I save comments and questions I read in the blogs to use later for the daily article. John OB wrote some good comments about forever being on the golf swing treadmill of tinkering and experimenting. But I really saved his comment because of the mental visualization concept he saw and applied it to the golf swing.
Mental visualization is ultimately one of the main ways to build your golf swing and then repeat it time and again. I teach and preach that you have to understand mentally the swing concepts first and foremost to be able to produce a golf swing. This is because the mind triggers the muscles to move to perform any body movement. When you intellectually understand what has to happen and why, your brain then can trigger the appropriate muscles into action and in the correct action movements and sequences. You see, it is mental memory that makes golf swings, not muscle memory as many believe.
So, I believe and do so in my own mind in making up mental images that create the muscle movements I must have to make the PPG setup and swing. A point I must emphasize here is that sometimes these images and movements may be over exaggerations to create the swing movements I want. An example is that to swing vertical, in my mind's eye I feel like my arms, from the takeaway to the top of the backswing and then to the finish, swing straight up and down like a Ferris wheel. Or the same as standing erect and swinging a club with one hand straight up and down in a circle.
I know I am not swinging 100 percent straight up and down, but the visualization helps create the feelings to swing on my maximum vertical inclined plane with all the clubs. And as we know, visualization of the shot is important because all the sports psychologists teach and emphasize it. I believe visualization of the swing, even exaggerated, is absolutely necessary to build your swing in your mind so your mind can trigger your muscles to repeat the swing time after time.
So, with importance of visualization briefly covered, let's look at what John OB came up with for his swing visualization.
JohnOB says:
I am 74 and have played about four or five rounds of golf in the past four or so years. 18 handicap then. Got overweight from 175 to 210 lbs, resulting in a loss of agility and stamina. I was forever tinkering with my swing, and rarely played two consecutive rounds with the same swing thoughts in about thirty years as a weekend golfer.
I still enjoy watching the game on TV, and visit the driving range from time to time when the golf bug strikes, or when I THINK I see some move that I have not tried before in the past thirty years (not many). I also enjoy reading the comments on this site, and feel that if I had those PPGS DVD's and video's 20 or so years ago I might have stopped all the fiddling around with my golf swing. I particularly like the comments 'Swing the Club Head' I read earlier on this site, and other interesting questions and remarks.
To link the concept 'Swing The Club Head' and the Surge's PPGS where he advocates swinging 'up the tree' to the twelve o'clock position without cocking or breaking the wrists on the backswing, and his 'up the tree' to a T finish in the forward swing, I THINK I have stumbled on a great mental image or vision that would assist in doing just that.
While reading the comments on this site a few nights ago, and glancing at the TV at the same time, a picture appeared on screen where a young man was guiding his son backwards and forwards (or up and down) on a larger than usual garden swing.. This movement was so rhythmic, smooth and graceful it struck me that it could be a useful mental image in practicing the concept 'Swing the Club Head'.
Now I'm not suggesting for a minute that one tries tying his fifteen month old to the club head in order to improve their golf swing (Never), but the mental image could still be applied something like this:
Visualize having him sit facing you on the club head holding on to the club shaft, and swinging him back and up the tree using centrifugal force (to help him hold on) to the twelve o'clock position without cocking or breaking the wrists. Be aware what might happen if you did cock or break your wrists, he would probably fall down on your head. NOT GOOD.
Now in the down and or forward swing imagine accelerating him through and after impact 'up the tree' to the T position, forcing him to loose his grip, and landing on a branch about eighteen feet up.
PS. In order to increase distance, try landing him ten feet or so higher up. What do you think?
The Surge says:
I like the child on a swing image a lot. It certainly clearly shows the concept of up in the backswing, down in the transition of the forward upswing and then up to the T- Finish clearly and succinctly. It also shows that although the swing is closer to an oval, the image of the child on a swing is closer to a circle. I believe visualizing a circle creates the sense and feel that really better fits and emphasizes the PPGS concepts of lifting the club in the backswing and swinging up to the T- Finish.
I Thank John for passing on his imagination and visualization concept of the child on the garden swing. I am sure a lot of our swings will benefit from using this image.
The Surge!