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We have taken the liberty to add friends
with whom we wanted to share our newsletter. As with all transmissions these
days, this one doesn't have to be in your inbox. If you prefer not to have it
sent every two months, just let us know. One
Under Par A Newsletter from KeyGolf.....December,
2003 Wishing One and All the Best for the
Holiday Season! Another New Direction
for Putting Clearly,
however, some of the same old important issues to which we have called
attention in the past are missing or subdued, if not in the study itself, at
least in the recommendations drawn from the study. It's one thing, as
always, to tell someone to do something, like "keep your head in
place." It is something else to help that person actually carry out the
command in an effective manner. This study was probably not intended to do
that, but the requirement is nonetheless an imperative, and deserves to be
included. Furthermore,
it is not known if the experiment was conducted with players who knew how to
stay in the present long enough to avoid anxiety, in addition to
"testing" those who were unprotected from the effects of anxiety.
The sound of it is that all those examined were
"unprotected." So we don't know how any application of the
automatic principle would affect the results. In
addition to the "eye tracker," Dr. Vickers also employs EEG
resources (electroencephalogram) to view mental activity during the process.
She reports that "poor putters tend to have lower mental activity
scattered throughout the brain." Meanwhile "good putters tend
to know what to focus on and do this with more mental intensity and
activity." The the survey says: "Over all, the good putter shows
'harmonized' activity throughout the brain." We take that to mean,
a lot is going on, but it is not scattered in the "good" putters.
That's the good news. It still appears that there it too much mental
activity, even with the "good" players. It's just better
handled by the "good" golfer, but there is no way to tell if that
"handling" is in the "control" bracket, or in the
management portfolio. The "poor" putter appears not to have as much
built in "up there" to influence thinking, so it's more scattered.
The "good" putters are reported not to have as much eye fluttering.
But is that because they have greater ability, less anxiety, or some of both?
The study does not respond to that, even though it does hint at anxiety being
involved. Neither does the study reveal the content of the brain
activity. It only points to the volume. The URL
http://www.kin.ucalgary.ca/nml will take you to more information from Dr.
Vickers. There is
no significant, long-termed remedy or benefit that we know of apart from an
incorporation of a means to manage anxiety. All of the issues mentioned above
are directly influenced, if not precipitated, by anxiety. The
"quiet eye" may indeed need "training." So how do you do
that? For any management of anxiety and the subsequent training of eye
movement, one will need to have a tool that follows the principle of the
automatic process. One will have much difficulty learning a new habit if the
automatic process is not part of the deal. And there is little doubt that a
new habit will be required for any of us to really utilize what is apparent
in the "Quiet Eye" theme. Players will be thrust into involuntary
movements of the eyes so long as there is no way to manage anxiety. It simply
goes with the persistent involuntary territory. When my
dog, Boots, encounters anything the seems threatening to her, the hair all
along the ridge of her back stands up and she growls. That's no
different from the kind of thing that happens to us humans when we are faced
with a threat. What has been shown in Dr. Vickers study is that one of the
physiological "hair bristlers" under the gun in putting is a form
of rapid eye movement. (We could call that "yips in the eyes.")
There is little doubt that such an effect will limit one's putting results,
so it needs attention. We would recommend, however, that one should start
with what causes that kind of effect, rather than starting with a means to
try to eliminate the effect itself. It will never happen, anymore than we can
find a way to stop Boot's hair from standing up. Sadly, all
the studies we have seen that claimed to be "new and revolutionary"
ways to solve problems in golf have been carried out and reported in some
kind of proprietary academic and rhetorical isolation. If the study came
through the field of psychology, it avoided physiology. If it came from
biomechanics, it avoided psychology. If a way could be found to solve
it with a new club, you can bet a new club showed up on eBay. And so
on. All seem to want to "corner the market," and none,
so far as we can see have yet been able to produce a finished, comprehensive
product. Meanwhile,
even without benefit of head gear and EEG facility, we will do a little
checking ourselves on what clear keys do to eye movement and the ability to
limit "fluttering" to a minimum - that is, as soon as the weather
gives some cooperation. Stay tuned, we will report. Postscript:
We are offering our Putting Book (free to all), for those who would like to
have it. Just go to this link to download it, and then |