Marvellous, Shawn, and thank you too, Jeremy. Let's hope you are right about the professionals' swing coaches moving away from the body part stuff. This extract from a British newspaper interview with Rory after his win at Bay Hill seems to suggest just that:
McIlroy feared he had become “bogged down with technical or mechanical putting thoughts”, with tips from the eight-times PGA Tour winner Brad Faxon credited with a fresher mindset.
“If I hit a good putt, great,” said McIlroy. “If it goes in, wonderful. If it doesn’t, I’ve done all that I can do. It’s a philosophical change, a psychological change in how I approached putting this week. That was the real difference.
“I’m trying to get back to feeling how I did as a kid, where your instinct takes over. The last time I had freedom like this was probably 2014.”
I just cannot agree with the part of the video saying that the thoracic section of the spine is the most rigid. Maybe from a flexion/extension perspective but not from a rotational one. The facet joints of the thoracic vertebrae segments are orientated in such a way that they allow a certain degree of rotation.Lets say you had 2 degrees of rotation of each segment , there are 12 thoracic vertebrae , so the total of all the composite movements will be 12X 2 = 24 degrees of rotation. Also the ribcage is not really a rigid cage but has flexible cartilage connections to the sternum allowing quite a bit of movement. However, any golf twisting movements are not good for wear and tear of the spine joints, therefore I would prefer not to create 'X-factor' type strains if I wanted golfing longevity.
You're only strong for a few years in your life. As a strong young man, I remember only being able to get my drives out there about 250 at the very furthest. Accessing the free forces in nature like momentum, gravity and centripetal force gave me top distances of over 300. Now a poorly struck drive goes about 250! How and why are so critical in sports. We should really focus on mobility as we age not strength. Maybe strength has its place, but I don't ever try to use it anymore and my shots fly further in golf and my serve has never been as fast as it is now in my late 40's.
a takeaway from this is that much like a fingerprint, our swing and body movement is dictated by our physical and emotional make up and therefore wouldn't necessarily be the same as someone else's. therefore, trying to emulate someone else's swing to improve our own would seem illogical. My Vulcan opinion….
BOOM! Great video Guys, this makes so much sense! If I may add a small trivial illustration to back up your principle; ask a student casually to throw something into a wastepaper basket (screwed up paper or an apple core works just fine) and without "thinking about it" instinctively they will land it in the basket nearly ever time! The body & brain motor control system is so Brilliant, don`t mess it up by "thinking" about it. Just do it Baby!
"Tomorrow we need to get up and do this again"…big time clue! Instinctively safe motion is learned by letting the body lead the way while the brain catalogs what hurts and what works. This trial and error natural learning process is how you learned to walk and is polar opposite to the "modern" robotic mimicry learning platform. Any "cookie cutter" positional learning process divorces the body from the brain and turns subconscious simple into conscious complex. Do you think it is coincidence that physical trainers, chiropractors and mental game coaches all showed up on tour at about the same time? In the end, instinctive motion is body safe, normal motion and a game as reliable and maintenance free as walking exists because we are, after all, still human. Take it to the house in 2018 Shawn.
The body as a whole machine for one function, not separate motors slaved together hoping to do the same thing. That's what I got out your instruction about a year ago, and haven't looked back. I too have a martial arts background but up until that point I thought the "target" was the ball, not the intended destination down the fairway. Never thought to translate that training to golf (duh!), but I've got it now. You can teach an old dog new tricks!
Marvellous, Shawn, and thank you too, Jeremy. Let's hope you are right about the professionals' swing coaches moving away from the body part stuff. This extract from a British newspaper interview with Rory after his win at Bay Hill seems to suggest just that:
McIlroy feared he had become “bogged down with technical or mechanical putting thoughts”, with tips from the eight-times PGA Tour winner Brad Faxon credited with a fresher mindset.
“If I hit a good putt, great,” said McIlroy. “If it goes in, wonderful. If it doesn’t, I’ve done all that I can do. It’s a philosophical change, a psychological change in how I approached putting this week. That was the real difference.
“I’m trying to get back to feeling how I did as a kid, where your instinct takes over. The last time I had freedom like this was probably 2014.”
And it's not just the putting…
I just cannot agree with the part of the video saying that the thoracic section of the spine is the most rigid. Maybe from a flexion/extension perspective but not from a rotational one. The facet joints of the thoracic vertebrae segments are orientated in such a way that they allow a certain degree of rotation.Lets say you had 2 degrees of rotation of each segment , there are 12 thoracic vertebrae , so the total of all the composite movements will be 12X 2 = 24 degrees of rotation. Also the ribcage is not really a rigid cage but has flexible cartilage connections to the sternum allowing quite a bit of movement. However, any golf twisting movements are not good for wear and tear of the spine joints, therefore I would prefer not to create 'X-factor' type strains if I wanted golfing longevity.
You're only strong for a few years in your life. As a strong young man, I remember only being able to get my drives out there about 250 at the very furthest. Accessing the free forces in nature like momentum, gravity and centripetal force gave me top distances of over 300. Now a poorly struck drive goes about 250! How and why are so critical in sports. We should really focus on mobility as we age not strength. Maybe strength has its place, but I don't ever try to use it anymore and my shots fly further in golf and my serve has never been as fast as it is now in my late 40's.
Absolutely fantastic video Shawn. Enjoyed the learning value of it.
Another gem ? my Canadian cuzin ? well done
a takeaway from this is that much like a fingerprint, our swing and body movement is dictated by our physical and emotional make up and therefore wouldn't necessarily be the same as someone else's. therefore, trying to emulate someone else's swing to improve our own would seem illogical. My Vulcan opinion….
BOOM! Great video Guys, this makes so much sense! If I may add a small trivial illustration to back up your principle; ask a student casually to throw something into a wastepaper basket (screwed up paper or an apple core works just fine) and without "thinking about it" instinctively they will land it in the basket nearly ever time! The body & brain motor control system is so Brilliant, don`t mess it up by "thinking" about it. Just do it Baby!
wow was that good !!
"Tomorrow we need to get up and do this again"…big time clue! Instinctively safe motion is learned by letting the body lead the way while the brain catalogs what hurts and what works. This trial and error natural learning process is how you learned to walk and is polar opposite to the "modern" robotic mimicry learning platform. Any "cookie cutter" positional learning process divorces the body from the brain and turns subconscious simple into conscious complex. Do you think it is coincidence that physical trainers, chiropractors and mental game coaches all showed up on tour at about the same time? In the end, instinctive motion is body safe, normal motion and a game as reliable and maintenance free as walking exists because we are, after all, still human. Take it to the house in 2018 Shawn.
The body as a whole machine for one function, not separate motors slaved together hoping to do the same thing. That's what I got out your instruction about a year ago, and haven't looked back. I too have a martial arts background but up until that point I thought the "target" was the ball, not the intended destination down the fairway. Never thought to translate that training to golf (duh!), but I've got it now. You can teach an old dog new tricks!
If you get into a fight with Shawn be aware he can hit from both sides.