View from the 1st In the test tube
Last month the brightest minds in academia headed to Phoenix, Arizona to talk about golf. Matt Cooper explains the far reaching significance of this event
albeit on a different subject, “You snooze, you lose, Cooper.” My error was failing to
I
attend the sixth edition of the World Scientific Congress of Golf, a once-every-four-year union of the sharpest minds in the sport. An event which looks, at first glance, a little bit Professor-Brainstorm-plays-golf. I’m thinking of things like:
‘Is Wireless Electromyography Reliable for Studying The Golf Swing In a Heterogeneous Group of Golf?’ Sorry? What? Or: ‘Strategic Decision- Making in Golf: A Qualitative Exploration of the Experience and Meaning of Aggressive Play’. I think that’s the academic method of asking what Phil Mickelson and Bones Mackay are talking about on a reachable par-five. But I’m going to stop now because having a laugh at madcap ideas is a bit like shooting fish in a barrel. There’s also a far more sensible reason to not act the fool. Because some of the clever folk who
missed out last month. As someone said to me recently,
attended the Congress are anything but crackpots, in fact they are proven experts who have achieved stunning results in the world of golf. Pia Nilsson and Lyn Marriott
are two examples. They lead VISION54, a company which believes in the unlimited potential of every golfer. Both Nilsson and Marriott understand the mechanics of the golf swing but they passionately believe in leaving no stone unturned - physical, technical, mental, emotional, social or spiritual. Want to know how good
they are? Annika Sorenstam and Yani Tseng swear by them. They’re not a bad pair of advocates. Closer to home there
is Paul Hurrion of Quintic, the Coventry-based sports biomechnic specialists and performance analysts. His most famous client is the tireless Padraig Harrington and I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Hurrion in action. One simple image comes to mind - it’s like watching the Willy Wonka of
putting in action. Of course, plenty of fuddy-duddies will tut-tut the exhaustive Hurrion method, which uses science, high-speed cameras, innovative ball-roll software and customised putters. More fool them. His determination to eliminate error in the putting stroke is not just detailed, it is bordering on OCD. But it works and it is ahead of the curve. So while it is entertaining to
look at the Congress schedule and giggle at subjects like “the importance of a quiet eye when putting”, or “the links between handwriting and putting”, bear this in mind - what seems silly today might be commonplace theory in a few years time. Right, time to go. I need to
read about ‘Applying simple and acute kinematic alterations to elicit change in golf club speed and angle of approach’. What do you mean you
don’t know what that is? You will do soon. Maybe …
• Follow Matt on
www.twitter. com/MattCooperGolf
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4
Pro Shop Europe April 2012
Helping the golf industry do business
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