Looking at 2008

[Markthirtytwo]

Not too often though! To me golfers have just the right mix with their training. Between tournaments they get to practice the volume - thousands of shots on the practice fairway, thousands of putts, bunker shots etc without any pressure on them. They can hone their swing, refine their technique and train themselves to be able to repeat their swing automatically. Then during the tournaments their game is exposed to the pressures of competition.

The advantage they have is that professional golfers get to play about 280 shots during a tournament, where there is pressure on them, heaps of people watching, dollars slipping away with every missed stroke, the cut looming, opponents breathing down their neck, the leaderboard staring them in the face etc. If Skill = Technique + Pressure then they are getting the perfect combination. For Nick Gill on the other hand, he only gets 4 shots at goal during a game to test himself under match conditions. And that's a good game.

They have tested groups of professional athletes and compared them to groups of non-professional athletes to see what it is that sets the best athletes apart. In terms of being able to execute skill (passes, kicks, catches etc) there was minimal difference between the two groups.

However, when they had to do activities like executing a series of passes and at the same time identify a series of coloured flashing lights in their peripheral vision, the professional athletes significantly outperformed the non-professional athletes. For the most talented athletes, the skill is done subconsciously and automatically which leaves their mind clear to choose the right option, to be aware of the players around them, to be able to read the play etc.

Transfer that to Nick Gill. There is the isolated skill of kicking. Then there is the opposition trying to put you off. The state of the game. Your place in the team. Your reputation as a poor kick. The wind (not at the Dome though!). The crowd watching. The fact that you are on national tv for the first time. The fact that your club is sitting 9th and is in a must win game. Your parents and mates have all come along to watch you. Will you be retained on the Crows list? Etc etc.

There are training methods that can supposedly make athletes more immune to the pressures of the contest. For Nick Gill it might be giving him a series of tasks to do while he is practicing kicking for goal at training. You try to 'overload' his brain so that he is not consciously thinking about the process of kicking the ball. If possible you make training harder than the game.

You have come up with a pretty good argument Carl. But just remember Tiger having his best friend (his father) pass away. He went off the boil for a while but came back magnificently. Practise can't help you with that sort of mind set. We don't know what goes through their minds when they are preparing to play a shot but some are stronger than most, but only one wins.

 

[feenix67]

lmao...Im smarty pants but Carl's is a good post......they say the same thing you tool.

The difference between the average golfer and Tiger is that, if they were both put on the 18th at St Andrews with a 4 footer for the British Open, Tiger makes 9 out of 10 and the average golfer makes 2 at best. Thats the benefit of practice. Yes Tiger will miss the occaisional putt but he'll make a helluva lot more than Average Joe.

And if you want to test this theory out, just put a scratch club golfer up against a pro and see how much the pro wins by - the scratch golfer may have the same natural ability (even more perhaps) - but the pro wins every time, and it's not even close. Thats the benefit of physical and mental practice.

Practice includes mental preparation, which I think is one of the key areas of improvement we will see in AFL in the next 10 years. Not so much the motivational side, but the execution side, particularly under real match pressure. We have already started to see very set, repetitive goal kicking routines by some of the better goal kickers (why do you think Lloyd tosses the grass in the air when the roof's closed at the dome?) and I think thats only the beginning.

And please, dont try to bait me with your inane accusations. If you cant state your case without getting personal then best not to say anything I would have thought....

 

[Markthirtytwo]

lmao...Im smarty pants but Carl's is a good post......they say the same thing you tool.

The difference between the average golfer and Tiger is that, if they were both put on the 18th at St Andrews with a 4 footer for the British Open, Tiger makes 9 out of 10 and the average golfer makes 2 at best. Thats the benefit of practice. Yes Tiger will miss the occaisional putt but he'll make a helluva lot more than Average Joe.

And if you want to test this theory out, just put a scratch club golfer up against a pro and see how much the pro wins by - the scratch golfer may have the same natural ability (even more perhaps) - but the pro wins every time, and it's not even close. Thats the benefit of physical and mental practice.

Practice includes mental preparation, which I think is one of the key areas of improvement we will see in AFL in the next 10 years. Not so much the motivational side, but the execution side, particularly under real match pressure. We have already started to see very set, repetitive goal kicking routines by some of the better goal kickers (why do you think Lloyd tosses the grass in the air when the roof's closed at the dome?) and I think thats only the beginning.

And please, dont try to bait me with your inane accusations. If you cant state your case without getting personal then best not to say anything I would have thought....

If you can't work it out ask your son, Im sure he can notice the difference in tone of the reply.

You seem a very angry person and my suggestion would be to have a Bex and a lie down.

 

[feenix67]

If you can't work it out ask your son, Im sure he can notice the difference in tone of the reply.

You seem a very angry person and my suggestion would be to have a Bex and a lie down.

the only anger I sense is in your posts my friend.