Beginner and intermediate players at first have the incorrect thought process as to how to get the ball airborne. Many think that they have to help the ball up or scoop it into the air. In the beginning this concept gets ingrained into the subconscious. The subconscious that control motor skill in the body. This part of the brain is often known as the Lizard brain. It’s true name is Basil ganglia. This is the small part at the base of the brain that controls muscle function. It fires neurons that send signals to the muscles to allow them to move in the way we want them to via the cerebellum. Sometimes they don’t move the way we want them to. This is what happens to beginner golfers and intermediate golfers when they ingrain the motor skill incorrectly. So what we need to do is to relearn the correct motion to build new neuron pathways. At first we have to think about this. But what I mean is we have to understand what the correct procedure is. Once we begin to understand the correct procedure then we can start execute the information correctly.
Once we have the correct concept of what must happen to be successful Then we can begin to perform drills to ingrain the motion into the Basal Ganglia. Once this information is stored it will not go away. It is like when you were a child and learned to ride a bike. Later in life it might have been several years since you rode a bike. But you get on a bike and it is like you were riding it just yesterday. You didn’t have to tell yourself how to perform the motor skill and your didn’t think about how to pedal or keep your balance. In other words there was no conscious thought to perform the action. Your golf game is much like this. When you were hitting a ball there should be no conscious thought on what has to happen in the action. That information is stored in the Basil Ganglia. In order to access it you need to feel it not think about how to do it. When you go to hit a shot if you want to think about what you have to do do that in a practice swing to get the feeling first. Then replicate the feeling with the ball in the way. The mind must be clear of thought to access the motion. If there is a conscious thought it will interfere with the signal that needs to be sent from Basil Ganglia. This will make the motion feel contrived. There will be no freedom or consistent tempo in the motion. In order to have freedom we need to free our mind and the rest will come much easier. The best way to get the motion ingrained is through drills that are in slow motion or without a ball. Then introduce a ball and begin to add a little speed into the mix. The more the proper motion is worked on without a ball the faster it will stick. The key is when we create the motion without the ball we aren’t focused some much on hitting a spot. It also helps clear our mind and not be so worried about the result. The average time it takes for it to start to sink in is 21 days. The brain needs that time to build the neuron path to send the signal to the muscles. This is when we begin to repeat the motion without trying to think about it. It then becomes more natural.
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