THE QATSPY® Golf Swing Self-Coaching Strike Zone Tech

THE QATSPY® Golfer’s Inside-the-Leather Sports, Health, and Lifestyle Page

By: Charles W. Boatright

Establishing the Baseball-Type Strike Zone Sports Psychology in Your Golf Game

One advantage that the golfer can take advantage of during their practice, as well as, and performance on the course is to keep their focus confined to a really narrow area. This is what Sports Psychologists refer to a laser focus, or being in the zone. The more narrow the golfer’s focus is, the better the golfer’s performance will be on a consistent basis.

One way to create a narrow focus is with a confined space with mental images. The golfer can actually create an image of a confined space during their practice and performance on the golf course, shown in the featured image above. The more vivid the image and confined space are, the better and more instinctive the golfer’s game will be in the 5- inches space between the ears that Bobby Jones, Sr. referred to in his quote.

When the golfer plays golf, they will rely totally on their subconscious mind. The tendency for most golfers, however, is to practice developing swing thoughts. This is the worst process to use if you’re trying to lower your handicap and frustration level, which I think we all are after.

Developing the Golfer’s Instinctive Golf Game

Ninety percent (90%) of our golf game, as well as any task we perform is based on natural instincts. Instincts are exclusively a subconscious function. Believe me, you might practice golf with your conscious mind; but once you step foot onto the golf course, you will be relying exclusively on your subconscious mind. This is THE REASON why golfers can’t perform on the golf course what they just practiced on the range or in their backyard.

Using Another Type of Driving Skill for the Golf Game

1963 Chevrolet Corvette to improve your mental golf game.

A great example of developing instincts is driving a sports car, like the classic 1963 Chevrolet Corvette, with a 3-speed manual transmission. At first, there’s a huge learning curve to synchronize the gear box with the accelerator, clutch, and brake, especially on an incline.

But after perseverance, grinding gears, and repetition of operating a manual transmission, it becomes instinctive and natural to the driver. The driver is relying on their instincts to drive the Corvette with a 3-Speed manual. Driving has to become a subconscious function in order to be proficient and enjoy driving. This is exactly what the golfer wants to create in their golf game.

The more mental images you can create in your golf game the more natural and instinctive golf game you will be in practice and on the golf course.

Golf is similar to learning to operate a manual transmission of the Corvette, I created a zone of focus in my golf game, where the majority of my golf swing sequence takes place in a confined space. This confined space is what I call the zone, or Strike Zone. This is huge in the fact it narrows my focus to three (3) anatomical components, my wrists, palm, and elbows within the Strike Zone, shown below.

Figure No. 1 The Baseball-Type Strike Zone for developing the golfer’s instincts

In golf, I coach the golfer to focus on four main areas during my training sessions on and off the golf course- the strike zone, wrists, palm, and elbow. This creates a very confined mental image that is key to training and performing using the subconscious mind. This Strike Zone technique allows the golfer to focus, instead of having swing thoughts.

Figure No. 2 The Palm and golf clubface connection

The very last thing the golfer wants to do after first few months of practicing The Palmer Technique and especially playing on the golf course is to think. The golfer objective after three (3) months is to The Palmer Technique become instinctive.

What the Golfer’s Objectives:

NOTE: The following is in reference to the right-handed golfer for convenience only are:

Create a strike zone with a depth between the belly button and the bottom of the golfer’s pants pockets; the length of your hip socket; and width of the golfer’s shoe. The golfer creates a mental image of the golf ball in the strike zone and the swing plane, shown in Figure No. 1.
Create an image of the golf clubface in the right palm of the golfer’s hand. I even tell my students to purchase the right-handed golf glove, so I can trace the clubface onto the palm of the glove for training, In Figure No. 2.
Preset the wrist action in the golf swing sequence by performing a Palmer-Dorsiflex. Kickboxing glove are great to help the golfer pinpoint the top part of their wrists, in Figure No. 3.
The Preset Palmer Technique allows the golfer’s to lock their right elbow with their right side. This was a technique that Arnold Palmer gave to President Eisenhower before they played in a Pro-Am.

Figure No. 3 The Kickboxing Gloves for training in the golfer’s practice sessions.

These four techniques, along with a full self-coaching guide, are covered in my QATR-408 Palmer Technique (the wrist action in the golf swing) as an Online Download from my E-Store: