Changing your swing
How to use the mind effectively when making any change to your golf game
Are you thinking about changing your golf swing?
Or maybe you already have had a lesson, but you feel it's not working fluidly yet?
Granted, sometimes it is necessary to change your golf swing, to unlock potential or change a habit that creates a lot of mistakes. But, knowing what you want to change is different from knowing how.
Changing a movement pattern is not easy. It's an engrained automatic neural pathway in your brain that's been established for a very long time - so it's going to take time to learn something different.
So if your swing is working fine now, then my recommendation would be not to change it, but instead work on improving your short game, or putting, or whichever part of the golf game is losing you the most shots.
If you've got this far and still feel a change is pertinent, ok. There's an effective way of doing so.
It starts with speed …
Remember the last time you learnt something? To swim, drive a car, pronounce words in another language. How did you do it? Slowly at first, of course. Until you’d practised enough to get the action right, and then over time you grew fluent and it became automatic.
How do most of us try out a new golf swing? We learn what “mechanically” needs to change, and then we go out on the range and hit balls, hoping it will stick. The trouble is, hitting balls at normal speed makes it difficult to change a habit, because your brain automatically reverts to existing pattern when you’re not consciously thinking of each mechanical movement.
We may even stop the swing at the end of the backswing to check, however this deceleration is not typical of a golf swing, and so the brain is not actually learning the desired movement.
The three gears
I learnt this from the Mindfactor coach Karl Morris, and it’s all about creating the optimal conditions for the brain to learn a new movement. It doesn’t actually take more time, it’s just a different way of approaching it.
So you know what needs to change. You take a few balls out onto the range, and hit five balls in a row, each in different “gears”
Gear 1: hit the ball very slowly, paying attention on each little movement. Use a video if you have one, to check the movement is “correct” or in line with what you want to achieve. The ball may only go a couple of meters, and that’s great.
Gear 2: hit the ball with 50% of your usual speed. It’s about finding your rhythm with your new swing, making it “superfluid” withou any effort. Many players report they hit their best shots at this speed.
Gear 3: hit the ball you normal speed, just as you would on the course. Incorporate your performance routine and keep clear focus on the target, and how the body feels.
Try it out for yourself!
Repeat this sequence with 5 balls in each gear until you feel comfortable with the change.
Depending on your approach, you may wish to only spend 10 or 15 minutes doing this, before a break on chipping putting, and returning later / another day.
Remember, learning new skills effectively takes time, and confidence takes practice! as the old saying goes, it’s not quantity, but quality that leads to improvement.
