Golfers and dieters have something in common. There’s lots of information out there for both, but sometimes it seems conflicting. One diet says you can eat bacon and lose weight, while another says you cannot. Both diets work, but the two methods don’t work together. Golfers have a myriad of examples with conflicting information, interpretation or perception as it relates to their golf swing.
The amount of information available about the golf swing is mind blowing. Golfers love to watch, read and try golf tips in hopes of finding a magic solution to improve their swing and their game. In 90 per cent of the private lessons I give, I hear all kinds of jargon relating to the golf swing. It is very important for me to hear what is going on in the student’s head so that I can determine if it is applicable to their swing or not. I have helped many golfers by “un-teaching” them and freeing their mind of hazardous thoughts.
If you are having a problem with your chipping and you watch 10 different instructional videos and try all 10 versions, it might help you. More likely, it will leave you with variations of each instructor going through your head, impeding your result. Too much information can hurt the most important fundamental of the golf swing during a game: FOCUS.
So how do we get focus? Focus can be gained from confidence. Confidence comes from trusting the skills you have worked on. The more you work on a skill properly, the more likely you will have confidence and gain the ability to focus.
Even when we have worked on our game and our skills, we can still lose focus. Focus is the ability to concentrate on the objective and in golf this means: striking a ball toward a target. Focus is a skill in itself. We have to play the game to experience this focus. We need to turn off the noise inside our head that is telling us to focus on our left arm, right wrist or whatever body part we think will make us hit the ball better.
There is so much golf information available to us it is hard not to search for ‘the answer.’ As adults, we think if we have more knowledge, it will improve our golf game. However, too much or misplaced knowledge can often be destructive to your focus. The best way to improve your golf game is by making a commitment to learning to be focused on your objective for every shot. Start this by getting rid of all ‘the stuff’ between your ears.
When I am playing well, I don’t think about my body parts. I just stand up and hit it at the target! Anonymous Jr. Golf Champion
