rhythm

Hi.

Rhythm ist with posture the most important element to create balance and then being able to swing and hit correct!

Rhythm:

- normal swing 3:1

= 1+2ooo up, 3 down, 4 through - Pitching 2:1

= 1 up, 2 down, 3 through

- Chiping/Putting 1:1 Best rhythm App John Novosel "tour tempo" But expensiv

Tour tempo YT Channel:

https://youtube.com/user/TourTempo Introduction rhythm: https://youtu.be/XehOWEDhEW

Hope Tom will do 1/2 Videos more about importance of rhythm. Cheers

Fabulous stuff, @GolfLivesMatter - thanks for sharing!!

Putting "yips" is probably the hardest thing to explain because folks can line up the putt, walk around, address the ball, make a few smooth practice swings, then some involuntary twitch occurs, more often in the trail hand / wrist upon hitting the ball. Folks have already done their line-ups, they know the line of the putt, it's only a two foot putt, then poof.

However, on the putting green they don't have the same issue. They can make 95/100 two foot putts. This may also translate as to why folks hit great drives on the range, then get on the 1st tee and top their drive. Or hit great LW practice short shots then blade the same shots on the course.

I added a video link below regarding how to fix putting yips because I believe the baseline causes for the yips can infest short game shots and full swing shots. In the video he talks about the need to focus on something other than the ball because the anticipation of impact causes the twitches / flinches. Ever get on the tee on a par 3 with water down the right side, the left side is completely safe, you aim to the left, then hit the ball directly into the water? I think there's a "flinch" moment buried deep in the body during that swing. And why would that errant shot occur when our brains surely know to avoid hitting the ball into the water?

While I think the "think box" and "hit box" is a good setup routine, at the same time the thinking part is hard to shut off, and can creep in just as the club moves away from the ball. "Do this, don't do that" immediately erupts in 1/8 of a second upon the takeaway.

My "think box" is picking a spot in front of the ball. My "hit box" thought is lead shoulder down, or right shoulder up, because that move removes of a lot of potential swing flaws, meaning if I'm stacked over the ball I have a much higher probability of hitting a good shot. That's about all I can think about on the course.

When I play really well, I'm not thinking about much of anything which some call the "Zone". To me, that's the a similar mindset to hitting on the range, or a "just hit the ball" mindset.

Going back to putting yips, I find on the course that if my putt is a 3 footer for a double, I somehow "don't care" and get up to the ball and make the putt without studying the putt, like on the practice green. But if the putt is for a birdie, it can be the opposite, or flinches and twitches may enter into my stroke. On the course, at times when for some reason I don't care about a shot, I often hit some of my best shots.

I absolutely do believe shot visualization moves the attention away from the ball and the body thus knows what to do without "telling it" to do something, or the "creative?, fun part of the brain gets to play, or the "caveman hit" thought. Same idea. I've stood on tee boxes on par 3's and simply thought "hit a fade" and I do. I don't set up differently, it feels like it's the same swing, but the ball fades. Same for a draw. I think there have been studies about folks hitting draws and fades on command without consciously altering their swing or stance.

I think too much ball / impact focus can be a problem. For putting, looking more at the hole, or some spot two feet in front of the ball is better than being "impact focused". The same may hold true for full swing shots, or place the attention ahead of the ball on some spot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMCoI7C_Bno

@Bill Mo ah, step over to my couch. Happy to assist with mental approach. It’s kinda my specialty. The books recommended are all solid. Let’s start with this, if your practice sessions include hitting balls without very specific flight plans, what exactly are you practicing? To fix your woes, it’s not going to be hard, but we need to reprogram your thought process. 1. Practice with a purpose. After you warm up, every shot has a very precise flight plan. Even chips or pitches. A. Have a precise picture, where will the ball start flight and where will it end up. Example, I am going to hit a draw, starting at the bunker on the right and ending in line with the white pole. B. When you stand behind the ball and determine your flight plan. You see the shot. Pick a blade of grass, a divot, something that is inline with where you want the ball to start no more than 1-2 ft in front of the ball. C. Step into the shot, align to the intermediate spot. And release in that direction. It’s super important that you practice, not only the motion of swinging, but also the pre shot routine…and the mental side of preparing to swing effortlessly toward a target. That’s the starting point. The next step is decoupling the outcome from the process. What does that mean? So, you pick a target. You have your intermediate target that matches up with the flight plan. Your grip is set to match the shot shape you pictured. Now, when you step in to deliver the swing, your ONLY objective is to release the swing over the intermediate target. That’s it. That’s your job. Then you become an observer. What did the ball do? Cool. Go get it and repeat until holed. You see, if your mechanics. Are sound, and you line up correctly, the ONLY thing you can control is releasing the swing toward that intermediate target and I promise you that if your sole focus is releasing over the intermediate target your results will be far better than thinking about everything bad that can happen on a shot. Will the ball go in the water? Maybe. How about the woods? It can happen. But if your mental approach to playing includes you trying to control all of those factors…I can promise you that bad things will happen far more often. Why? For purposes of this discussion, please accept there are some functions the brain processes super fast. Think about learned behaviors like walking. You don’t think about it at all, because the processing power required to walk (or any learned behavior is part of the fast brain). However, for unlearned behavior or for anything where you are taking in a bunch of information which makes the task uncertain, a different part of the brain, the slow brain gets involved. You can move well rehearsed tasks like walking from the fast Brian back to the slow part of the brain when you add complexity. If all of a sudden you had to walk across a plank That was high in the air. Your brain would not just walk as usual…instead you would be cautious. Every step. Etc. Key to golf. Use the fast brain. The swing happens so quickly that using the slow brain to try and take in or correct things on the fly is 100% useless. The processing power of the slow brain simply isn’t fast enough to handle the detail in the time required for a golf swing. So, how do we move the task to the fast brain? We practice effortlessly releasing the club over an intermediate target. You can mostly be successful if you are trying to swing over a spot 6 inches past the ball. Well, if you are successful there, what’s the worst that can happen? Is it any worse than if you try to think about all the bad stuff or all the necessary moves and manipulations required to make a proper swing? No. So. The goal is to take your driving range swing, which is like walking and uses the fast brain and training it on the range to include the intermediate target. Now, on the range, how many times can you release the club over that target? On the course, we have to reprogram the process vs the outcome. Basically, if you follow the process, you allow the fast brain to dominate. As soon as you add anything else, the slow brain gets involved and messes things up. Now when you play, keep score of a different game. How many shots can you hit with a pure focus of releasing over the intermediate target? I promise you this, the higher that score goes, the lower your golf score will go. Anytime external factors get in the way of the simple task, the slow brain gets involved and it’s a short circuit guaranteeing suboptimal performance. #fastbrainforgolf

I did good today went to range and worked on rythum and didnt try to hit the ball a mile,only hit it a half mile lol.

Swing vs. Hit, @Bill Mo??

There has actually been quite a bit of dialogue here on the topic of how to transport "Ranger Rick" to the golf course. We all experience that! An excellent book that may help you with this is "Fearless Golf: Conquering the Mental Game" by Dr. Gio Valiante. Another book that I like is "Play Your Best Golf Now" by Lynn Marriott & Pia Nilsson. I believe @GolfLivesMatter may have another recommendation as well.