MENTAL SIDE OF GOLF.

Shannon News, 16 March 1923, Page 4

MENTAL SIDE OF GOLF.

• ■■■- ♦ — — IS INSTRUCTION TOPSY-TURVY? i THE MIND AND THE STROKE.' Every golfer will remember how he or. she diligently set out on determined to. do everything, that the, coach advised, and how it seemedutterly impossible to remember the hundred and one, things necessary for the stroke which sends such' a. thrill through the body—the graceful easy v swing, the clean hit of the ball which is sent swimmingvjstraight for. the green. It is therefore interesting to read that Leslie Sehon, who wrote “The Psychology of Golf,’’/ avers that instruction in golf is topsy-turvy, i ! Here are his views:—

: At first sight it sems somewhat absurd that a golfer is unable to remember what he was ‘ thinking about, or what was in his mind,' when he plays a! perfect Stroke. But. such is the case . and the,, explanation . is exceedingly, simple. To play a successful stroke, the whole, mind must 'be devoted fo the tusk, every mental faculty must be employed. , There is a very deep significance in this fact, and, it is logical to that instruction in, golf is topsyturvy. It deals Only with the comparatively ;o unimportant physical side, and heglects the vital mental side.; For instance, a beginner, is taught how to swing, his driver, but for all his golfing days he . remains in “ Ignorance of the mental process involved. Yet the mental side of driving is far from being unimportant. An -exp erienced golfer when driving does not use his higher b tain-centres, the process is one of unconscious cerebation.” ; The contraction and expansion of the muscles has become,, through long, practice, automatic. On the other hand, the beginner has to think about everything hn is doing. How he is turning his wfists or twisting his body,, whether hiis weight is. properly distributed on his feet. Thus the order to the muscles is delayed through being transmitted to the higher brain-centres. Nferve physiologists term this “cere-bral-inhibition.” Obviously the beginner ,and possibly as many as 80 golfers out of every hundred, use their higher - brain centres. That is the point of practical value and not of theoretic interest * is made clear by a little pOem by R. D. 1 Blackmore: —

A centipede was happy till . One day a toad in fun Said, “Pray, which leg moves after which?” ’ I This raised her doubts to such a pitch She fell exhausted in a ditch, Not'knowing how to run.

In other words, if a player is going to;distract his mind with details speh asl keeping his left arm straight during the swing, he is adding to his difficulties. And he is also unlikely to remember to keep —is eye on the ball. ,'When playing with iron clubs matters are ' different. Accuracy is vastly mpre important than>length, and,the golfer regulates the distance he wishes to | send bis. ball by_ the length of his swping. Angel de la Torre, the Spanish professional, uses an ingenious method of S overcoming the difficulty. He has three mid-irons with different degrees of iloft on,the face, swings'exactly- the same distance back with all of [them. The length of the stroke is regulated by the degree of'loft. . Theoretically, this seems an excellent way, but there, is no doubt that after a reasonable amount of practice the swing with an iron becomes just ; asl automatic as the swing with,-a driver. And the higher brain centres are able to work unimpeded.