Pave

Ok, let's see. Describe the best shot you ever hit.

Now we're getting somewhere. You're opening paragraph says it all, you are so focussed on your swing mechanics, that you overlook the actual task, playing golf- hitting the ball to a specific goal. You just said it- sit on the couch and think about your swing. The swing is not the task. Maybe you should try sitting on your couch and visualise nice little soft draws, starting out 5 yds right of the pin, reaching the apex of the ballflight, turning over gracefully before descending with the slightest hint of right to left, landing 5ft right of the flag, taking a small bounce forward, before spinning back and to the left and into the hole. saevel25, you're right, everybody visualises. Is it that hard a concept to grasp that the better the golfer, the better the visualisation?

saevel25, what exactly are you calling BS? The story? Look it up, I'm sure you can find it. Or the fact I stated? surely you wouldn't be ignorant enough to call a fact BS. Or maybe you're just trying to illustrate how courteous and polite a guy with nearly 6000 posts and FORUM LEADER under his name can be. Keep up the good work!

Lol, maybe you guys need to rethink a few things. Let me share a story with you: Several weeks ago there was a documentary on TV called "Todd Sampson-Rewire my Brain", well worth the watch. In one of the episodes Todd went to the Australian Institute of Sport and underwent an experiment to show the power of the brain. The experiment relates niceley to golf as the results were measured before and after with a shot map or grouping. Todd was asked which hand he throws with- Right, the scientists then asked Todd to throw ten darts at a dartboard with his LEFT hand. The shots were all over the place as you would expect, most missed the dartboard completely. The scientists then told Todd to go away for a week AND for 5 mins a day THINK or IMAGINE throwing the dart at the dartboard, that's all, don't actually throw ANY darts at all, just IMAGINE it. So Todd comes back in the next week, he's done no actual throwing of a dart left-handed, lines up to the dartboard and hits the dartboard with all ten darts!! The science behind this is that the brain can create neural pathways for physical tasks simply by imagining doing the task. So is golf 90% mental or is it all about muscle memory and mechanics, there's faults in both statements, both can be interpreted different ways and will continue to be.

Oh, is that a fact? So Erik, because it's your forum, you speak on behalf of everyone?

I agree. The ridiculous argument that transpired is rather due to some peoples definition of mental. Mental is of the mind and whilst we can have a philosophical debate about whether the brain and the mind are one and the same, I'm sure most people at least know their mind is in their brain, not up their khyber. Personally, I've always taken the saying," golf is 90% mental", to refer to the grey matter between your ears and simply because the brain controls most of your body and stores information for correct muscle sequencing etc , I have no problem with the statement. Why certain individuals are so threatened by this saying is beyond me, it is certainly not any excuse to post in the manner they have.

The point being the brain controls the body, therefore, there is some merit to the saying,"golf is 90% mental".

So what do you think you're doing when you give a lesson? Are you teaching the student's body or creating neural pathways in the brain?

Golf instruction would be better if you could remove the students brain and replace it with a tour pros brain!!!!! My current experiments have not gone well, holding the tour pro down whilst removing his brain is the tricky part.

Keep your head behind the ball at impact.

Spot on! Really like where this is going.

There is another factor to consider, for a right-hander, long left, short right, I'm sure you get what I mean.

As I said, I've never seen him!! (in person) That's quite a remarkable achievement. Let's move the bar to 30, anyone know of a scratch golfer who didn't take up the game until after 30?

And, I bet, they all started playing golf as kids! I've never seen a scratch golfer who started playing golf after the age of 20.

The quicker a novice or new golfer hits the ball in the air, the more likely they are to stick with it. Nobody is going to stick with a game when they are missing the ball and dribbling it along the ground. When I learn't golf, I was forced to tee up on all shots, not by choice, it was the clubs policy that ALL social players tee up ( a social player is anyone who is not a member or not playing in a competition, 90% of golf played by members is played in a competition or tournament in Australia). I really think if this rule was more widely adopted, the new golfer would experience the "light bulb" moment (a sweet shot in the air) far quicker and would be more likely to stick with the game.

Well said Spitfisher. This is not the first time there has been a attempt to reverse the decline. A few years ago The Masters called for ideas and then there was Golf 2.0. I own a 9 Hole Par 3 golf course (all about 130yds), the first thing I did when I started it up was to use oversize cups (8 inch), the golf course is low maintenance, popular with the younger demographic and I take pride that I have introduced so many non-golfers to the game. I have seen many golfers start playing at my course, learn for 12 mths, then move onto and join an 18 hole full size course. Four years ago, I became part of a golf "think tank". The guys involved have varying levels of golfing skill, we've looked at the entire structure of the golf industry. Whilst we are excited to have developed a totally new concept/ product that will be coming to market in a few months, there have been some other eye opening discoveries. My advice to anyone in the golf industry.......learn Mandarin! If China's participation rate approached that of it's neighbours (Japan and Korea) they would have to build in excess of 50,000 golf courses (currently there are approximately 35,000 golf course in the World).

I used video combined with software to teach between 1995 and 2008 when I stopped teaching and moved into another area of golf. Video is only a tool and can be really successful for the learning process AND can be an absolute waste of time for some. Videoing your swing is great if you want to have a technically better swing- but it won't necessarily make you a better golfer, which can only be judged by your scores. Improving your technique is only a small part of the equation. In your case I would suggest having a playing lesson, let the pro see what you do on the course.

Some interesting stuff here guys. The only thing in common with DJ and Furyk is a large bank balance AND they both have a very good idea where they're going to hit the ball! festivus- checked out your website- very impressive.

A couple of trivia questions: What was the size of the golf cup/hole in the very first British Open? Where did participants tee off from in the very first British Open?

Pic of me at Turnberry.

Great book. The brilliant images really help to get the message across. Highly recommend it.

Not bad.......you know who the best guys are at taking the mickey out of pros swings.....the other pros. BTW Loved the Tiger impression.

Great thread! I used to refer to body awareness as spatial awareness ie where the brain perceives the body is in space. The classic example of this is the guy that over swings, you show him his over swing on vid and ask him to do a shorter backswing (or what he imagines is a shorter backswing), it's almost guaranteed that his shorter backswing video will be vastly different from what he "felt" he did. Here's another thought: You've heard the saying golf is 90% mental. What's the other 10%?

You're quite right regarding practice versus playing- no pressure in practice, hence the different results. It's quite amazing though what a tiny bit of pressure will do to a golfer, if there is a technique fault (like your chipping/short game) it will eventually break.The best drill I've seen work is the one where another shaft is jammed into the end of another club (8,9,P or S) making the club at least 2 ft longer, take your grip, let the extension run up beside your left side (for RH) and go and hit some chips. You will quickly realise how the body and arms should work together through the ball, as soon as you flick at it you'll get a nice little whack in the ribs!! This drill is for chipping only.

Most people have a dominant eye, by standing right behind the ball, it would be fair to assume the ball is not in your field of vision and therefore not a reference point, move back 5 yds and the ball is now in your field of view, it becomes a reference point and if your right eye is dominant, the brain will interpret the flag/target is left of where you originally thought. The fact that you noticed this would tend to indicate that your preshot visualisation is not as pin-point focussed as it could be.