Adam Young's Loci of Foci

The Mental Side of Things
#1

I’m a big fan of @Adamyounggolf’s content and love pointing people to it. One the most helpful ideas from his The Practice Manual is his discussion of attention: where is your focus during your swing? He summarizes that content in this post on his blog.

He identifies the loci of foci as:

  • Internal: you’re focusing on some part of your body moving a certain way
  • Near external: for example, you’re focusing on hitting a certain part of the face or hitting the ground in a certain place
  • Far external: for example, you’re focusing on the target, a landing area, or a specific ball flight
  • Neutral: for example, counting backwards from 10 or humming a tune; you’re not actively thinking about the golf shot at all
  • Transcendental: you’re in the zone

Adam points us that most golfers can produce very different results merely by shifting where their focus is during a swing.

For my part, as someone hyper-analytic about golf, I can get very trapped in internal focus. What I’ve found is that my off-season needs to be chiefly internal and near external, and on the course I need to move to near-external and far external.

If you’ve not considered this before, give it a bit of thought. If you have, what kind of focus works best for your game?

7 Likes
#2

During the swing? I don’t think anything, just eyes on my spot (using the Pix balls these days for this reason). When I think during the swing, it never really works out.

2 Likes
#3

I know for me, especially for putting, when I start thinking internally my putting goes to crap. my best putting happens when I focus on the hole and trying to get the pace right. Same is pretty true for chipping but I’m much more focused on where the ball lands than the hole.

2 Likes
#4

It isn’t so much a question of thinking as much as it is where is your focus. So you’ve answered it as “near external.” I’ve found some good success with this, not so much focusing on a spot on the ball, but on a spot just in front of the ball, with the idea of getting my low point there.

3 Likes
#5

My focus has to be pre-shot. Where’s my target. What shape do I need. Come in high or low. Spinny or release. Once that’s sorted in my mind I let my body take over and shut my brain off.
I just have to trust my swing. If my brain has any activity during the swing I’m screwed.

2 Likes
#6

I like internal focus on chest if I need a “thought”

Otherwise I try and get focused on the target and ball flight

1 Like
#7

A bit softer focus than that for me. My ball spot isn’t to influence my swing at all, it’s more just to have something to center on to better let go of outer distractions and maintain a quiet mind.

3 Likes
#8

I think about takeaway…I focus on the first foot or so and then it is just make sure i hit it solid every time…I don’t, but i try too!

1 Like
#9

Great post. I think this is one of the more interesting topics that @Adamyounggolf has covered, and I know in my own game that neutral thinking (along with external) has helped tremendously. I try not to have any internal swing thoughts, but of course that’s impossible sometimes!

5 Likes
#10

Same here, at this point. All thinking is done during my practice swing(s)

1 Like
#11

If you ever really want to mess with your golf swing, start thinking about what you are doing with your breath during it… inhale during takeaway? exhale during swing?

That was a wild and unproductive few days for me (one day of trying it, and multiple days of undoing it)

2 Likes
#12

Love this exploration and these distinctions. I have come to find that internal focus spells disaster for me (hinge your wrist like this, get your right elbow here, get your left hip there). I find these feels so disconnected from what I’m trying to do, which is hit the golf ball well.

I think I play my best golf when my focus is near external, at least during my preshot routine swing rehearsals (in the think box). Stuff like “exit the club head left” or “hit it as low as possible.”

I can’t tell if near external or neutral is better for me during the swing (in the play box). Sometimes I feel that a near external focus gives me a helpful intention. Although I’m sure “in the zone” would be better.

Haven’t really tried far external. Not sure how I would like that. I ought to give it a try.

2 Likes
#13

Got some short game practice in today. Was struggling with distance control, then remembered this topic and gave “far external” a go. My distance control improved immediately! I haven’t read up on it, but basically what I did was rally stare at and focus on the hole and burn that image in my mind, then I tried to keep that image there as I hit the shot. Glorious results! I mean, I guess this is what you do when you throw a baseball or shoot a basketball, right? You’re just focused on the target. Only difference is you are looking at the target in those other sports, rather than the ball. But I think the principle is the same. You should be thinking about your target, not the ball or the move to get it to the target.

I guess in a way I practiced “far external” yesterday when I had one of my best putting rounds ever when I focused on nothing but speed control, nestling my ball up to the hole. No mechanics. No internal or near external. And it worked wonders!

So here’s to “far external” focus on putts and the short game. Not sure how it will work on full swings, but I’m willing to try. Anyone like focusing on “far external” on full swings?

5 Likes
#14

Been thinking more about this. I really like the distinction of far external, near external, far internal, near internal. It seems, in addition, there are other ways to conceptualize the focus of your mind, inspired by another thread on here about where your eyes are focused during the shot (as opposed to the mind), and I’m curious to see what others think.

During your swing, you could focus your mind on 1) the ultimate target, like the hole or flag or center of fairway itself (basically the same as far external); 2) an intermediate target (like a blade of grass 18" in front of you or near external); 3) the ball itself and what you want it to do; 4) the swing itself (like how you want the rhythm, length, tempo and overall swing to be); 5) your body and what you want it to do (internal, like set your wrist early or keep your head down); or 6) the club itself (e.g. focusing on or being conscious of the club face and where it’s at it in space).

Lately I have been trying to focus my mind on the club itself, especially during putting. I tend to have a wobbly start to my takeaway when I focus my mind on any of the other areas, but when I think of the putter moving back smoothly on the takeaway, I’m much better at making it happen. Jack Nicklaus said “Focus on the rhythm of the shaft in putting.” It also seems to help squaring the face at impact. If I consciously focus on the face of the putter and squaring it at impact, I seem to do that better than just thinking of the ball. Of course then you might compromise certain other aspects like speed control.

I don’t know, I bet each one works different for different types of players at different times of their careers and in different situations (practice tee or green vs. final shot on the 18th hole of a tournament you could win).

Have some fun with these and experiment and see what works best!

3 Likes
#15

I’m a massive fan of @Adamyounggolf. The Practice Manual really changed my way of thinking about golf in many ways. I had several lightbulb moments while reading it.

I realised I focussed too much internally. And I think I do that because I am massively analytical. So to learn how motor control and neural pathways etc work and how conscious thought has been assessed to negatively impact athletic performance - I just lap up all that knowledge! Eureka!

Biggest challenge for me is switching off my brain during the shot. I’ve ingrained internal thinking all my life! I usually try to find a tune while driving to the course and artificially get that tune stuck in my head to help maintain a neutral focus.

2 Likes
#16

This is precisely the key! What Adam argues is that many golfers fixate on internal focus (trying to apply swing tips, etc.), when very often, they immediate do better with some kind of external focus on the target or “hammering the nail,” etc.

But he also notes that there are people whose game improves when they adopt an internal focus. The point is not to say that one of these is the “correct” focus, but to 1) be aware of the focus options and 2) experiment with different ones to see which produces the best results in your game.

3 Likes
#17

Thinking about this topic, and about some of the comments above, and I’m gonna toss this out to the crowd…

Question-Hypothesis:
A. Does a golf instruction method of teaching positions inadvertently push the student towards a more internal focus?
vs.
B. Does a coaching method emphasizing body movements possibly promote a less fully “internal” and more “near external” focus?

Just musing out loud, as all this thinking about how we’re thinking seems a bit ironic (ie. now we’re being more internally focused)…

1 Like
#18

As I understand it, most “movement focus” would still be largely internal. As Adam is using it, your focus is internal if it’s on any part of your body doing anything.

To get to near external focus, you have to move your center of attention to something outside your body. The examples I gave originally for near external (that I think I’m rightly representing Adam on) were hitting a certain part of the face or hitting the ground in a certain place. “Nail” drill focus is also an example of near external.

To whatever degree the intent in the swing is self-consciously on getting a body part to (a position) or through (a movement), the focus is still internal.

2 Likes
#19

Good clarification - thank you, Sir!

So fall back to the not-so-cliché = “I’ve got to get out of my own head!”

1 Like
#20

Thanks, @mpatrickriley. So would being aware of or sending your consciousness to the club face be an example of near external?

In my early testing, I’ve really liked sending my awareness to the club face. Getting some really good results.

1 Like