COULD "DIFFERENTIAL LEARNING" BE A REVOLUTION FOR YOUR GOLF GAME.

11/16/2019

"Differential Learning" is a new approach to Motor Learning for sports out of Germany that is having some exciting results in studies.

It is a bit complicated to explain but generally it is the idea that to learn something you should practice with EXTREME variation with a consistent goal. The differential learning people say that practicing something on the perfect path of what you want to learn simply doesn't work (it makes you better while you are practicing but you end up retaining NOTHING) and you should actually practice on the extreme ends of the goal and make your brain find a motor solution to these extreme problems. The brain will then learn the most efficient way to do the task and it will better learn the task even without difficult variations. The retention is very high as well.

This PODCAST explains it better.

The creator of differential learning is Dr. Wolfgang Schollhorn who I have corresponded with a bit. He has helped a lot of soccer teams in Germany and Portugal and I think Shotput and Speed Skaters as well. Very little with golf from what I can find. I sent this message to him. It is my idea of how to use differential learning to improve a full swing.I am waiting for his reply.

This video is me putting the cards to use for the first time.

In that video, notice how even with all the different swings, the swings at p6 (last time the club is parallel to the ground before impact) look VERY similar. That is the point. Making the brain find different ways to get to the same spot.

THANKS FOR WATCHING. We are putting some effort into incorporating this into a future Be Better Golf School.

If you would like more info or have a suggestion on a location. Let me know
[email protected]

Nathan Furumasu

11/21/2019 11:05:46 am

Fascinating stuff! I wonder if these concepts would (at least partially) explain how trick shot artists, whether golf, billiards, bowling, etc. often seem to become highly skilled in the normal game. Definitely vice versa where the very talented players are proficient at achieving the task in all sorts of conditions. Also, I see this as a great way to teach juniors. The games would be silly and fun, you don’t have to provide any instruction/feedback and they develop the skills in a profound way before they get bogged down with technique.

What do you think of implementing any club maneuvers like giving the club a slight toss, or flipping it like a juggling wand before the backswing? My gut feeling is that these could also be beneficial and provide an element of external cueing where the focus is the implement not the body.

Anyway, thanks for sharing! Cool stuff. Looks like I’m about to go act all wacky on the driving range.

Brendon DeVore

11/21/2019 11:47:03 am

Thanks Nathan,
I’d love to see a video of you trying your club flipping/ juggle idea. I’m looking for new moves to expand them to about 100.

In regards to trick shots, you are probably right. I don’t think Wesley Bryan would have made the tour without the trick shot career coming after college. Certainly it opened opportunities for him but because of his low swing speed and a specific error he has in his impact, he still developed an elite game. The trick shots certainly didn’t hurt and possibly helped.

Juniors. Yes I’m doing this with my 8 year old son and It keeps him engaged. Also he is a perfectionist so swinging in wacky ways allows him to experiment Without getting upset at a bad result.

The thing about teaching someone is it has to lead to self discovery to be worthwhile. So implicit is better than explicit.

Also I’m learning the value of error and how to get someone over it.

So if the ball is hooking most instructors would Teach the player the opposite of BAD and ask them to learn how to slice it.

Based on the research I’m seeing what you would actually want to do is have the player hit extreme hooks, tell you how they could hook it off the planet.

Then just say now do the opposite of that. Results are Pretty amazing. The brain more than anything works off differences.

Dr Schollhorn replyed to this video and gave me some great supporting info I’ll share soon

Thx
B

11/21/2019 06:20:46 pm

I'll try and get to the range in the next few days and get them on video for you.

Anecdotally, I can give credence to the example you mentioned. I have been making a concerted effort in the past couple years to develop a more efficient swing and get away from the left side of the course. I saw the majority of my improvements AFTER I understood why I always hit a hook. That’s a longer story, but suffice it to say, I figured out the feel of doing it on purpose (and, in hindsight, to an extreme degree) and then it was a much simpler thing to not do that. I lucked into that learning progression, I guess.

Looking forward to Dr. Schollhorn’s response!

Comments are closed.

COULD "DIFFERENTIAL LEARNING" BE A REVOLUTION FOR YOUR GOLF GAME.

Be Better Golf NewsLEtter!

IF YOU CAN THROW
YOU CAN PLAY GREAT GOLF!

COULD "DIFFERENTIAL LEARNING" BE A REVOLUTION FOR YOUR GOLF GAME.

Be Better Golf NewsLEtter!

IF YOU CAN THROWYOU CAN PLAY GREAT GOLF!

IF YOU CAN THROW
YOU CAN PLAY GREAT GOLF!