Here’s the latest installment in my series ‘13 Principles of Effortless Motion’; it’s all about releasing natural movement skills so you can perform better in competitive sports.
The 13 Principles of Effortless Motion are based on my findings over decades of teaching ancient principles and practices to athletes from a variety of individual sports.
It was a ‘labour of love’ for many years but now hundreds of athletes across 18 different countries are applying these principles to raise their enjoyment and performance levels when they’re in competition.
This ancient wisdom forms two pillars (i) breathing awareness from the Buddhist tradition and (ii) the biomechanics of relaxed power from Tai Chi, the world’s most popular martial art – both of which are now verified by the latest findings of sports-science and neuroscience as being beneficial for athletes looking to strengthen the mind-body connection and deliver fluid, natural movement under pressure.
Principle No. 10 states the following – All motion is rooted in the feet, moves through the core and is expressed in the upper-body.
This principle has been articulated more precisely in the classic Tai Chi phrase; “Rooted in the feet, Springing from the legs, Guided by the waist, and Expressed in the hands”. This is how the body moves when it’s unhindered by either the analytical mind or the worry brain. If you’ve read my best-selling book Breathe GOLF you’ll know how to train your breathing to reduce both mental interference AND anxiety. Now we’re going to take a look at how focusing on correct biomechanics can aid these abilities even further so you can perform at your best in competition.
Principle No. 10 is NOT about learning new moves or spending years training to become a Tai Chi master but is about understanding how the body naturally works and using these principles to aid your ability to RELEASE NATURAL MOVEMENT. After all, in essence most sports are simply natural movements that we take for granted – things like running, jumping, throwing or catching a ball or hitting a ball with a club, racket or cue to name but a few – but taken to the highest competitive level against other athletes when the mind races and the nerves kick-in this natural movement has a tendency to fall apart. Why is this so? Simply because we get in the way!
When movement is natural it can withstand pressure but so often in sport (perhaps most notably in golf) natural movement is blocked by the emphasis on technical know-how and psychology which CANNOT translate into effective movement. In all my years of coaching I have NEVER heard a golfer whether a committed amateur or tour professional claim that the perfect shot was anything other than instinctive and effortless and this is as true in other sports as it is in golf.
I recently heard a well-known mind coach say that golfers don’t need to focus too hard on technique because “the body can self-organise around an idea” but is this really true? Yes and no. The body CAN self-organise around an idea but only if the idea isn’t too dominant/technical (otherwise the analytical mind gets involved) AND if the breath is deep and slow (thus bypassing the worry brain and activating the relaxation response).
Moreover, if the lower-body is correctly balanced and the upper-body is sufficiently relaxed so that upper and lower body can be connected via by the activation of the waist (specifically the chi-core or t’an tien) then the body will move naturally and efficiently and these fundamental biomechanical principles will lock-down and anchor your technique.
This is the best way to ensure that COMPLEX MOVEMENT SKILLS like the golf swing, tennis serve, ski slalom etc. can be released in the most natural and effortless way, using minimum effort for maximum power and exquisite precision.
You can read the rest of the series 13 Principles of Effortless Motion on my blog
TRY THIS:
Moving from the feet, through the waist and into the hands (Kinetic chain)
Practise each of these three exercises in the following order, ideally after your Standing Meditation (if you’d like a free training report on this please get in touch):
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width wide. Slowly start to turn from your waist (not your hips), and notice how the arms move as they follow the impetus generated by the motion of the waist, which is itself initiated by a slight downward pressure into each of your feet in turn – i.e. as you turn your waist to the left you will feel a pressure in the bottom of your left foot and the same in the right foot when you turn your waist to the right. Imagine a small ball inside the navel and in front of the spine. This is your body’s centre of gravity and centrifugal force (t’an tien) which propels the turning of your arms so long as your upper-body stays relaxed.
- Separate your feet more and transfer your weight from one foot to the other, keeping the hips fairly neutral but allowing the waist (t’an tien) to turn freely, triggering the arms to move so that they circle around your waist. The order of movement is feet, waist, and then your hands so begin with the weight shift, then spiral through the t’an tien and finally allow the arms to respond. If you do this correctly, you’ll feel a slight ‘lag’ or delay as the upper-body receives instruction from the lower-body to move and does so sequentially rather than at the same time.
- With your feet slightly wider (as above) you can now turn fully from one side to the other, lifting your rear heel off the floor and turning the hips through 90 degrees, along with the waist. This last drill emulates the finish position in the golf swing, but also uses the same biomechanics for releasing effortless power in your tennis backhand etc. and will help you stay balanced after making the shot.
These drills form part of my audio programme Deep Practice for Effortless Golf – you can save 50% on the regular price by entering the coupon code chi50 at checkout! Listen to the free Introduction (scroll to the bottom of the page and press the white PLAY button in the green box!)
Happy training!
P.S. To find out more about my new and exclusive 12 Week Mind-Body Performance Challenge and other options for 1-2-1 training and Skype coaching programmes please send me a message or ring UK mobile +44 7986 447 250
