Shrink Wrap - views from inside a psychologist's head

  YIPS - The Fairway Physician Investigates  Inclusivity - the word that captures the zeitgeist of the moment. Nothing can be exclusive, everyone should be given the opportunity to become part of the group. Golf, in particular, has been accused of being less than open and welcoming especially towards women. So it can be surprising to find an element of golf that afflicts mainly males and that females want to stay well clear of - the dreaded 'Yips'. For those that do not know 'Yips' are defined as an involuntary jerky movement when the required movement is a smooth action. It is particularly noticeable in golf in putting and chipping. In a recent study (presented at the World Scientific Congress of Golf) Dutch researchers looked at the prevalence of this issue. They sampled golfers at a Dutch golf club and 234 golfers responded. A whopping 22% indicated that they suffered from the yips. However the researchers noted that the majority of the club did NOT respond and, assu...

  Ping ChipR Vs Odyssey X-Act Tank Chipper – The Moment of Confidence (MOC), Bringing Rocket Science to Golf   It has long been known in high-risk industries such as space exploration that fantastic engineering is not enough to make any piece of equipment a success. It is the psychology of the design that will decide if the human operators will use it……..or not. The history of golf and engineering in all industries is littered with examples of technical marvels that the world ignored. For a piece of kit to fly off the shelves it has to fire up the primaeval circuits of the human brain that still drive our emotional response to our environment and everything in it. In neuroscience this is known as the MOC – the Moment of Confidence. After 30 years of applying MOC (the Moment of Confidence) into global industries the Chief Psychologist at Sport Psychology Ltd (SPL) has introduced this technique into sport with the creation of our new division PSYenz . With the releas...

  What Colour is Santa’s Coat?     Why golf needs more traditions…………..........……. ……….. delivered in a non-traditional manner       S. Smith, AFBPsS, C.Psychol, CSci, BSc St. Andrews Chief Psychologist Sport Psychology Ltd. Member ‘The College of Experts’: Independent Scientific Advisor to UK Government         Email: psych@sportpsychology.co.uk Phone: UK + 44 (0)7806 794 527   Dedicated to the memory of Scott Stewart 1969 -2020 Abstract Things ain’t what they used to be- these days children email their wishes to Santa’s online accounts and watch out for his arrival on their parents iPads. Traditions, like Santa, always evolve and have to move with the times if they are to survive. The traditions may evolve but the emotional power they have over us remains as strong as ever. It is folly to try and stop traditions from evolving or to throw beloved traditions in the garbage bin t...

  It has long been known that the best engineering can fall foul of the way that the human brain assesses the world and makes decisions. Whilst humans like to believe that they are logical and rational creatures, neuroscience has shown that 80% of decision making is driven by deep subconscious circuits in the brain. These emotionally driven shortcuts are the results of millions of years of evolution. The design of the human brain is not always a good fit for the intense demands of the 21 st century. For decades leading commercial organisations have been using these insights to design work equipment and environments to ensure that they light up all the positive circuits hidden in the user’s brain and not the red flag warning circuits. They have been designing for the user experience. This UX industry is now becoming commonplace in many organisations and will become standard in most by 2030. However, there are some industries that are always at the tail end of any change ...

  Are Dr. Alister MacKenzie’s Principles of Golf Design Still Relevant 100 Years on? Golfers say Not! 1.    Executive Summary In his seminal treatise on golf - Golf Architecture - written in 1920, Dr Alister MacKenzie laid down his “ 13 General Principles of Architecture ". In 2011 SPL ran a survey asking if these principles were still of value – the overwhelming response was yes. The purpose of this study was to see how relevant these principles are in a post Covid world and 100 years after their original publication. The participants were also asked to share their views on what a 14 th principle might be for the 21 st century. Key results: The table below shows the principles ranked by the percentage of respondents who perceived them as relevant to the 21 st Century. Principle % Still Highly Relevant The course should be so arranged that all levels of play can enjoy the round 94.4 The cour...