Practice and getting out of your own way

[nevets88]

One of these pieces came from a tweet which lead to the others. The gist of them outline why you should get out of your own way and barely skims the how part. Hope this helps someone out, more likely if you're the analytical type. There's not really much related to golf specifically here in terms of how to practice, but there's a whole lot of justification for turning off your executive function brain parts and being a stupid monkey.

Quote:

For example: Arthur Ashe said, "There is a syndrome in sports called 'paralysis by analysis'." One helpful way to avoid being too 'analytical' is to tag that mindset as being too "up brain" or cerebral. If you are over-thinking things, your very large prefrontal cortex stored in the up brain is getting in the way and blocking the more intuitive 'down brain' from working it's non-thinking and completely fluid muscle memory magic.

The up brain is so big and so powerful that it is hard to turn it down sometimes. When you choke in sport, or become over-excited, it is because your up brain is overpowering your down brain. Remember this visual and literally shift your consciousness away from the prefrontal cortex by relaxing the backs of your eyes, taking some deep breathes and 'letting go.'

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201110/no-1-reason-practice-makes-perfect

Quote:

While Hambrick’s conclusion that practice alone may not make perfect can be discouraging he said that there is a "silver lining" to the research. "If people are given an accurate assessment of their abilities and the likelihood of achieving certain goals given those abilities," he said, "they may gravitate toward domains in which they have a realistic chance of becoming an expert through deliberate practice."

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201305/can-practice-alone-create-mastery

Quote:

What we didn't know until now is that single neurons in our brain manage to dynamically track the difference between what the brain expects to take in from the senses and the information it is actually receiving during motor learning. Our research shows that this calculated difference (i.e., "sensory prediction error" signal) is used to rapidly change the patterns and connections between neurons in order to learn new motor skills.

In order to learn a new motor skill, the researchers found that the cerebellum makes an estimate of the expected sensory inflow that it should get from your sensory system. Then, the cerebellum automatically uses this prediction to compute the difference between what you intended to do and what you actually did. This cerebellar process is key to creating flow and achieving what I call "superfluidity" both on and off the court.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201508/how-does-your-cerebellum-counteract-paralysis-analysis

Quote:

In The Athlete’s Way I quote William James who said, “Action Seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not.” This is the foundation of cognitive behavioral therapy but also peak performance created by balancing implicit and explicit function of the cerebellum and cerebrum respectively. I go on to write, “The memory system of your lower brain is nonintellectual and learns through repetition, practice and emotional responses. In addition to being the seat of all athletic performance, I believe the cerebellum is also the seat of our implicit unconscious memories and habits.” (p. 281)

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201308/why-does-overthinking-cause-athletes-choke

Quote:

Participants were shown a series of kaleidoscopic images for about a minute, then had a one-minute break before being given memory tests containing two different kaleidoscopic images. They were then asked to distinguish images they had seen previously from the new ones. "After they gave us that answer, we asked whether they remembered a lot of rich details, whether they had a vague impression, or whether they were blindly guessing," explains Lee. "And the participants only did better when they said they were guessing." - See more at: http://www.news.ucsb.edu/2013/013593/overthinking-can-be-detrimental-human-performance#sthash.LFwFw57r.dpuf

http://www.news.ucsb.edu/2013/013593/overthinking-can-be-detrimental-human-performance

[DrvFrShow]

It's like getting too technical about stuff can get in your way of learning. I'm hitting the ball better when I'm not looking at everyone else's swing and just focusing on what I need to do to get  the ball my target.