Are you a left brain golfer or a right brain golfer?

[SHIBUMI]

When it is their turn to hit, a golfer who takes 10-15 seconds to complete the shot is a right brainer. When they take 15-20 seconds to complete the shot they are a left brainer.

Why does this matter. When you stray 5 seconds or more from your time you will hit a bad shot.
You will hear yourself say, well, I rushed that or I took too much time. And that is correct.

Your goal is to understand your time that produces the best result. Now, if the people you are playing with are all left brain and you are right brain, eventually their pace will destroy you pace.
And you will shoot a higher score. And vice versa.

Golfers who have a favorite foursome is primarily due to them being all the same brain type. However, 4 left brainers will play slower and just need to move faster in between shots.

There is no wrong answer here, you just need to know what you are so you can maximize your mind to body connection. Some are faster, some are slower.

Greg Norman is a left brainer. Lee Trevino a right brainer. In the 1986 Masters, Norman has a chance to tie Jack Nicklaus with a par on the last hole. His second shot time took him 30 seconds, this created a major mind to body malfunction and a terribly errant shot. No playoff.

Neither brain type is wrong, it's just yours. If you understand that and play within it you will play better. A more current term for this is your routine hitting a golf ball. If your routine strays more than 5 seconds from your time, you will hit a bad shot.

And yes you can blame the people you are playing with if you are in the minority of brain type for that foursome. They will either speed you up or slow you down and wham! Bad round.

You can predict what kind of a day you will have by analyzing your foursome. A 2 and 2 combination works best. BUT, if you are outnumbered you will shot 5-8 shots worse.

You are entitled to your routine time, don't stray or you will pay the price.

Know thyself and play your best golf. Shibumi Golf.

P.S. if you run into casual golfers, be patient for they are just no brainers.

[kcrazorbackfan]

Definitely right brain. Out of the cart, walk up, hit the ball.

[tophcfa]

The faster the pace, the better I play. At our ages, practice swings do more harm than good. The only time I take a few seconds before taking a stroke, is on the green so I can figure out which direction the grain is growing.

[SHIBUMI]

How do you figure out which way the grain is growing? thanks


The faster the pace, the better I play. At our ages, practice swings do more harm than good. The only time I take a few seconds before taking a stroke, is on the green so I can figure out which direction the grain is growing.

[tophcfa]

How do you figure out which way the grain is growing? thanks

The easiest way is to look at the hole. About half way around the hole the grass is growing over the edge of the cup (the clean half) and on the other half the grass is growing away from the edge of the cup (it looks a little ragged around the cup). If your putting toward the clean half your going down grain (put will be faster) and if your putting towards the ragged half your into the grain (put will be slower). Cross grain puts will tend to break toward the ragged half of the cup, especially when loosing speed. Learning to read the grain is a key to avoiding the dreaded friggin three put on the Bermuda hybrid greens found in the Villages. Golf on : )

[SHIBUMI]

What if you have a long putt and the grain is only half way there??? what do you do?? can you see that grain although its not around the cup.......

The easiest way is to look at the hole. About half way around the hole the grass is growing over the edge of the cup (the clean half) and on the other half the grass is growing away from the edge of the cup (it looks a little ragged around the cup). If your putting toward the clean half your going down grain (put will be faster) and if your putting towards the ragged half your into the grain (put will be slower). Cross grain puts will tend to break toward the ragged half of the cup, especially when loosing speed. Learning to read the grain is a key to avoiding the dreaded friggin three put on the Bermuda hybrid greens found in the Villages. Golf on : )

[CoachKandSportsguy]

When it is their turn to hit, a golfer who takes 10-15 seconds to complete the shot is a right brainer. When they take 15-20 seconds to complete the shot they are a left brainer.

Why does this matter. When you stray 5 seconds or more from your time you will hit a bad shot.
You will hear yourself say, well, I rushed that or I took too much time. And that is correct.

Your goal is to understand your time that produces the best result. Now, if the people you are playing with are all left brain and you are right brain, eventually their pace will destroy you pace.
And you will shoot a higher score. And vice versa.

Golfers who have a favorite foursome is primarily due to them being all the same brain type. However, 4 left brainers will play slower and just need to move faster in between shots.

There is no wrong answer here, you just need to know what you are so you can maximize your mind to body connection. Some are faster, some are slower.

Greg Norman is a left brainer. Lee Trevino a right brainer. In the 1986 Masters, Norman has a chance to tie Jack Nicklaus with a par on the last hole. His second shot time took him 30 seconds, this created a major mind to body malfunction and a terribly errant shot. No playoff.

Neither brain type is wrong, it's just yours. If you understand that and play within it you will play better. A more current term for this is your routine hitting a golf ball. If your routine strays more than 5 seconds from your time, you will hit a bad shot.

And yes you can blame the people you are playing with if you are in the minority of brain type for that foursome. They will either speed you up or slow you down and wham! Bad round.

You can predict what kind of a day you will have by analyzing your foursome. A 2 and 2 combination works best. BUT, if you are outnumbered you will shot 5-8 shots worse.

You are entitled to your routine time, don't stray or you will pay the price.

Know thyself and play your best golf. Shibumi Golf.

P.S. if you run into casual golfers, be patient for they are just no brainers.

Although left brain versus right brain is an easy binary, either or concept, I suspect its a metaphor for Level 1 vs Level 2 brain activity, as well as an oversimplified personality type analogy

The more intuitive you are, the more you play by feel, meaning you have practiced enough to unconsciously hit the ball to the correct distance. The less intuitive you are, the more mechanical you have to be, more engineerish like Dechambeau. That being said, left eye dominant and right brain dominant is a real binary different, as is near sighted, far sighted, one eye of each, and astigmatism, which is much more of an issue to have to work at to overcome.

Refer to the Phil Mickelson interview with Feherty, describing his version of the two different successful golfer types.

TikTok - Make Your Day (https://www.tiktok.com/@caseoftheshanks/video/7360011206549081386)

so I don't disagree with the differences in humans and golfers, I do disagree with the oversimplification of left brain right brain is the reason. The world is seldom as simple as a binary answer, though humans can easily gravitate towards it, especially if you have a more Judgmental personality type.

[SHIBUMI]

Keep it simple coach....... the golf swing is not reactionary, the ball ain't moving........ binary is good........

Left eye dominant and right brain not relevant. Left eye is corrected by a different alignment. You can hit it right sided but have to aim with left eye. You aim with your dominant eye, regardless.

The Mickelson video is nice but not relevant here. He is determining what to hit and why. We are dealing with actual movement. When it's your turn to address the ball, what is your time to finish.

If its 10-15 you are right brain, more intuitive as you said, if its 15-20 seconds you are left Brain, more mechanical because you don't have a right brainers feel.

The real Key here is to know what YOU are and stay within your time limits to get a good mind to body connection creating a better shot.

But, as I said, if you get caught playing with 3 other golfers who are all different than you in those times than you(brain type) you are going to have a bad day.

And thats why people have favorite foursomes, their brain types match and their shot times match.
So pick your foursomes carefully.

The best advice from sports psychologists to deal with pressure on the golf course is to not change your routine. i.e. your time to finish a shot........if a little pressure causes you to rush or take more time it equals a bad shot, no swing fault, your fault.

Bottom Line is to know your shot routine time and stick to it. Shibumi Golf

PS... thanks for the video, it is interesting for pre-shot thinking


Although left brain versus right brain is an easy binary, either or concept, I suspect its a metaphor for Level 1 vs Level 2 brain activity, as well as an oversimplified personality type analogy

The more intuitive you are, the more you play by feel, meaning you have practiced enough to unconsciously hit the ball to the correct distance. The less intuitive you are, the more mechanical you have to be, more engineerish like Dechambeau. That being said, left eye dominant and right brain dominant is a real binary different, as is near sighted, far sighted, one eye of each, and astigmatism, which is much more of an issue to have to work at to overcome.

Refer to the Phil Mickelson interview with Feherty, describing his version of the two different successful golfer types.

TikTok - Make Your Day (https://www.tiktok.com/@caseoftheshanks/video/7360011206549081386)

so I don't disagree with the differences in humans and golfers, I do disagree with the oversimplification of left brain right brain is the reason. The world is seldom as simple as a binary answer, though humans can easily gravitate towards it, especially if you have a more Judgmental personality type.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Keep it simple coach....... the golf swing is not reactionary, the ball ain't moving........ binary is good........

PS... thanks for the video, it is interesting for pre-shot thinking

sorry, can't keep it simple with what i know from other sports and psychology reading.

If it works for you, great, doesn't work for me, after reading "Thinking fast and slow", which references the two different thought processes, but doesn't insist/suggest/label that they are apportioned to each part of the brain, and Myers Briggs personality types, and watching for over 25 years how the different personality types show up in actions and reactions.

since i am highly intuitive, the binary opposite of judgmental, and having lived with strong judgmental types, its easy to see the differences which may be associated with left brained and right brained, to overly simplify the concept

[asianthree]

OP little confused, you are offering tips or insight on pros, at what second one should strike the ball. Yet you’re asking how to read the grain?

Is there water present, and how it may effect the putt. How recently was the green cut, last time they sanded. How many weeds are growing within the line of putt. How many divots one must fix, is the hole cut at an angle, the middle of the downward slope of the green.

Does loud music playing next to the tee or the ongoing conversation from the foursome that drives to the tee before the first in your foursome hits?
All are may be as important as how many seconds it takes to tee off.

[SHIBUMI]

Judging by what you say, I assume, wrong word maybe, that you would be a right brainer, intuitive.

Given that assumption, are you in fact a 10-15 second brainer.
If so, it's good to know so your routine stays within those time limits. You will play your best if you do.

thanks for the insights.........

sorry, can't keep it simple with what i know from other sports and psychology reading.

If it works for you, great, doesn't work for me, after reading "Thinking fast and slow", which references the two different thought processes, but doesn't insist/suggest/label that they are apportioned to each part of the brain, and Myers Briggs personality types, and watching for over 25 years how the different personality types show up in actions and reactions.

since i am highly intuitive, the binary opposite of judgmental, and having lived with strong judgmental types, its easy to see the differences which may be associated with left brained and right brained, to overly simplify the concept

[SHIBUMI]

Those good facts are used to determine where you want to aim the ball. Once done, and this is not just for pros its for everyone, Your time taken to create the proper mind to body motion becomes of the utmost importance. If your off by 5 seconds=bad shot, no good mind to body co-ordination.

Sorry to say, very little golf instruction is about how to co-ordinate your body. Are you a left side hitter or a right side hitter. Meaning, does the left side lead the swing or does the right side.

Grain has always confused me, as I look at it I cant tell where the grass is favoring one side or the other. So I default to where the water flows and take that as the direction of the grain.

Three things of major import here:

1. Are you left eye or right eye dominant....controls aim
2. Are you a left side lead swing or a right side lead swing..controls co-ordination
3. Are you a 10-15 second hitter or a 15-20 second hitter.....controls transfer of mind to body

answer those three things and scores will drop in a major way.

Shibumi Golf

OP little confused, you are offering tips or insight on pros, at what second one should strike the ball. Yet you’re asking how to read the grain?

Is there water present, and how it may effect the putt. How recently was the green cut, last time they sanded. How many weeds are growing within the line of putt. How many divots one must fix, is the hole cut at an angle, the middle of the downward slope of the green.

Does loud music playing next to the tee or the ongoing conversation from the foursome that drives to the tee before the first in your foursome hits?
All are may be as important as how many seconds it takes to tee off.

[asianthree]

Those good facts are used to determine where you want to aim the ball. Once done, and this is not just for pros its for everyone, Your time taken to create the proper mind to body motion becomes of the utmost importance. If your off by 5 seconds=bad shot, no good mind to body co-ordination.

Sorry to say, very little golf instruction is about how to co-ordinate your body. Are you a left side hitter or a right side hitter. Meaning, does the left side lead the swing or does the right side.

Grain has always confused me, as I look at it I cant tell where the grass is favoring one side or the other. So I default to where the water flows and take that as the direction of the grain.

Three things of major import here:

1. Are you left eye or right eye dominant....controls aim
2. Are you a left side lead swing or a right side lead swing..controls co-ordination
3. Are you a 10-15 second hitter or a 15-20 second hitter.....controls transfer of mind to body

answer those three things and scores will drop in a major way.

Shibumi Golf

I spent every weekend at the club reading greens at a very young age, with my dad.

There is a flaw in methodology for sight impaired, Macular degeneration, or glaucoma. Especially if vision fluctuates between eyes. Never the same for a day, sometimes sight can fluctuate 20 times a day.

Water such as ponds can have a determination on putt. Not water run off, especially if drainage is built correctly. Water should not run off a green, especially into bunkers or surrounding areas to form standing water. Grain is either easy to read for some or a guessing game for others.

As far as how many seconds no idea, my dad taught me stay out of my head, choose club by distance, never tee an iron. Never second guess. Never take a mulligan. Don’t complicate by overthinking. So counting off seconds, would be overthinking.

So you were a golf pro, instructor or net surfer?

[SHIBUMI]

that being said, you don't have to count off time, you will know in your head if your time is off. If that happens, back away and redo.

we are not talking about thinking, we are talking about what amount of time do you need over your shot to feel comfortable and makes you co-ordinate your motion properly.
Motion and what makes it happen is the key. Your proper time will allow that to happen the best.
Counting off time is a feel and not a thought. Do what you do and realize its done the best if its within the proper time for you to co-ordinate your motion well.

You could be a right or left brainer, you either need more or less time to co-ordinate your motion.
There is no wrong answer. But you need to know what you are so you can maintain that routine. Watch others and you will tell very quickly what they are and when they are prone to error. If a left brainer is playing rushed, then double the bet.

Some good advice given.........choose club by distance, must first determine what the true distance is, see Coaches Phil Mickelson clip, was told to always tee an iron so you guarantee
a good lie, in the old days, kids used to suck lifesavers and when there were preferred lies they would spit it out and put ball on it, never second guess great advice no negativity, never take a mulligan good stuff, over think your plan on what club to hit, but not your motion.

A golf swing surgeon if you must know.........pro and instructor...........thanks for the input


I spent every weekend at the club reading greens at a very young age, with my dad.

There is a flaw in methodology for sight impaired, Macular degeneration, or glaucoma. Especially if vision fluctuates between eyes. Never the same for a day, sometimes sight can fluctuate 20 times a day.

Water such as ponds can have a determination on putt. Not water run off, especially if drainage is built correctly. Water should not run off a green, especially into bunkers or surrounding areas to form standing water. Grain is either easy to read for some or a guessing game for others.

As far as how many seconds no idea, my dad taught me stay out of my head, choose club by distance, never tee an iron. Never second guess. Never take a mulligan. Don’t complicate by overthinking. So counting off seconds, would be overthinking.

So you were a golf pro, instructor or net surfer?

[Snakster66]

What if you're 15 seconds on the button?


For me, I live by the philosophy, "Think Long, Think Wrong".

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Three things of major import here:

1. Are you left eye or right eye dominant....controls aim
2. Are you a left side lead swing or a right side lead swing..controls co-ordination
3. Are you a 10-15 second hitter or a 15-20 second hitter.....controls transfer of mind to body

answer those three things and scores will drop in a major way.

Shibumi Golf

if it was only that easy!
don't over sell it!
There are alot of assumptions here to get that magical drop in strokes.

The biggest issue is that golfers are humans, not machines.
That is why a pro golfer can shoot a course record one day,
and par the next day. . .

Pros tend to follow routines religiously, but the results are seldom identical.

So simplifying hitting routine to a binary reason may be helpful to convince someone to adapt a certain change, but the hard wired human facts of each individual is immensely difficult to overcome without professional level of dedication.

In my very much younger days, I have played several of my favorite sports against actual professionals, not golf, and the difference between amateurs and professionals is immense and ginormous, don't kid yourself.

The problem with golf is that TV coverage of professionals makes the sport look very easy. . But to make something look that easy, requires thousands of hours of practice, and a physical advantage of certain skills over the average human. there are no short cuts such as left brain or right brain advantages. .

[SHIBUMI]

It's a range.... 5 seconds shorter or longer than your range = malfunction=bad shot.

There is some confusion here...........thinking is done before its time to hit
When its time to hit you just want to be feeling your set-up and aim and time to swing

zero thought in your routine all feel and visual till its time to go

its about feeling not thinking............





What if you're 15 seconds on the button?


For me, I live by the philosophy, "Think Long, Think Wrong".

[SHIBUMI]

Sorry, the point is to know what you are. In that way you can follow a routine that maximizes your potential. In this way you can get into the zone and stay there better...........
I am not trying to make you a professional........that IS a ginormous jump
I am just trying to make you aware of things that disrupt your mind to body connection....

know thyself and play better golf.........this is just something folks are unaware of and has a large bearing on performance, at any level.

On another note Coach, your thoughts on muscle memory. I don't believe it exists. Muscles are activated by the brain, so it is in fact brain memory. Practice feeds the brain memory to duplicate movement, muscles just react to what they are told to do. thanks for any insight


if it was only that easy!
don't over sell it!
There are alot of assumptions here to get that magical drop in strokes.

The biggest issue is that golfers are humans, not machines.
That is why a pro golfer can shoot a course record one day,
and par the next day. . .

Pros tend to follow routines religiously, but the results are seldom identical.

So simplifying hitting routine to a binary reason may be helpful to convince someone to adapt a certain change, but the hard wired human facts of each individual is immensely difficult to overcome without professional level of dedication.

In my very much younger days, I have played several of my favorite sports against actual professionals, not golf, and the difference between amateurs and professionals is immense and ginormous, don't kid yourself.

The problem with golf is that TV coverage of professionals makes the sport look very easy. . But to make something look that easy, requires thousands of hours of practice, and a physical advantage of certain skills over the average human. there are no short cuts such as left brain or right brain advantages. .