Fixing the Chipping Yips or Inconsistency

Here is an unusual tip that will help your short game, especially if you suffer from the dreaded yips or worse yet – the dreaded shanks.

Look at the Hole and Not the Ball

Look at the hole while you make your swing.  It is the same principal that Jordan Spieth uses in putting.  He looks at the hole while making his stroke.  It allows your brain to focus totally on the target and not on the technical aspects of the stroke or swing.

It is not difficult to accomplish, it simply takes a little practice in order for you to get comfortable with it. I can promise you that it is worth it to give it a try.  This video will demonstrate what I am talking about.

I first discovered this working with blind children.  In order to better relate to them, I learned to hit balls with my eyes closed.  After you get over the initial panic, you suddenly develop a much better feel for where the club is during the swing.  The blind children, in many cases, actually developed faster than children with normal eyesight.  Once they made contact with the ball the first time they knew exactly what to do from then on.

Fear Causes Poor Pitching

The major cause of poor chipping and pitching is the fear of failure.  When you become afraid that you are going to hit a poor shot, your conscious mind tries to control what happens at impact and it simply cannot do it.

An example of this is walking a straight line.  Most of us can do that with no problem until a policeman shines a flashlight in our face and asks us to do it.  If you start thinking about or trying to consciously control walking you will fail every time.

Fix Your Own Swing

Those of you that read my instruction tips and articles know that I focus on the average golfer.  I think everyone will benefit from face to face instruction with a good teacher, but the next best thing is my blog.  I am not remotely interested in what elite or tour caliber players do.  They have extraordinary skills and talent that completely separates them from the average golfer and what is useful to him.

The video is by a golf professional that I have great respect for because he is a very good at what he does and shares my belief in helping the average golfer.  You can check him out here.

Think Your Way Into Playing Better

Thinking VS Swinging

 

This week’s article is based on the premise that the body responds to the thoughts that are going through your mind.

The major reason that golf is difficult to learn is that the ball sits still and it gives you time to think. Other sports where a ball is involved, such as tennis and baseball the ball is in motion and you simply react to it.  A batter in baseball does not make a conscious decision to swing the bat. He simply focuses on the ball and let’s his body react. In golf, the ball sits there waiting for the brain to decide what to do and when.

This concept is important, even at the beginner level. The brain says hit the ball and the body responds. The ball may only move a few feet, but the body was successful. The instructions were to hit the ball – contact was made.  One of the biggest challenges for a beginner is the desire to help the ball get up in the air which is impossible.

The Little Voice

The brain also only responds to the last thought - sometimes known as the” little voice”. The brain does not respond well to negatives. The thought “don’t hit it in the water on the right” will not and cannot produce a good swing. It produces a negative or defensive swing.

The result is never a good shot.  The “little voice” is negative by default unless you override it with a positive thought.  It is essential that you focus on what you want to happen rather than on what you don’t want to happen. The only good shots come from positive swing thoughts.
 

Change Your Thinking

It is much easier to change your golf swing by changing what you are thinking.  You need to examine what your brain is telling your body to do.  Are there so many thoughts it gets confused?  Concentrate on one positive thought.  A good instructor or coach will find out what is going on inside your head.  I have found over the years that the things that need changing are most often things that the student is trying to do because of bad information.

What you believe about how to swing the club correctly is often what is holding you back.

Learning to swing at the target, rather than the ball will solve a multitude of swing problems.  Concentrating on trying to control the club at impact will create a multitude of swing problems.

Only ONE Thought

I always ask my students “What is the one thing you are taking away from our lesson today?”  I find this necessary because what I think I am saying and what they are hearing me say are often two very different things.

Just remember that you can only handle one swing thought at a time and it has to be positive to drown out the “little voice”.