Swing thoughts as Words in Your Mind? Bad idea.

[CarlSpackler]

I try to work most things into my routine so that I don't have to think about it. Ball pos with my driver was one thing mentioned in my Evolvr, so I changed the way I step up to the ball. I have to remember to do that, so I guess it's a thought, but it's quickly becoming a habit. Functionally though, I'm thinking of keeping my spine angle from shifting or leaning towards the target in transition. I don't want to think "Keep your head still" because that can build rigidity and tension into my swing, but I'm "feeling" my torso and arms rotating around a fixed spine angle. The main thing I want to be thinking about is my target, but there will always be some thought based on what I'm currently working on. Perhaps when my swing is perfected, I won't have a swing thought to worry about.

[Phil McGleno]

You find you need ot be in the moment when youre shooting 91-Congratulations. Get back to us when youve played decent golf. [quote name="chasm" url="/t/75079/swing-thoughts-bad-idea#post_1001821"]LOL.  I was serious, though. I find I need to be "in the moment" and that raising thoughts to a conscious level is simply a distraction. And just for the sake of clarity, I'm now talking about golf. [/quote] Truth is some golfers need a swing thought, some can go either way, and some dont like them. Golfers with 18 hdcaps can give advice but should prob'ly not try to make it sound like theyve uncovered some secret all should follow.

[chasm]

You find you need ot be in the moment when youre shooting 91-Congratulations. Get back to us when youve played decent golf.

Truth is some golfers need a swing thought, some can go either way, and some dont like them. Golfers with 18 hdcaps can give advice but should prob'ly not try to make it sound like theyve uncovered some secret all should follow.

LOL, I'm not in possession of any secret, as must be obvious. And I'm certainly not suggesting "all should follow". We're just making conversation here, after all. But I doubt if I'm alone, as someone learning (relearning) the game, in finding that it's easy to end up with a cluttered mind in which intrusive thoughts actually impede their progress.

I've noticed the same in other sports, too - some of which I was better at. Think a lot during practice and concentrate on what you need to do to improve, then when competing, get your mind out of the way and perform.

[Ernest Jones]

LOL, I'm not in possession of any secret, as must be obvious. And I'm certainly not suggesting "all should follow". We're just making conversation here, after all. But I doubt if I'm alone, as someone learning (relearning) the game, in finding that it's easy to end up with a cluttered mind in which intrusive thoughts actually impede their progress.  I've noticed the same in other sports, too - some of which I was better at. Think a lot during practice and concentrate on what you need to do to improve, then when competing, get your mind out of the way and perform.

While I don't disagree with the importance of having a clear mind, "reaction" sports are very different than golf and usually make poor comparisons.

[iacas]

While I don't disagree with the importance of having a clear mind, "reaction" sports are very different than golf and usually make poor comparisons.

I agree with that.

[chasm]

While I don't disagree with the importance of having a clear mind, "reaction" sports are very different than golf and usually make poor comparisons.

Yes, you have a point there. There's not much time for thinking when someone's hitting a ball at you at >100mph. And of course I'm thinking between shots, at set-up etc. It's just when actually In motion I find it helpful to turn the thoughts off.

Anyway, time will tell. If I don't make much progress in the next few months, no doubt I'll be changing my opinion.

[MS256]

The worse I'm playing the more "swing thoughts" I have...But then the worse I'm playing the more "swing thoughts" I need.

I don't necessarily want them but if things are going badly there isn't much choice.

If I was a better player I'm pretty sure I wouldn't think about much of anything except where I wanted to ball to end up and how I wanted it to get there.

[Dave2512]

I have started writing the one thought I need to have on my left hand. More of a reminder to not let anything else creep in. Typically it is just something I want to be aware of taking a practice swing and then I am ready.

[Moppy]

Typically it is just something I want to be aware of taking a practice swing and then I am ready.

I like that. Maybe I will try that next time on the course. I am still hitting it fat when I don't shift my weight so my swing thought is always "turn your right foot in time." That is something that should be automatic without thinking about it, but I am not there yet.

[mvmac]

Does reminding yourself to "not think" count as a swing thought?

[iacas]

Does reminding yourself to "not think" count as a swing thought?

I think so.

D'oh!

[CarlSpackler]

Does reminding yourself to "not think" count as a swing thought?

So I have to think about not thinking? What if I forget? Is this why Tiger put the tape on his fingers... so that he could remember to forget?

[chasm]

So I have to think about not thinking? What if I forget? Is this why Tiger put the tape on his fingers... so that he could remember to forget?

Ha. You're on to somerhing here. My advantage, being old, is that forgetting comes naturally. So I don't have to remember to forget, my head just empties itself without effort.

[The Recreational Golfer]

Swing thoughts, as instructions from the mind to the body while you're swinging = death.

Swing feelings, as in, swing so it feels like this = gold

[chasm]

Swing thoughts, as instructions from the mind to the body while you're swinging = death. Swing feelings, as in, swing so it feels like this = gold

Bingo. That's exactly what I was trying, much less successfully, to say.

[iacas]

Bingo. That's exactly what I was trying, much less successfully, to say.

Help me to understand the point you're trying to make: what's the difference?

Say someone's "whatever" is "slooooow" during the backswing. Is that a "thought" or a "feel"? What if their "whatever" is "lay the shaft down in transition"? Is that a "thought" or a "feel"? It's not like the words "slow" or "lay the shaft down in transition" actually occur as actual thoughts during the swing.

So you don't like swing thoughts, except you do when they're "feels," which they almost always are?

[chasm]

Help me to understand the point you're trying to make: what's the difference? Say someone's "whatever" is "slooooow" during the backswing. Is that a "thought" or a "feel"? What if their "whatever" is "lay the shaft down in transition"? Is that a "thought" or a "feel"? It's not like the words "slow" or "lay the shaft down in transition" actually occur as actual thoughts during the swing. So you don't like swing thoughts, except you do when they're "feels," which they almost always are?

OK, I'll try once more, because it may be that we're using different words to express similar concepts. When I hear people talking about "swing thoughts" I think of what Recreational Golfer has just described- an attempt to use the conscious mind to direct the body's actions during the swing. When I try to do that, by thinking "keep the head still" or "slow back" or "lead with the hips" or whatever, that's death. I'll inevitably mishit. When I do all that thinking during setup, and then get my conscious mind out of the way and just replicate the feel of a proper swing, I have a much better chance of hitting a good shot. It's wordless, and it seems to be about just repeating the feelings I've been working on - that's what I meant earlier by a conditioned reflex. If my "sloooow" during the backswing actually appears in my head as a word, I'll screw up. If it manifests itself as my just getting into the rightt rhythm without thinking, I probably won't. Don't know how else to express it. And I'm happy to accept that I may simply be odd.

[iacas]

If my "sloooow" during the backswing actually appears in my head as a word, I'll screw up. If it manifests itself as my just getting into the rightt rhythm without thinking, I probably won't.

Then this thread isn't what I thought it was. I don't think very many people at all have swing thoughts "appear in their head as a word." I think they're almost all "feels" for people. Sometimes feels have words we associate with them, sometimes they're sounds, and sometimes we can't even put sounds to them and we can only describe them by demonstration. But I call them all "thoughts."

You feel "love" and "anger" but rarely do those "feel(ings)" appear as "words" in your mind, right?