We can often hear advices among the amateur golfers to hit a ball with shorter backswing and keeping the head still. Most of them think that they implement such action well, until they see their swing and find out that the club is far from the desired position. Despite the fact that the information on a shorter swing theory may be correct, the majority of players can’t perform that. That happens because our sense perception often doesn’t match with the actual motion.
When the player sees his swing in the camera and where in fact his club is moving, he’s able to change a specific fraction of movement. In this case video serves as a proof of what really happened during the swing as opposed to our interpretation. We can say this is the normal course of the process when learning new physical movements and not in golf only. Through practice we develop a certain picture of the movement inside of us which usually doesn’t match the picture on outside. When changing swing mechanics, also professionals need appropriate feedback on what they really do.
Obvious fact in golf is that during the swing execution the ability of movement awareness is greatly reduced because of the many subconscious and external factors. Subconscious factor can be a negative thought or fear of missing the shot. External factor can be a sudden change in the weather condition or unfavorable playmate.
Since our brain can focus only on one fragment of the movement at a certain moment, it is therefore of the utmost importance where our attention will be directed. This is where coaches come in to help determine the point of attention. The coach plays an important role in providing the appropriate feedback from which the student can learn. We have already said that our own interpretation is often distorted due to poor awareness of the movement. We can hear it a thousand times from our friends that we raised during the impact or that we bent our arms, but bare verbal information will not help . Firstly, because people need to hear information from the authority in which they trust and secondly, because we first have to see it to believe it. Only when we make it sure with our own eyes there will be no more doubt in us. This is also confirmed by the official figure that 70% of us are visual types of people which proves the fact that in order to learn effectively we need a demonstration of physical movement. Then it is much easier to distinguish between correct and incorrect stroke. If we manage to view the movement without self-criticism, we can experience the " AHA " effect and progress in a much rapid way.
Of course, the constant analysis of our swing shouldn’t become our obsession with perfection. Over-analyzing and comparing will depart us from a good repeating swing and fluid rhythm. It is sufficient to extract 1-2 major segments which are usually located in the beginning of the swing. Video analysis helps us to expose those miniature movements that are performed subconsciously before the start of the swing. Usually during the practice swing everything goes smoothly until when we have to hit the ball. Then we subconsciously activate certain muscle groups which tightens the body and impair the flow of movement. For instance, many players tighten the shoulders and jaw or start breathing shallow without realizing it. English trainer and practitioner of " Alexander Technique " Roy Palmer describes that almost every golf beginner tightens the jaw, neck and shoulders before starting the swing. His opinion is that the thought of hitting the ball is causing the tension to occur.As a solution he is proposing to be aware of such automatic tendencies and to refuse activating them- just before they want to activate on their own. We can do a different or opposite move instead (in this case we would slightly open the mouth and drop the shoulders and despite the bizarre feeling insist on it).Although the new corrections will often feel strange,viewed from the perspective of the overall- it is a promising sign.
Obvious fact in golf is that during the swing execution the ability of movement awareness is greatly reduced because of the many subconscious and external factors. Subconscious factor can be a negative thought or fear of missing the shot. External factor can be a sudden change in the weather condition or unfavorable playmate.
Since our brain can focus only on one fragment of the movement at a certain moment, it is therefore of the utmost importance where our attention will be directed. This is where coaches come in to help determine the point of attention. The coach plays an important role in providing the appropriate feedback from which the student can learn. We have already said that our own interpretation is often distorted due to poor awareness of the movement. We can hear it a thousand times from our friends that we raised during the impact or that we bent our arms, but bare verbal information will not help . Firstly, because people need to hear information from the authority in which they trust and secondly, because we first have to see it to believe it. Only when we make it sure with our own eyes there will be no more doubt in us. This is also confirmed by the official figure that 70% of us are visual types of people which proves the fact that in order to learn effectively we need a demonstration of physical movement. Then it is much easier to distinguish between correct and incorrect stroke. If we manage to view the movement without self-criticism, we can experience the " AHA " effect and progress in a much rapid way.
Of course, the constant analysis of our swing shouldn’t become our obsession with perfection. Over-analyzing and comparing will depart us from a good repeating swing and fluid rhythm. It is sufficient to extract 1-2 major segments which are usually located in the beginning of the swing. Video analysis helps us to expose those miniature movements that are performed subconsciously before the start of the swing. Usually during the practice swing everything goes smoothly until when we have to hit the ball. Then we subconsciously activate certain muscle groups which tightens the body and impair the flow of movement. For instance, many players tighten the shoulders and jaw or start breathing shallow without realizing it. English trainer and practitioner of " Alexander Technique " Roy Palmer describes that almost every golf beginner tightens the jaw, neck and shoulders before starting the swing. His opinion is that the thought of hitting the ball is causing the tension to occur.As a solution he is proposing to be aware of such automatic tendencies and to refuse activating them- just before they want to activate on their own. We can do a different or opposite move instead (in this case we would slightly open the mouth and drop the shoulders and despite the bizarre feeling insist on it).Although the new corrections will often feel strange,viewed from the perspective of the overall- it is a promising sign.