mind and body

Mark F. Smith

Without question the art and science of golf primarily takes place in the mind, played out through the way we move our bodies. This instinctive connection affects how we feel, how we think and then how we swing our golf club. There is no better place to illustrate this than on the course, where our golf can be dramatically affected by what happens in our mind. Tour players have an amazing ability to regulate their thoughts while still allowing their bodies to function at a very high level. How body biomechanics, anatomy, physiology, and mental strategies all link together is revealed throughout this chapter. Mark F. Smith explores, through a series of intriguing questions, the science behind the mind–body connection and how it relates to the way the golfer moves and feels, interacting with the equipment and creating movement of the body and ball.

Does physical fitness level affect performance?

Will getting fit improve my game?

From a less-informed perspective, success in golf is often seen to be more about technical, tactical, and mental factors than physical ones. Indeed it is true that, historically, physical fitness has not appeared to be of that much importance in golf. Today, however, even some of the "old school" pros are catching on. Miguel Angel Jiménez goes for a jog every morning, and Open champion Darren Clarke has revealed that more time spent working on his fitness has been a key factor in his success. Research proves that good physical attributes—especially stamina, strength, mobility, and balance—help to improve golfing performance and lower those scores.

Over the short term, walking and golf-related training has been shown to elicit a number of both general health and golf-specific performance improvements. A reduction in body fat helps to maintain a healthy blood pressure and increases functional capacity, both factors associated with the reduced risk of hypokinetic diseases. In other words, undertaking regular golfing activities in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle will decrease your chances of developing serious illnesses and will also increase your physical abilities and life expectancy.

Evidence also reveals that performing a few simple exercises each day will increase your strength, mobility, and balance. Assessing more than 250 players, with a handicap range between 0 and 20, a 2009 research review revealed that playing standard is related to trunk, hip, and shoulder strength—the lower the handicap, the stronger the player was in these critical areas. Additionally, a number of other studies have identified a link between mobility in the hip, mid-trunk, and shoulder with increased clubhead speed—which means more carry on long shots and greater spin on short shots. Studies show that adopting carefully managed physical conditioning routines—such as flexibility, balance, and strength exercises—at least three times per week for 8–10 weeks has a positive effect on clubhead speed, whatever a golfer's ability.

Do "quiet eye" moments help putting success?

Where should I look when making a putt?

Where a golfer looks during the putt may reveal more about what's happening in the mind during those vital seconds beforehand than first thought. Scientists from Canada and the United Kingdom have uncovered the role our brain's visual motor control system may play in enhancing neurological efficiency throughout the stroke. More importantly, though, they have revealed a solution which helps all players, irrespective of ability, improve their putting performance.

Evidence presented at the 2012 World Scientific Congress of Golf Science reveals that focusing on the ball in a particular way—dubbed "quiet eye" moments—eliminates unwanted distractions, and leads to more successful putting. Based on a number of controlled experimental studies, it has been suggested that the key is to spend around two seconds during the stroke concentrating on the ball and then, once impact has occurred, to continue staring at the same spot on the ground afterward.

It is thought that this approach is effective because it allows the golfer to take in only the necessary visual information required to make the shot. Focusing away from the intended task at hand can disrupt the functioning of millions of neurons in the brain that convert the visual information into movements of the putter. Given that putting is a hugely important part of golf, accounting for around 45 percent of the shots taken in an average round, researchers are beginning to acknowledge that this approach may be vital to success, improving both precision and accuracy, and preventing the breakdown of the movement under high levels of pressure and nerves.

Does aging impact on golf performance?

As a senior, does golf improve or damage my health?

An inevitable part of life is the fact that we all grow old. How our bodies age is a hotly disputed topic among gerontologists (the scientists who study the aging process). Some suggest that aging is largely the consequence of a series of random events, experienced through our interaction with the environment, altering and eventually damaging our molecular make-up. Others conclude that random events alone are not sufficient to explain all aging processes. They believe that aging is more a matter of destiny and that our lifespans are in part pre-programmed even before our births. Whatever the complex mix of genetic, environmental, lifestyle, and socioeconomic factors influencing the lifelong process, we can be certain that aging results in a progressive loss of physical and mental function.

It's not all bad news for the aging golfer. Despite many of the age-related changes affecting older players' risk profiles, playing golf regularly offers ways of preserving flexibility, strength, endurance, muscular speed, balance, and cognitive function. Playing golf doesn't require high levels of physical fitness, which is one possible reason for its popularity among older individuals. However, the golf swing is a complex movement pattern that puts various joints of the body under stress, and golf participation has been shown to be responsible for injuries to the lower back, wrist, elbow, and other joints of the older golfer, which can also lead to a high risk of injury recurrence.

Because of this, the importance of proper conditioning for the senior golfer should not be underestimated. Continued participation in golf can be a very important form of exercise and social interaction for an older adult. Furthermore, research reviews conclude that conditioning programs, in addition to regular rounds of golf, are highly recommended for all older...