By John Hibberd, Chi-Performance Accredited Coach
I’m writing this on the Eurostar to Paris, on my way to rejoining my family, having spent the last several days in the company of Jayne Storey and the Chi Performance Team.
We have spent our time together sharing our experiences of her methods in golf, sport and life, as well as learning how to coach our own clients. I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say that this collaboration has deepened our understanding of both the practice and process of performance and shown how golfers of all levels and abilities can dramatically improve their enjoyment of the game if they are willing to change their daily routine to include a 20 minute Performance Practice.
The reason we met last week was to observe Gemma Dryburgh at the AIG Women’s Open golf tournament, held this year at Walton Heath GC, England and to see her work with Jayne pay off in real-time on the course.
As if spending time with my fellow team members wasn’t enough, being in the company of a leading touring professional (Gemma’s Rolex ranking this morning is 50 and her aggregate score is much lower, having made the cut in the past five tournaments), brought our practice into a sharp focus for us all.
Everyone around Gemma knows she has been working with Jayne for the past 18 months and have seen her successes (including winning the TOTO Japan Classic last autumn and placing eighth in the Evian Championship a couple of weeks ago), so were keen to find out more about the work they have been doing together.
As we stood beside the 18th green at the end of Gemma’s round on the Saturday afternoon, several of her entourage asked me what we were looking for in Gemma as she prepared to take her next shot. I explained that we would be able to see how Gemma settled into her set up using four fundamental actions as outlined in Jayne’s book Connected Golf; Bridging the Gap Between Practice and Performance.
We were also able to observe the physical manifestation of a relaxed-but-ready posture when her attention was in her breathing and the centre of the body, as opposed to the thinking mind with all the technical thoughts and ideas. Gemma was wearing a dark top and white skirt that day and I asked them to watch the line where the two items of clothing met. Even from, maybe 50 yards away, they immediately spotted exactly what I had described as Gemma putted. Simply put, this was a loosening of the chest and shoulders, a firmness in the core and a loading of the muscles at the tops of the legs called the inguinal crease or “kwa” in Tai Chi.
Some of Gemma’s followers explained that they didn’t “get” the concept of meditation and that it really wasn’t for them, but the more they watched Gemma the more they felt they’d like to know more.
As Gemma went off to sign autographs (she really is one of the most generous of players), having made a very impressive level par, playing in strong gusty conditions without dropping a single shot, I suggested they take a few minutes to learn more about her daily Performance Practice.
Standing together in a form of Chi Kung which is the basis of many Chinese martial arts, and the backbone of Chi Performance they looked into the distance and placed all their attention on their t’an tien or centre of gravity, two inches below the navel. Standing quietly, obeying gravity and becoming fully supported by the ground, they were able to observe and let go of tensions in the body as the breath came and went by itself. After a few breaths they turned to me, clearly very pleased and even more interested: they were very conscious that their mind was more peaceful and they felt calm but strong, something Gemma herself has mentioned to Jayne several times. After a few moments discussion, we did the practice again and this time they felt their shoulders relaxing and even the gap between their back and backpack widening as they relaxed and allowed the weight of the upper body to be held by the legs and feet.
We saw each other again for the final round on Sunday, and as we followed Gemma, I learned that some of her friends and colleagues had thought about our conversation and had even chatted about it with their friends. The circle of influence is widening, slowly but surely.
Back to Eurostar. With my heightened awareness, I “people watched” this morning in the departure lounge. Some of my fellow travellers were a picture of constant motion: checking passports, tickets, and phones. Others just seemed to be calmer, to have more time, to be more present. In the past I was in the former group, but now, through my practice, am with the latter.
This led me to consider a few questions:
On the golf course, who is more likely to have a more successful and fulfilling round; one who is distracted and searching for a swing or one who keeps their attention within?
Who would you rather have as your partner? Someone who switches from a “thinking box” to a “performing box” or uses another mental game technique, or someone who manages their own inner state which includes bringing mind and body together?
Through my own daily Performance Practice, honed over the last few years, I have learned to enjoy being quieter and more present over the ball, trusting that what Jayne calls ‘Team Mind-Body’ will work it out for me, without me having to resort to over thinking and trying too hard to “get it right”. When my attention is in the moment, breathing into my centre while preparing for the shot, something quite miraculous happens and I feel myself once again in the flow-state.
It is an approach that is available to anyone who has the wherewithal to commit to a 20 minute daily routine, and, as my example from Gemma’s support group shows, once you dip your toe in the water, you immediately feel the benefit.
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