Is it You or the Way You Train?

“Success comes to those who first conquer the powers of their mind.”

Dr. Tony Piparo

?If you are like most golfers, you believe that to improve your skills and lower your scores you must first develop your physical skills.? Yes, you must develop the requisite physical skills before you can play well.? Unfortunately, most golfers are so focused on what to learn they never consider how to learn.

?We attempt to learn without regard for how we concentrate.? We assume – often unconsciously – that the way we concentrate when completing other tasks works just as well in golf.? So, we attempt to learn the full swing by hitting ball after ball on the range.? That is, we try to learn the swing in its entirety and judge our performance, good or bad before we developed any real skill.? I refer to this as the hit-and-hope method.

?Golfers hit one ball and if it's not what they want, they tinker with their swing a little, then hit another ball, hoping for a better outcome.? That rarely happens but we continue this ritual every time we practice.? Some develop a little skill this way, others become gifted, while most golfers never even develop a mediocre level of play.

That's because the golf swing is unnatural, complex, and over almost before it starts.? Golfers continue to try and think their way through the swing even though it’s impossible.? Too many things to think about in only 2 ? seconds. Their conclusion is that they are the problem.? What if I told you, it was the method, not you.

?If the method was not the problem the greatest golfers in the world would never hit a bad shot after they developed their skill.? There is no such thing as “muscle memory.”? What we have is a motor program where the brain and the body communicate to produce memory.? Memory is housed in the brain and the body just responds to signals from the brain.? The muscles remember nothing.? If they did, it wouldn't matter whether you were at the range or on the course.? And it wouldn't matter how much pressure was being exerted by the demand to excel.? The body would perform the same way every time.

?Literally, they would perform in The Zone every time they played.? If you had a better method, you would make far fewer mistakes, play as well as you practice, and never choke under pressure.? I know those are strong statements.? But consider these facts.? We don't perform any better than our predecessors did 60-70 years ago.? The United States Golf Association records show that today's average 18-hole score for men is no better than the average score was in the 1950's and '60's.? It's about 97-105.? Women fair no better.? Their average score is just a little bit higher than men.

?Look at the scoring record for any PGA or LPGA tournament.? Are the scores going down?? No! there pretty much the same as time gone by.? Is there a pro alive today whose scoring average is much better than the pros who played decades ago? If you average the scores for all pros for every tournament you will see they are about the same as pros from eras gone by.?

?This is mind boggling.? Today's equipment allows golfers to hit the ball farther and straighter than in any time in history.? The science of Bio-mechanics describes precisely sound swing fundamentals for every body type.? Technological advances in error-detection equipment arm instructors with the ability to pinpoint exactly where a golfer's swing differs from the ideal.? New training aids help golfers develop sound swing fundamentals.? And yet we're no better today than we were in the mid-1900's.

?This doesn't minimize the great strides made by individuals to hone their game, but you would think that as a group, we could score better than we do.? No, it's not you, it's the way you attempt to learn.? So how do you learn that not only produces spot on mechanics but the correct attentional focus and the ability to weather the pressure to excel, or at least play at a level that matches your expectations?

?Unfortunately, that's a long discussion.? But the secret to lower scores and learning to play in The Zone at will lies in your ability to properly direct your attention to the task at hand – easily, automatically, and without distraction.? Control what goes on inside your head and not only will you improve your concentration, confidence, and composure, you will also perform better than you have in the past.

? So, is it you or the way you train?

?If you want insight into a better way to learn and practice message me here or email me at [email protected].

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