One of the biggest lessons I can pass down to someone learning golf, or anything, from my experiences as a player is this – patience. Although not one of the key factors in learning, it certainly helps. This is just a quick article to allow you to understand the learning process a little more, and why it happens like it does.
An Example
I remember the most recent swing change I made; I was attempting to get my club swinging more to the left through impact. My natural swing sees the clubhead swing out around 10 degrees to the right, so I was working on neutralizing this in the hopes it would give me more consistency. But whilst I was practicing, I remember just how difficult it was to do; it seemed as if my body was just resisting it. At best I could get it to swing around 5 degrees right, but it was still nowhere near neutral.
But one day it just clicked. Surprisingly, it happened a couple of days after a rather frustrating practice session where I thought I would just never ‘get it’. The next session I was just able to do what I wanted with the club. There was no ‘light bulb moment’ or any bits of new information. It was the same thing as I was trying to do in the sessions before, but now my body was much more receptive to it. I have never lost the ability since – it is safe to say that it is now ‘learned’.
It reminded me of when I was learning a guitar song a few months earlier. I knew exactly what notes I was supposed to play, but I kept making mistakes in the timing and occasionally hitting the wrong note in the wrong place. I practiced until my fingertips were sore, but ended up having to put the guitar down (because if I didn’t put it down I would have thrown it down). I gave it a rest and decided maybe guitar wasn’t for me. But a few days later, I had an itch to play again. After a quick warm up, I noticed that I was suddenly able to play the song perfectly – and I hadn’t practiced in between.
Although I mastered the song eventually, I really
wanted to burn my guitar at one point
So what is happening here? Most people mistakenly think the goal of practice is to get it right during the session. Whilst this should ultimately be the goal, it is far more important that your INTENTION is correct. When your concentration is fully on your intention (for example, the intention to swing the club more to the left), even if you are unable to do it there and then, your brain is re-wiring itself to create a new movement pattern. Neurons in the brain are firing and connecting with each other in a new and fresh way. But because they are not yet connected efficiently, the performance can be poor. When we sleep/rest, those new neuronal connections fuse and strengthen further so that next day we are able to perform the movement better than before. Through repetitive practice, they are then insulated further (myelination) and skill becomes further refined.
Think of it like going to the gym. When you lift weights, you don’t get stronger as you lift. In fact, you get weaker (due to glycogen depletion/CNS output) – similarly, you can sometimes get worse during a golf practice session because your mental concentration can fatigue. But fear not; just as your muscles repair, grow and get stronger during your rest period, so does your brain and all those millions of neuronal connections.
Your intention is more important than what you actually do. Make sure you have a clear goal for each swing, and maintain concentration during your session through a sets and reps approach. And stay patient; just because you can’t do it today doesn’t mean you won’t be able to do it tomorrow.
Side Note
As a note – sometimes your body will not do what you are trying to do because of a physical limitation or a mental concept issue. Make sure you are capable physically of what you are trying to do. Also, make sure that you fully understand what you are trying to get the clubhead to do at impact, as failing to understand this can contradict the change you are making in your swing. A good golf coach should cover this though.
Doug Master
Adam, I just found your blog, and I am loving it. Today I practiced hooking and slicing in addition to the shot I am trying to hit, and I definitely gained understanding of where the club head is.
Would you mind doing a post on exactly how to practice? Not just the theory, but the actual ABCs of it. I'll give you an example.
I hear different drills to help my swing, but I'm really not sure how to best practice with them. Do I do hours of the drill? A few drills then a few shots? When you were improving did you practice a single shot the whole time? Divide it up? You mention trick shots. What were those?
I'd love more details on the exact routine of practice.
admin
Hi Doug, that sounds like a good mini plan that you created for yourself. Stay tuned, as I have articles in the pipeline about those exact things, which will be coming over the next few weeks. I am also writing a book on exactly that topic – not only how to practice, but what types of practice and how to split up your session, your week and even your year to maximize learning whilst at the same time maximising performance on the course (the two can be contradictory).
admin
also, some of my previous articles will give you something to tide you over.
https://www.adamyounggolf.com/2012/06/how-to-learn.html
this article links to other good ones, and also deals with how to make a technical change specifically.
Enjoy
Doug
Thanks, Adam. I'm looking forward to the new posts and will definitely pick up the book. You should name it something like "Everything you think you know about learning golf is wrong."
admin
The book is now out Doug. It is called "The Practice Manual – The Ultimate Guide for Golfers" and is available from Amazon.