Swingthoughts (BuST)
I would like to ask any others whether they have any swingthoughts that have helped them. I remember starting to drive and starting to play golf and I had all these thoughts in my head and when I became more accustomed these thoughts became less important and I did things automatically.
My weakness is my forehand, can be amazing and can be really crap. The good thing is, I know why! and its down to BuST!
(1) Before I get onto the BuST to play well I have to cradle the neck of the racket, which gives me a full shoulder turn. Above picture shows Nole Djok and his shoulder turn after releasing the racket throat. I dont think the extended arm is just a factor of this, I do believe they are taught to hold their arm out that split second longer to aid balance and also stops body rotation too early.
(B) Ball: watch the ball, sounds obvious but the amount of time I take my eye off the ball is unbelievable and so easy to forget this one. When the ball is on its way to me my brain says BALL which makes me watch the ball right onto the strings.
(S) Space: give myself space to hit the ball, or get out of the way of the ball. So when I see the direction my brain says SPACE and I get out of the way to enable me to swing fully.
(T) Time: Ive always got more time than I think so as the ball is bouncing my brain says TIME. It stops me from rushing my shots.
I say all thes things but B is the most important and S & T just fall into place cos Ive said BALL in my head. Also when things move quickly we all work on auto-pilot.
I hope this helps some people, its helped me. I think its pretty obvious and I didnt need any pro or coach to tell me this. I remember when I was young and I taught myself Chess then when I was 15 I started playing golf (started off 9 handicap) and took myself to a 3 handicap by the time I was 17 all by watching the pros, seeing who was closest to my swing style and picking up on swingthoughts and techniques.
Dont get me wrong this can wreck your head, but persist as it will come good in the end.
Get BuSTing!!!!
Comment
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Comment by Scott Bellisle on May 30, 2009 at 8:25pm -
Hey Mr. Mayer,
I was just thinking of what you said about not following through at the net when the game is tight. I do believe in our mind, we tell ourself to be cautous and unfortunately it bites us in the you know what. It is important for us to tell ourselves the opposite. To always go for the ones you need to and always "commit to it" is what is the key to making easier shots more consistantly. Fighting through things that makes up play better in the future.
Scotty B.
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Comment by Meags on May 30, 2009 at 10:15am
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I think if you naturally rotate your body in a full swing then it should automatically come over your shoulder or in my case across my body more than over the shoulder (check out the Nole, Monfils and Roddick follow throughs on my page). So its more to do with that than worrying whether it goes over your shoulder after you have hit the ball.
As for serve for me its all about rhythm but the important thing is ball toss. My problem is throwing it up too short.
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Comment by Mark / The Mayor on May 30, 2009 at 9:42am
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Great post Richard. I definitely stay away from too much thought about the intracacies of my swing motion. I have good technique, but occassionally will not follow thru all the way. This happens when i get tight in matches. So I conciously try to remind myself to let the racquet come all the way up and around my left shoulder at the end of the stroke. You'll see all the pros do this. Your point about body rotation is a very good one too and is somewhat related to the follow through. BALL: so true, I know where you are coming from on this as well - I think I'm watching the ball, but not always. On those rare occassions where I remember this, I find that i am not watching it all the way into the strings.
I think about my service motion a lot - too much - and I've definitely sunk into some mental anguish and psychological torture with that stroke. I try not to think about it, but it comes and goes and is still somewhat of a mystery why.
M
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