green in a Ryder Cup, knowing you have to pull off a miracle to extend the match, but you will experience similar pressure when playing golf many times because your performance is just as important to you as it was for Hunter Mahan and most times the outcome of any individual shot cannot be predicted. So here are some things that Hunter could have done and that you can do to help you perform your best, regardless of how intense the pressure to succeed.

First, close your eyes. This helps constrict your pupils, reducing the information your brain has to process. That helps you focus your eyes on the ball. While your eyes are closed take several very slow, very deep breaths. This stops the fight-or-flight reflex and also removes many of the stress hormones that create tension and jitteriness in your muscles, interferes with thought and emotional control, and memory. Your physical skills will improve, as will your ability to focus your thoughts on the task at hand, control of your emotions, and enhance your problem solving abilities and creativity needed in adverse situations. Smile. The simple act of smiling releases hormones into the body that stabilize your nervous system and counter the effects of the stress hormones already released into your body. You don’t have to feel happy to smile. You just have to do it. Smiling has the same effect whether or not you have a reason to. Finally, remind yourself about your immediate task at hand, not about the consequences of failing or succeeding, or how you have to do it. Your body already knows what it has to do. In Hunter Mahan’s case, his task was to pick out a target on the green to land the ball, focus his eyes on the ball, and swing. He couldn’t control whether or not the ball would roll into the hole. That was out of his control. He just had to let his expectations and fears go. This routine will work in any situation on or off the golf course. Just like your golf swing you have to trust it and practice it sufficiently until it works to perfection each time you need it. I hope you never have to experience the humiliation that Hunter Mahan undoubtedly experienced at the Celtic Manor Resort that early October morning with the whole world watching. Now you know what you can do to prevent it.

The Pressure to Succeed (part one)

pressure

Today’s post is part one of a two part series on The Pressure to Succeed. Dr. Tony Piparo is a Sport Psychologist and former golf professional and has worked with golfers of all ages and ability levels develop the skills necessary to play their best golf more often.  For more tips on how to improve your golf performance visit The Peak at www.peakperformanceblog.com

The 2010 Ryder’s Cup is now just a fading memory for most golfers.  Unfortunately, it’s probably still a nightmare for Hunter Mahan.  If you remember, he asked coach Corey Pavin to give him the last tee time in the singles matches on that final Monday with the US trailing the Europeans 9 ½ to 6 ½.  The US made a great comeback with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickleson playing stellar golf and winning their matches.  It finally came down to the last two matches pitting Ricky Fowler against Italian Eduardo Molinari and Hunter against Irishman Graeme McDowell.  Ricky, down four holes with four to go, played flawlessly, birdiing the last four holes to tie the match and give the US a ½ point.  Now Mahan only needed to halve McDowell to secure the victory for the US.  Unfortunately, Mahan needed to win the last two holes to accomplish the comeback miracle.  But it wasn’t to be.  Mahan hit his tee shot just short of the 3-par 17th green while McDowell’s tee shot luckily found the right rough between the green and the green-side bunker.  Had his ball trickled in the bunker, par would have been much more difficult and Mahan could have potentially won the hole with a par, setting up a final hole showdown.
With the weight of his team mates, the entire US, and his own reputation on the line because of his request to be in this position, Mahan knew he probably a miracle to have any chances of winning the hole.  With millions of people worldwide watching, Mahan stepped up to his ball and proceeded to chunk his chip. It never made the green.  And that was that.  I’m sure most Americans who watched this Monday afternoon drama sat in stunned silence.  Color commentator and former PGA professional, Johnny Miller, in a tone of despair said it perfectly, “We’ve all been there.”
Yes, we’ve all been there.  We chunked our chips, probably more times than we care to remember.  But we’re not part of the golfing elite.  We’ll never be selected to play in a Ryder cup.  How can this gifted professional golfer chip like a weekend duffer?  Had he struck the ball solidly he would have had a chance, slim I’ll grant, but a chance to chip it in none the less.  He’s probably holed thousands of chips in the past, some in do-or-die situations.  So how could this extremely gifted golfer fail so miserably to execute a simple chip?  Pressure!

You don’t have to be playing in front of thousands of on-course observers and millions more world-wide via television and the Internet to succumb to pressure.  Pressure affects all of us at some time or other even if we’re playing in our weekly foursomes for a quarter a hole or just for fun.  Golf is an achievement activity and any time an outcome in an achievement situation is important and uncertain we experience pressure to succeed; the more important and uncertain the outcome the greater the pressure.  Because we have failed in the past where the outcome is deemed important and uncertain, the pressure to succeed creates fear of failure.  Fear creates stress and stress triggers our fight-or-flight reflex.
No matter how physically skilled we may be or confident about our ability to succeed, any self-doubt, no matter how slight and fleeting creates fear, even if it goes unnoticed, and the downward cycle of stress, fight-or-flight, and the potential for failure ensues.  Do you think Hunter Mahan had any thoughts that he might not hole that chip?  I would bet that he knew his chances were slim even if he executed the shot perfectly.  Do you think that he experienced any self-doubt?  I would dare say he had plenty, even if he didn’t realize it on a conscious level.
Could he have done something about it, to at least give himself a fighting chance?  Absolutely!  Did he?  I’m not sure, but if he did, whatever he did, didn’t work.  However, most golfers are so concerned about what they have to do and worried about failure or making mistakes that they don’t recognize the signs that indicate a stress reaction.  That’s been my experience with most of the golfers I’ve worked with.  When I ask them about what they experience when they get stressed out, they say that they don’t know.  So my suspicion is that he was too busy worried about what he had to do and the miracle it would take that he forgot to take the necessary steps to reverse the stress reaction and stop the fight-or-flight reflex.

Part two will be posted on Thursday…

photo credit: eschipul

Eliminating First Tee Jitters

first teeMany golfers get to the first tee and no matter how proficient they are experience a nervousness that many times proves to be their downfall.  Sometimes they will just hit a bad drive to start their round and recover once they’ve left the tee box. Other times that first missed tee shot ruins their entire round.  The problem for any golfer, whether they miss an occasional first tee shot or it becomes a ritual of every round they play is that they are not mentally prepared.  They could also be physically unprepared, but if nervousness or jitters accompanies any bad performance, the golfer is not mentally prepared to hit the shot.  Correcting this malady is quite easy and takes very little time.  In fact, you can use your drive to the course to begin to prepare.

While in your car, start by taking one or two slow, deep breaths, focusing on both the inhale and exhale.  As you inhale, feel your abdominal area expand, followed by your chest cavity, and finally up into your throat and upper back.  This will take about 4 seconds.  Now slowly push all of the air out of your lungs.  You will notice your back and chest deflating first.  Push as much air out of your system as possible, as if you were trying to deflate a balloon.  Focusing on your breath in this manner serves two purposes.  It helps relax your body and get your mind off of daily problems and concerns.  Any sort of physical tension can ruin the fine-motor control necessary for golfing success.  When playing golf there is nothing that you can do about work home, school, or life issues.  Thinking about these things while playing only distracts you from your focus on the shot at hand.  This results in bad shots and ever-escalating scores.  Now that you are fairly relaxed and have left the rest of your life behind begin to focus on mentally preparing for your round that day.  Here’s how.

Imagine the first tee of the course you are playing that day.  If you are playing a new course imagine playing your favorite or home course.  Is it a 3-, 4-, or 5-par?  Is the tee elevated?  What does the hole look like?  Are there any hazards?  If so, where?  If you hit your average best drive how far will it fly?  How far will it roll given the conditions of the day?  Will it fly straight or curve to the left or right?  Now imagine standing 8 – 10 feet behind the ball looking down the fairway.  Imagine a distant target that is on the line you want the ball to fly.  It could be a bush, tree, yardage marker, sand bunker, or what ever.  Next, see yourself approaching the ball and assume your address position.  Once set in this position, imagine looking out to your intended target.  Keeping your mind’s eye on your target imagine bringing your eyes back to the ball.  When your eyes have settled imagine initiating your swing.  Feel a fluid, balanced, and powerful swing.  As the club hits the ball imagine it rocketing off the clubface and flying just as you would expect, landing and then coming to rest precisely where you intended.  Feel the exhilaration of success. Imagine playing every shot of every hole like this, staring with your pre-shot routine and selecting a distant target to the exhilaration you’d feel if you executed the shot perfectly.  With sufficient practice, this routine only takes about fifteen minutes.

When you arrive at the course, loosen up, go through whatever physical practice you normally engage in and then proceed to the first tee.  When you get there, take a few minutes to look down the first fairway, locating your intended target.  Now imagine yourself completing the mental rehearsal process just as you did in your car for the first tee.  You can even combine this with physically making a practice swing, imagining the ball rocketing off the clubface, and coming to rest just as you would predict.  Again, feel the exhilaration of success.  When it is your turn to tee off you will be mentally prepared for success and thus will have given yourself a much greater chance or experiencing that success.  If you feel any nervousness or fear making a bad swing or imagine the consequences of a bad swing, take a few slow deep breaths, focusing only on your breathing.  Then visually imagine a successful outcome and go and swing the way you always hoped you would.

To be consistently successful you must mentally rehearse this way over and over, not just on your drive to the course. If you spend 15 – 20 minutes a day mentally rehearsing this way it will be second nature to you in about thirty days.  If you then remember to mentally rehearse on your way to the course, your first tee jitters will be a thing of the past and you will no longer have anything to fear when you get to the first tee.

photo credit: danperry.com