I finally got around to reading a book that was on my list: The Sports Gene, by David Epstein.
It is as awesome, as advertised, and I’ve been thinking of this part since the moment I read it:
As an individual practises a skill, whether it be hitting, throwing, or learning to drive a car, the mental processes involved in executing the skill move from the higher conscious areas of the brain in the frontal lobe, back to more primitive areas that control automated processes, or skills that you can execute “without thinking”.
It continues:
The physical activity that one trains in is very specifically automated in the brain. To return to [Professor Bruce] Abernethy’s point, “thinking” about an action is the sign of a novice in sports, or a key to transforming an expert back into an amateur. (University of Chicago psychologist Sian Beilock has shown that a golfer can overcome pressure-induced choking in putting – paralysis by analysis, she calls it – by singing to himself, and thus preoccupying the higher conscious areas of the brain.)
Simply put, the goal of practising is so you can make the move you want without having to think about it. The problem is that this is a slight chicken-or-the-egg situation.
In order to make the move you want without thinking, you have to think about it to some extent. But when you think about it, it makes you temporarily worse at the thing you’re ultimately trying to do – hit the ball better.
This video, which I came across in a different corner of the sports world, is obviously intended as a joke. But it’s also pretty perfect because there’s truth here.
The expert focuses on two things: a strong start and a strong finish, knowing if he does those, the stuff in between will sort itself out. After he successfully completes the lift, he tells himself he’s done worse, implying that what he just did wasn’t perfect. But that’s OK, ultimately, because he completed the lift. Unlike the hyper-technical beginner lifter.
Anyway, back to golf. How can you put this into practice? Great question!
6 tactics that will help
1. Accept that practice is practice and playing is playing, especially when you’re practising your technique. They require different things. When you’re working on your swing, stop caring about the result.
2. When it comes to swing thoughts, golfers tend to have more success with external swing thoughts (example: “Reach for the sky on the backswing”) compare to internal swing thoughts (example: “Keep your left arm straight”).
3. If your goal is to work on your golf swing, then focus on your golf swing technique. If your goal is to care about your performance, stop caring about your golf swing. It’s why Robert Rock practised hitting balls into a net with a video camera, or Rory McIlroy hit balls into a blank screen for weeks. Some teachers even suggest hitting foam golf balls (or no golf balls!).
4. Along those lines, practising in slow motion, or at half speed, is really valuable. This kind of conscious, diligent practice is the basis of the famed 10,000-hour rule. It can help you undo old movement patterns, and embed new ones.
5. Any swing thoughts or feels you do have, keep them limited. Ideally they come at either the start or towards the end of your golf swing, and you should be thinking about them before you even start your swing – otherwise you won’t have enough time.
6. When the time comes to switch on and play, occupy the front of your mind. Think about something else. Sing yourself a song, and trust that the good technical work is seeping in.
