Ever stand over a putt, thinking through every detail of your stroke, only to pull it badly? There’s a cognitive reason for that—and the research backing it up is fascinating.
Psychologists and neuroscientists have been studying golfers’ brains for decades in an attempt to better understand why we can make a pure roll that finds the bottom of the cup on the 8th hole, but stab the ball four feet past on the 12th.
Researchers tested golfers of different skill levels on a unique putting task. After learning the drill (a putting exercise on a practice green), some golfers were asked to describe their putting technique in detail, while others did an unrelated verbal activity (like describing a picture). Then everyone putted again.1
The results showed higher-skill golfers who described their putting technique performed significantly worse when they putted again. Lower-skill golfers showed no such decline.
Skilled golfers rely on “feel” stored in what’s known as procedural memory – our brain’s memory for movements. In other words that part of your mind knows how to putt. When asked to explain exactly what their body was doing—grip, stroke positions, how far back to take the putter—the skilled golfers unknowingly created a competing instruction manual which bypassed the more valuable procedural memory. That other part of our memory—declarative memory—took over and began reciting a list of putting mechanics.
This is critical to understanding the value of the Swing to Flow process. Establishing sound mechanics through practice provides inputs to your declarative memory. When putting during course play you’re exposed to details like slope, pace, grain, what’s behind the hole. These elements inform your procedural memory. The research supports what elite athletes have always known: overthinking disrupts skilled performance. Verbally analyzing your movements can actually corrupt the automatic motor memory you’ve built over time.
The reason beginners showed no decline in skill when describing how they putt the ball is because they haven’t yet developed strong procedural memory. They’re still consciously thinking through their technique, so verbalizing it doesn’t create this interference.
If you want to sink more putts, Let your procedural memory lead the way.
- Procedural memory (intuitive): “Just do it the way it feels”
- Declarative memory (analytical): “Let me think through what I’m supposed to do”
Source
- Adapted from: Flegal, K. E., & Anderson, M. C. (2008). Overthinking skilled motor performance: or why those who teach can’t do. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 15(5), 927-932. Read the research report here.
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