September 20, 2018 - Sports Performance
Hey folks, it’s Dr. Sam and I’m on my morning walk today. I received a question from a golfer who wants to know if my techniques will help his golf game.
There was a research study done by an experimental psychologist – his name is Dr. Mark Wilson. He’s from the UK. He developed a technique called the quiet eye technique, and I actually use it quite a bit with people in my therapy practice.
So I’d like to share some things that can be done in terms of helping this gentleman improve his putting.
- Have a consistent preparation practice.
- When you stand over the ball you want to make sure to take a really big inhalation and a very slow exhalation. This helps relax the nervous system and reduce anxiety.
- As you’re standing over the ball, I want you to focus on the back of the ball. Focus on one dimple of the ball and stay focused on it through your stroke. And as you hit the ball, keep looking at the space where the ball was through the follow through – you’re looking at the space where the ball was.
- And finally, I want you to take stock of how you did in terms of staying focused on the ball. What this will do is this will help you stay in the “now” and reduce the anxiety of projecting into the future and all the worries that come in when you’re trying to putt.
Now, this could be used in basketball in terms of focusing on the rim. You know having the same consistent practice, doing the breathing, focusing on the rim through the follow through, and then taking stock in terms of how you did – this is a great technique and process in terms of helping people improve their sports performance.
I’ve worked with a lot of different athletes in terms of getting them to improve their visual focus quiet their mind and have a really good follow through in terms of their performance and it works really well.
We know that vision is one of our most dominant senses – if we can really focus and keep our mind and eyes focused on the ball, or whatever we’re doing, and we have a really good follow through, then our performances are generally going to be better than if we don’t have control of our eyes.
So that’s my message for today. Thank you so much for tuning in. And until next time take good care.