Skill vs. Talent
Talent is genetic. Skills are learnt.
The mechanics of pitching, hitting long irons, driving etc can be acquired through an understanding of technique, hard work, repetition and practice.
Skills effect achievement – poor movement mechanics limited the skill potential of the player.
Once you have learnt your basic techniques of movement you can start to advance your skills.
Putting
- Learn how to pace the putt
- Learn how to read the green
Chipping, Pitching, Bunkers
- Learn how to control the distance
- Learn how to control the spin
- Learn how to strike the ball out of different lies
Short Irons, Mid Irons, Long Irons
- Learn how to control the distance
- Learn how to strike the ball from awkward lies
- Learn how to control the spin on the ball.
Fairway Woods
- Learn how to strike the ball from awkward lies
- Learn how to control distance
- Learn how to power the ball
Driving
- Learn how to maintain consistency
- Learn how to control distance
- Learn how to increase power when required
Recovery Play
- Learn how to manoeuvre the ball around obstacles
- Understand the limits of your own powers of recovery.
Establishing a simply effective technique opens the door for skill development. If you make biomechanical1 errors your natural skills (kinesthetic awareness2) will attempt to make corrections.
This is how inconsistencies develop – the larger the error the greater the recovery.
However, if you take a mechanical advantage from your technique, then you will perform to the best of your ability and allow more skills to develop enhancing your golf performance.
The photo sequence above shows the skill of being able to create high club head speed while maintaining synchronisation and body stability.
1Biomechanics - The study of body movements and of the forces acting on the musculoskeletal system.
2Kinaesthetic Awareness - The perception or sensing of the motion, weight, or position of the body as muscles, tendons, and joints move.
“When you can vary the length of the backswing and the speed of the swing while maintaining direction and quality of strike then you can really play”