A sport psychology article...that moved me to new levels.I was browsing through a sport psychology article not so long ago and came across some advice about how it was important to improve awareness and concentration skills. It highlighted the fact that by improving awareness, concentration is automatically improved. The article's was also concerned with the communication between sports coach and student. Pointing out that there is a very fine line where this relationship tends to break down. The coaching, be that from a pro, by teaching oneself or by learning from a coaching article, often interprets an instruction incorrectly. Just because the student understands the instructions, it does not follow that he can make his body perform them. It's at this junction that doubt is often experienced between coach and student especially when too many tasks are given at one time. However it is the student who demands as much instruction as possible in fear that he may miss some important trick and the coach is being enticed into over-instructing. It's a vicious circle of misdirected instruction that doesn't address our potential for using our strong awareness skills. It is therefore necessary to start using improved instructional methods and thus awaken our natural learning abilities. Which leads me to discussing the improvements that can be realised through simple awareness exercises. Instead of trying to do this or that, we should try to see, hear or feel our way to improvement. Did you see the divot being made on that shot? Could you hear the club sole swishing through the grass at this moment? Did the ball feel hard/soft at impact? You will notice that there is no instruction involved in these exercises and the feedback certainly enhances our awareness.
These awareness questions are simple and there is no right or wrong answer to the questions. They separate the students who find such a task easy or difficult to answer. Ease in answering: portrays a relaxed and focussed person who should enjoy relatively fast improvement Difficulty in answering: here we have someone with a very busy mind and is so caught up with swing mechanics, stress or results that he has little awareness of the original task. He will need time to change his swing thoughts. In order to enhance his awareness, it is important to lever him away from his destructive vices: mechanics, stress and bogged down by results. More awareness questions: On the downswing, about eighteen inches before impact how far is the sole of the club from the ground? At this point did you feel the club was coming from the inside, outside or straight at the ball? Was the clubface open, closed or square at impact? There are endless awareness questions and they should all have the following characteristics. They should not be concerned with results and there's no right or wrong answer meaning there should be no stress involved.
Of course only one of these questions should be addressed at a time. These can also be pinpointed into finer awareness with questions such as, If the club is slightly open call it a +1, more open +2 etc., If the club is slightly closed call it a -1, more closed -2 etc., and of course square would be zero. It is what the student himself feels that is important and not the teacher. It doesn't matter if there is a variance of opinion, the students enhanced awareness is most important. To finish, children learn most gross motor skills with awareness exercises and they never feel as if they are doing anything wrong. What they do experience is rapid improvement and uncanny competence in fairly complicated skills.
Go to the 'Homepage' from 'sport psychology article'. Go to 'psychology of golf' from 'sport psychology article'.
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