Alongside any instruction you receive from a swing professional, the lessons from Connected Golf will help give your body some direct feeling instructions to which technical skills can be anchored; these will become like the parameters within which your swing can be locked.
Without this conjoining of technical instruction with some fundamental principles of movement, the law of diminishing returns will undoubtedly hijack your game. This law states that at some point any investment of time, money and effort leads to a downwards spiral of fewer and fewer returns, so that eventually the effort put in outweighs the rewards.
To demonstrate, let’s have a look at two common scenarios that affect all players from competitive amateurs to the world elite and which can be solved by adopting this new paradigm.
Scenario 1 – “Why isn’t my range swing transferrable to the course?”
Let’s start with the most common frustration and that is, taking your range swing into the game. In practice sessions, with a coach, away from the spectators and the pressure of competition, your golf swing is fluid, sometimes even languid, with a lovely tempo and a pure, clean strike of the ball. You feel nicely balanced, there is a good release and follow-through and the various swing positions form a seamlessly connected whole.
Yet under pressure, whether that’s the Masters, your first pro-am event or simply fellow club members watching from the clubhouse, your swing no longer reflects your true abilities. Moreover, once you begin analysing and reworking your technique in the hopes of getting your groove back, it seems to disintegrate even further.
Scenario 2 – “Why is my practice swing different to my actual shot-making?”
This second most common complaint from amateur and professional golfers alike goes something like this. You stand behind the ball and take one or two practice swings as part of your pre-shot routine or preparation. You have a full backswing, a good rhythm and impact position and you follow-through well.
Moments later you address the ball, ready to take your shot, but this time you shorten your backswing, force the start of the downswing with your shoulder, raise your head, feel unbalanced and hit a really bad drive.
What is it that changes in these scenarios and how can you bridge the all-important gap between swinging easy when there’s nothing at stake and making a real hash of it when it matters most?
In Connected Golf, we’re going to look at this phenomenon very closely and find the solution. I’ve watched countless students make a lovely flowing practice swing only for their technique to fail miserably when a few moments later they step up to the ball and take the shot for real. Yes, the presence of the little white ball seems to change things but what, exactly?
Everybody in the golf industry will go over the swing, the various positions, the grip, the plane, the impact position etc. but what I’ve tried to encourage my students to do is look a bit deeper at what’s changing, not externally in movement, but internally.
Just as a boxing fight is won or lost in the moment the two pugilists set eyes on each other, your golf shot will either connect or fragment depending on your inner state in the stillness before movement begins.
Mainstream and even left of centre coaches, will talk about “fixing” common swing faults, and as we’ve already touched upon, media analysis and golf journalists invariably talk about a player’s technique breaking down. Yet, as ever when shifting paradigms, it’s definitely worth reviewing this.
It’s highly doubtful that in the time between your warm-up on the range and standing on the first tee, or especially in the brief moments between taking your practice swings and the actual shot, that you’ve somehow forgotten how to swing a golf club. No; what’s changed is your internal state which aggravates the nervous-system, activates the worry brain and nullifies the mind-body connection.
Please note this is not a psychological state that changes, but a biochemical reaction to pressure i.e., the ‘stress response’ which I have explored extensively in my book Breathe Golf.
TRY THIS – A NEW LOOK AT YOUR PRACTICE SWINGS
Take two practice swings then step-up to the ball and take your shot; notice what subtle changes take place in your mind, body and breathing when you’re over the ball, whether it’s a feeling of tightness, nervous tension, a loss of balance or over-thinking; any and all of which will affect how your body moves.
The training in this book is to help you keep the same inner state or conditions no matter the situation, maintaining alignment between your inner world and the desired manifestation of movement.
You can also do this exercise with a golf buddy, noticing (without criticizing) the changes that take place in each other’s breathing, balance, tightness of grip, stiffness in the upper-body and so on, before taking the shot, as opposed to the practice swings.
When working together you can try slowing down your set-up and swing while you both keep an eye on any inner disruptions caused by the presence of the golf ball.
Connected Golf; Bridging the Gap Between Practice and Performance is available to order now from your regional Amazon store and local bookseller.
1-2-1 coaching is available in person and online with Jayne Storey. Please get in touch to arrange your free no-obligation 30-minute phone call to discuss your game.
Email jaynedstorey@gmail.com or send a text/WhatsApp message to +44 7986 447 250
