Thought from the lesson tee
This week's thought from the lesson tee is about what we focus on when playing. Our thoughts on the course are not to be underestimated and as many of you who have taken lessons with me will know, our movements or swings are as psychological as they are technical. Thoughts are either useful or useless.
Over the years I have visited many great coaches and spent time with some great players and their coaches to learn more about what goes into performing and moving/ swinging better. Some will be known names and many others not so much but whether it was a Bryson DeChambeau approach to the game or a more John Daly "grip it and rip it" the one thing that always came across is that over the ball their focus was remarkably simple.
One infamous teacher of the game said to me when I asked, "what do you think about over the ball" replied, "the back of the ball!" As if it was the most obvious thing to do! The penny did not really drop for me at the time but when I think of how "useful" that very thought is, it begins to make sense. We all want to hit the back of the ball with the centre of the clubface but how often and for how long have we practised doing exactly that without our thoughts drifting to what our right hip is doing or our elbow etc.
I'm sure that resonates with many of you! When you are over that ball, you are in the ring, your time is now and what you are thinking about will make or break what happens next! |