Estructuras de Retención con Ángulo Hipótesis de carga

YOUR GOLF SWING

The attraction and frustration of sport is that there is always room for improvement. There are no absolutes. Sprinters can run the 100 metres faster, batsmen can score more runs, tennis players can play more passing shots, darts players can score 180 more frequently, and a golf ball can always be struck more sweetly.

Regardless of the sport, there are two fundamental ways in which you can improve your game: technique and practice. Memory plays a key role in both. Golf, like chess, is a game of the mind, requiring high levels of concentration and mental composure. A good memory is invaluable for players of all standards. Beginners need to remember a whole range of things before each shot (stance, grip, angle of clubface). And a professional, faced with an awkward lie perhaps, or difficult playing conditions, should always be able to refer back to a relevant precedent, possibly from many years ago.

I am going to concentrate solely on how memory can improve one aspect of the game: your swing.

DECLARATIVE AND REFLEXIVE MEMORY

If you are being taught how to drive a car, you are constantly trying to convert what the instructor is saying into physical actions. You make a conscious effort to remember the order of 'mirror, signal, manoeuvre', for example. Mental recall of this sort is known as 'declarative memory'.

In time, you will begin to check in your mirror, flick on the indicator and pull out without consciously recalling your instructor's words. Your actions become automatic and there is no longer any conscious act of recall. Memory, however, still plays its part and is known as 'reflexive memory'.

Similarly, if you are being taught how to drive a golf ball down the centre of the fairway, you are desperately trying to convert what the instructor is saying into a respectable shot. In those early, frustrating weeks and months, your

technique relies heavily on your declarative memory: what were the instructor's ten key points? How was the man standing in the golfing video at home? And what did it say about grip in that book you got for Christmas?

Wouldn't life become so much easier if your declarative memory was able to absorb and recall all these tips in an instant? It would then be solely a matter of practice before they transferred into your reflexive memory. And think how much better your game would be if you could learn every piece of advice accurately. It's very common for errors to creep in, and a poor technique becomes second nature just as easily as a good one.

A simple journey can radically improve the efficiency of your declarative memory. It gives you the best possible start if you are learning to play golf or rebuilding an aspect of your game. Nothing demonstrates this better than the golf swing, the bane of so many golfers' lives. Instructors are always encourag- ing players to tick off a mental checklist of dos and don'ts before each swing - easier said than done in the heat of a game. Using a journey, however, you can memorize a whole series of detailed instructions, effortlessly running through them whenever you want.

THE GOLF SWING

The person we have to thank for the golf swing as we know it today is Harry Vardon, the British professional who dominated the game at the turn of the century. He won the British Open six times and the US Open once. Before Vardon, players used the 'classical swing', hitting the ball long and low, but not very accurately. Vardon's style was to hit the ball higher in the air, causing it to land at steeper angle and stop more quickly. It resulted in much greater accuracy and gave rise to the 'modern swing'.

Little did Vardon know what angst he would cause budding golfers, or how much work he was creating for golf coaches. People have been trying to master the modern swing ever since. Nick Faldo has spent most of his life in pursuit of the perfect action. After years of constant re-evaluation and analysis, he has come closer than anyone to achieving it. He has had to carry out a witch-hunt to get there, isolating negative aspects of his game that have crept into his reflexive memory, and using his declarative memory to learn new techniques. The rewards of such dedication are there for everyone to see. Faldo, like Kasparov, is an example to us all.

GOLF LESSONS

One of the hardest things about golf lessons is trying to remember every pearl of wisdom handed down by your coach. It's not just a question of remembering what you are doing wrong, you must also remember the bits you got right! No matter how you are taught, the easiest way to recall all your coach's dos and don'ts is to draw up a mental list.

The entire action of hitting a ball (from takeaway to impact) takes less than two seconds on average, but there is a crowded sequence of events that must come together in perfect harmony if you want to produce the desired corker of a shot.

I don't pretend to be a professional (if only), but here is a typical list of the areas that coaches suggest you should keep an eye on during your swing:

1. Grip 6. Backswing

2. Clubface aim 7. Top of 3. Ball position 8. Downswing

4. Stance 9. Impact

5. Posture 10. Follow through

In Chapter 2, you learnt how to memorize a list of ten items of shopping using images and a simple journey around your house. Treat this checklist in exactly the same way, except that I suggest you choose a route around your clubhouse. Allocate a different point to each stage: the car park covers your grip, for example the changing room covers your club-face the driving range covers ball position the video booth covers stance; and so on.

With a little imagination, you can store as much information as you want at each stage. Take the restaurant (fifth stage), for example, which covers posture. You might form an image of a waiter taking your order in a peculiar way: he is bending down from the waist slightly, with the knees flexed and back fairly straight (or whatever posture your coach recommends). An outspoken man- ageress shouts across at you, 'Keep your head still when you're having your order taken.' And so on.

Alternatively, you might prefer to stick with one simple association. For example, you could imagine that Fred Astaire is in the video booth (fourth stage); the camera is filming him tap dancing, focussing on his lightning quick feet. This reminds you to check your stance.

Every time you play a swing shot, you just have to run through your familiar journey, reminding yourself of all the points as you go. It doesn't take a moment - far less time than it takes to describe.

Using a journey gives you a better overall view of the shape and structure of your swing. It also gives you a solid framework of mental instructions that you can easily call upon during practice, allowing you to tweak and adjust every little aspect of your swing. After all, you are trying to ensure that only the purest instructions make their way from the declarative memory into your reflexive memory.

Other aspects of your game can also be stored at various locations around the clubhouse. To remember what your coach said about playing a downhill lie, for example, you could imagine a scene on some stairs. Tips on drawing the ball could be broken down and visualized along the driveway. All advice on bunker shots could be stored in the cellar. Apply the principles you have

already learnt: use instant associations to translate the information into memo- rable images. The more unusual they are, the better.

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HOW MEMORY

CAN IMPROVE