THE TYRANNY OF THE STATIONARY GOLF BALL

How a picture can defeat overthinking – golf’s original sin

For as long as golf has been played, golfers have been traumatised by something that appears to make the game easier: the ball we hit stays still. There it sits, a small bleached globe of inertia, waiting patiently for you to tell it what to do. And we have all the time in the world to consider that very question. What fertile grounds for tension, doubt and second-guessing! It’s no stretch to suggest golf’s original sin – overthinking – can be traced back to this one, infernal freedom.

Indeed, that static golf ball has us gazing enviously at the likes of Ben Stokes and Emma Raducanu. With a ball fizzing in their direction, their task is created for them. With little or no time to think, their motion becomes instinctive, reactionary. How nice it would be if the act of hitting a golf ball could feel as spontaneous…

Well, here’s the thing: it can. It’s just that the vast majority of club golfers do not allow it to be.

To understand how hitting a stationary ball can take the form of a reaction, let’s examine how we set ourselves up to hit the shot… not physically but mentally, in the instructions we are giving ourselves for the swing to come.

In our everyday lives, we are, of course, conditioned to give and receive instructions using words – either spoken or written. We get an email from our bosses, telling us what they want to happen, and we gather our staff to pass the information on. Words have become our default method for communication; so inevitably, when we stand to the golf ball, that’s what we use. We tell ourselves: “shift and rotate”, or “slow back” or “shallow attack”.

There’s just one problem: the part of our brain that understands and processes verbal instruction is nowhere near the part that deals with movement and motor skills. It’s as if the two parts of your brain are speaking different languages. As a result, that verbal command cannot be converted into physical movement. Many of you will have experienced the unpleasant sensation of giving yourself a verbal, physical instruction, only to realise your body has no idea of how to carry it out. That’s the dysfunction at work. No wonder so many golfers begin to feel stuck or confused over the ball.

Happily, though, there is a simple answer. While the brain’s motor-skill circuitry cannot interpret words, it is brilliant at responding to pictures. In other words, once you give yourself an image of your intention – as opposed to a phrase or sentence describing it – you are giving the job of executing the task to the appropriate part of your brain. The movement patterns we need to perform any motor skill – balance, co-ordination, sequencing, natural power flow

– can now be released and utilised… and the game starts to feel a good deal easier.

But moreover, a picture gives your brain something to react to. Let’s go back to Ben and Emma; with the ball incoming at a certain pace, height and angle, and an understood target in the form of an outfield or a court, a picture forms naturally and the brain and body react to it. OK, we golfers may have to work a little harder at creating our picture; but once we have it, we can react in exactly the same way.

For golfers conditioned to instructing themselves with words, using images can take a little getting used to. Here are two avenues to explore:

Picture the shot shape.

Here we have the first rule of visualisation: see the shot. You can focus on the ball’s start line, how high it flies, what shape it will have through the air. In marking out the flight of the ball in vivid colours, the ball-tracing technology we see on TV can be a valuable asset in helping us imagine and create this visualisation. Give your shot the tracer treatment.

Picture the movement that would create the shot.

Your opportunities are almost limitless here. It could be pushing down on scales to generate more ground reaction force, or of your sand wedge’s sole as a spoon, its curved bulge impacting the sand. Just make sure the picture backs up the shot shape you’ve pictured, and that you resist any temptation to clarify it with words.

Whether you choose either or both of those options, just make sure you adopt this one, guiding principle: When you give yourself a clear picture, you are giving your brain and body something they can react to. Do this and the tyranny of the stationary ball need never bother you again.

YOUR COACH

KARL MORRIS

Karl has worked with multiple Major winners. Check out his Brainbooster Podcasts for free on itunes www.themindfactor.com