You suck at golf.
Picture the scene.
It’s the last hole.
You must make the final putt.
Your partner has missed theirs.
You’ve been missing putts to the right all day.
In fact, you’ve been missing putts to the right your whole life.
You take the shot.
Guess what? It misses right.
You think you suck at golf.
The good news is that you’re not alone.
I suck at golf too. The only difference is that I might know the reason we both suck.
I have been fortunate enough to work in high-performance golf for over 15 years with my roles as a physiotherapist within the high-performance teams for Golf Australia and the Japan Golf Association.
Even a slight improvement in your average round score in high-performance golf can mean the difference between a garage full of Ferraris and a failed career. Technology is crucial in analysing every aspect of a golfer’s game, from swing metrics to ground force reactions. As technology advances, so does our ability to improve golfers’ games.
Recently, at a high-performance golf camp, we used advanced technology to assess players’ visual performance. By employing platforms like NeuroFlex®, which utilises virtual reality to track head and eye movements, we can delve deeper into understanding how visual performance impacts a player’s game.
NeuroFlex® allow us to measure and analyse head and eye movements with greater precision. We can uncover potential factors influencing a player’s performance by correlating this data with statistical shot and putting data. At Your Brain Health, we hope platforms like NeuroFlex® become a standard part of golfers’ pre-game routines to optimise visual performance. In our work, we have been using NeuroFlex® in vestibular ocular-motor screens to obtain objective data. This data helps guide clinical decisions such as targeted concussion rehabilitation and more sensitive tracking of concussions for improved return-to-learn and play decisions. The more we learn about brain health, the more we know we can help people lead happier, healthier lives.
With fewer golf shots thrown in for good measure.
So, the next time you miss that putt to the right, remember it may have nothing to do with your stroke.
Maybe you don’t suck at golf after all.