Out with the old paradigm, in with the new… Internal Focus vs External Focus in ball-striking

The primary difference between the old paradigm and the new one is where golfers’ focus their attention. In the old paradigm, the focus is on the body and trying to get it to behave in a bio-mechanically “correct” fashion with the assumption that the clubhead will do what it is supposed to if the swing is bio-mechanically correct. In the new paradigm, golfers focus their minds and intentions on the skillful use of the clubhead, with their bodies’ bio-mechanical movements and positions occurring naturally and instinctively in response to the player’s intention of what s/he desires to accomplish with the ball, with the club acting as a tool to accomplish the goal and the body simply moves in whatever way it needs to in response to those intentions.

At this point you might be thinking, “Hardly anybody in the modern golf instruction industry talks about the concepts of this ‘new paradigm’ that you’ve proposed: How do you know that they an accurate explanation of what is really going on in the learning process of these ‘elite’ golfers? Also, you claim that the concepts of the modern golf instruction paradigm – the ‘old’ paradigm – are actually pseudo-scientific and lacking in any real scientific validation. Do your concepts have any ‘real’ scientific validity?”

Funny you should ask these questions! In this post, we will see how science supports the new modern golf instruction paradigm... and refutes the old. We will take a look at the pioneering work of University of Nevada Las Vegas research scientist Dr. Gabriele Wulf in the field of motor skill acquisition. Her research findings regarding the most effective approach to learning motor skills in various sport disciplines including golf are rather eye opening to say the least!