What would a good shot look like?
Back in the last century I was fortunate to practice Tai Chi with Dr. Wen Zee, who was one of the most renowned masters in the world. So while living in Poland a few years back it pleased me to find a golf coach who used Tai Chi while searching the internet; her name is Jayne Storey. I always remembered Jayne’s connection to Tai Chi, and was absolutely pleased to recently listen to her interview on a podcast with another one of my favorites from the UK, Dr. Karl Morris. The interview was very insightful covering topics like breathing, meditation, and motion control. An interesting story was of Hogan hitting balls into the sea, and practicing his motion in a slow Tai Chi style tempo. He was directing his attention to a different place; getting into the flow or committed focus. I felt like I needed a method for golf students to practice directing attention to a different place. One without all the interference and distraction that can cause anxiety of wanting to hit every shot perfect.
My idea was a simple black dot displayed on the screen of the training bay. Still running in the background was the Foresight GC Quad to record each shots path (in this case a 150 yard green guarded by bunkers on both sides). The black dot screen also has reminders listed like What would a good shot look like? How will it feel? and some focus points like: finish, center of face, and balance. The most recent student to practice this is one of my high-end players. The plan was to play five shots through the dot and visualize them landing on the green. I asked him to let the ball go through the dot, feel what was happening in real-time, and after all five we’ll check the results. He pushed the first shot, and admitted he tried to hit the dot (instead of letting it go through)
. Then he smiled; the picture on the right is worth a thousand words. Many thanks to Jayne and Karl for being the catalyst for this fun way to practice!
Listen to the interview with Jayne and Karl here http://chi-performance.com/the-brain-booster-interview/
Ed, thanks so much for posting this and for your email which I have also received. I like the idea of your students hitting through the back dot. I am sure it will encourage greater acceleration and hitting through the ball. Just like in Tai Chi Kung Fu training we aim to hit through the target! Your students might like also to exhale upon impact, as studies have shown when martial artists breathe-out when throwing a punch or kick, at least 30% more energy is delivered with the strike. These small ideas can made big changes to the game. Well done. Best regards, Jayne Storey http://www.chi-performance.com
Thank you for your wisdom, Jayne. I appreciate all your inputs.