So How Does A Golfer Hit The Target?
I guess I left you hanging there, telling you that the target is in the future and future thoughts screw up the subconscious instructions for movement of your body… Right?
I wanted someone to ask the question… But alas, I guess I’m just that much farther ahead of the curve, I don’t know…
So, in golf, the object is to get the ball to go to the target… How in hell can that happen if you’re not suppose to think about the target (because it is a future thought) !!!
I hear you. But I didn’t say, don’t think about the target, I said don’t think about future thoughts…
Your own mind put the two together and probably along the way blew a fuse. I know I would have!
Figure it out yet?
How about now?
No? It’s ok. Here’s the answer: Bring the target to the present!
Now steam is really coming out your ears! Especially if you have been teaching golfers to focus on the target!
Instead of thinking about the target, think like the subconscious would think…
The question? How do I have to hit the ball to make it go to the target?
That’s a present thought!
Making any sense yet?
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Hi Tracy,
This makes sense up to a point - and maybe that is the point: determine the shot you want to make, visualize it, allow your body to assume the necessary grip, stance, etc., then take the swing in the present … focused on the ball.
What I am taking away from some of your writings is that the conscious mind is capable of giving goal direction but then needs to step out of the process of hitting the ball. The process of hitting a ball needs to flow in a natural or instinctive way and the subconscious does that best. And it makes a lot of sense when you discuss having the conscious mind working with or reinforcing the subconscious process.
I am off to the driving range … to continue building the subconscious/conscious partnership. :-))
Tracy,
What I’m interpreting you as saying by “bring the target to the present” is to use the conscious mind to run the movie (daydream) in real time as you are actually hitting the shot with your unconscious. In other words, you have that picture that your uncousious gave you when doing the drill with your eyes closed, you teak it if necessary to produce better shots. Then when you start the swing you start the movie at the same time focusing your conscious on the movie, not the swing.
So far, I have not got a movie/picture for my full swing. I did get one for pitch shots. What my uncouscious gave me was the image of one of those pendulium devices with 4 balls, with two strings attached to the 4 balls. As the club was going back I imagined someone pulling back the end ball and then letting it go. then the ball(representing the clubhead) went down along a perfect arc and transfered all the energy into the three other balls, representing the golf ball. I was hitting crisp shot in my practice area for two days when using this. Then it stopped working for me (uggh). So at this point I’m not sure if I’m on the right track or not.
Tracy,
What I find particularly interesting in what you’ve said so far is that there is one part of visualisation that golfers often don’t do… visualise the club at impact with the ball… ‘How do I have to hit the ball to make it go to the target?’
There is one golf instructor that has emphasised this, and that is Craig Sigl. He has primarily focused on this point alone.
Cheers, Jon
http://www.golfswingeureka.com/
I hope I’m not doing anything out of order here! But I thought that your response to comments back on 9th April clarifies your ideas very well…
“First the picture you are looking for is the one the Subconscious is trying to see. It has to see something in order to hit the ball… Namely the ball!
The subconscious is trying to see the club come through impact and strike the ball.
To control this in order to get the ball to the target, you need only tweak the picture to get the desired shape of shot.
Here’s the key: We ARE NOT abandoning the target of the flagstick. We are just adding it into the present picture of contact by adjusting the shape of contact to agree with the intended outcome.
By doing this, we have satisfied the need of the subconscious to watch contact AND the psychological need of the conscious to watch the target.
It’s a win-win for both minds… in other words: The Zone”
Tracey”
Your already have the information presently to do it right, you can either look at pro´s as they hit the ball they already know if its enough or not.
The same applies for yourself, the information how to do it properly making the shot depends on what system of operation you use, most use the represeantionchannels, what you see hear and feel, with balance you tie into the vestibulary system which not only adjust balance but also have the spatial orientation awareness tracked in space around you, and many other things.
So, vizualization dosnt cover the vestibulary system, it dosnt say if your using the visual or the vestibulary system.
bringing the target, to the present, isnt that difficult, its basically a orientation in space your adjusting to.
/R