Too much thinking.

bobmac

bobmac

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As members of this forum, we're all keen golfers and want to learn as much as we can about
how to play
where to play
what to play with
etc
etc.
At what point does all of this investigation become detrimental to your game?

"Bill, do you fancy 9 holes tonight after work?"
"No thanks, I'm going home to read about pureing my shafts/ reading the golfing machine/getting my loft and lies checked" etc etc

"Bill, are you going to hit that ball or not?"
"I'm just thinking about my alignment/ball position/grip/wrist hinge/posture/transition/angle of attack/clubface angle/in to out swing/length of followthrough/balanced finish. Go." :)

I use the following excercise to show how too much thought confuses the golfer.

I give the player a golf ball and ask him/her to throw it into my hand from about 10ft away. Most do it well without a moment's thought.
Then I ask them to try again and this time to think about the length of armswing, the wrist hinge and when to let go of the ball.
The result, a miss every time.

I believe that some people would benefit from just going out and playing with 1 or 2 clear swing thoughts that actually work rather than the 6 thoughts that mates have told you that sometimes work.

I know we are all different and some like to fiddle with their swing (no names) (doh) but to the rest, forget all the technical stuff and just get out there and play.
 
couldnt agree more....i got down to 8 from 12 by playing half a dozen great rounds thinking of nothing more than hittin it were im aiming and getting up and down where ever possible. soon as i got to single figures i started having lessons thinking i had to become a better ball striker to justify the one number after my name. result? disaster really. i have taken aspects from the lessons i had that have improved certain aspects of my game but my main strength was always short game which has declined. i've now "levelled out" to 10.2 over a couple of tough years, mentally as much as anything including the odd spectacular paddy thrown on the golf course. All i work on now is trying to enjoy it for what it is.
 
hear what you say, and pretty much agree with you .

Ive noticed however that if i relax and dont worry too much - the Friday afternoon round with mates, then i find i dont focus, my mind wanders as i appreciate teh scenery and camaradierie, and i dont commit mentally. And then dont play great, but i dont worry about it either.

In comps and matches it's different; i tend not to think too much about biomechanics apart from a couple of very simple swing thoughts, and instead focus on course strategy and management. That's usually when i play my best
 
I want to know what people are thinking the instant they realise that new pure shafted custom fitted iron has just let them down a bagful as they miss a 40 yard wide green with a 9 iron. :D
 
hear what you say, and pretty much agree with you .

Ive noticed however that if i relax and dont worry too much - the Friday afternoon round with mates, then i find i dont focus, my mind wanders as i appreciate teh scenery and camaradierie, and i dont commit mentally. And then dont play great, but i dont worry about it either.

In comps and matches it's different; i tend not to think too much about biomechanics apart from a couple of very simple swing thoughts, and instead focus on course strategy and management. That's usually when i play my best
Click to expand...

Huge difference between focussing and being bogged down with technical thoughts though Sev.
 
I love trawling the internet for info on all things golf and like to look at the swing in a technical way.

Having said that, as soon as I'm on the course I try to focus on just one or two things when I'm swinging. At the moment it's keeping my shoulders lined up with the rest of me at address, and keeping flex in my right knee in the backswing.
I daresay some people would say that's 2 too many.

If I want to mess about trying different things it's the range.

I think the problems start when you're standing over the ball and can't remember what you should be thinking about because there's too many thoughts.
 
Strangely I seem to play better after a heavy night out the day before. Perhaps I am so busy concentrating on my hangover that I forget about all swing thoughts and just hit the ball.
 
They do say that for the majority of us it is not the mechanics of the swing that is at fault it is the mind set. Often wondered if these mind guru's are any good , might try one one day to see if he can find my brain as sometimes I wonder if there is one in this cavity
 
well there is obviously me at the opposite end of the scale.

just started out, play off 20 never mind double figures.

and personally I don’t have info golfing info on swing mechanics or whatever to cluttering my thinking process with.

so I can very easily and clearly concentrate and appreciate just how poor I am. lucky guy eh?

Phil
 
G3et your swing on tape matey, its amazing how much help you can get on here. BTB its also shocking, no matter how good you think your swing is, you get brought down to earth fairly quickly when you see it yourself. :D
 
Twitter Tip. Confidence is the oil that lets your swing work freely. Fear is the emergency brake. Instead of trying to NOT do, try to DO!
(pete kostis)

sounds pretty simple but this makes sense to me!! going to try it on saturday!!
 
Funny you should post this Bob. I spent the majority of my first golfing year worrying about kit, technique etc and it got me nowhere on the course. Now I am trying to improve my swing off it and just play on it and play as much as possible.

Being able to hit a golf ball and being able to play golf are very different things - shame its taken me a year to realise that. I just didn't get the whole play with whatever swing you've brought on the day and get the ball in the hole. Too busy trying to fix things on course - stupid man!!!! I've learnt my lesson the hard way. :o

Hoping that the new mindset will lead to better scores but only time will tell
 
G3et your swing on tape matey, its amazing how much help you can get on here. BTB its also shocking, no matter how good you think your swing is, you get brought down to earth fairly quickly when you see it yourself. :D
Click to expand...
#

Bad, my swing is, the results speak for themselves. Shank hook or slice, I am partial to all.

a fella in work plays some good golf, fairly low capper, and he mentioned taping my swing and trying iron out a few fundamental errors I’ll undoubtedly have. so ill give that a go tomorrow.

one thing is i had one lesson previous that concentrated on grip and weight movement and this fella is saying that I need to move very little on the back swing(stack and tilt) keep my weight left, which is totally opposite to what I was taught by the pro(Wesley ramsey) in my one lesson thus far.

he has forever stopping my backswing and reminding me that my weight shouldn’t still be on my left leg.

but yeah I try and get all my arms and legs in the video and fire it up here.

Phil
 
I use the following excercise to show how too much thought confuses the golfer.

I give the player a golf ball and ask him/her to throw it into my hand from about 10ft away. Most do it well without a moment's thought.

Then I ask them to try again and this time to think about the length of armswing, the wrist hinge and when to let go of the ball.
The result, a miss every time.
Click to expand...

Isn't that something we've had to learn at an early age? Give a ball to a 3 year old and ask them to throw it and it sometimes doesn't even leave their hand. When my 9yr old does it we need to keep him away from windows. If we all had clubs in our hands from the age of 3 we might not have to think about it quite so much.

Hitting a ball 200yds with a stick inclined at a 45° isn't exactly a natural movement, I doubt you'd find many decent golfers who'd tell you "I don't know anything about the golf swing or equipment, I just hit it and it goes where I want".
 
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