How "Echoing" Can Take Your Golf Game to the Next Level

Echo Visualization (Echoing)

If you are like us in Western Wisconsin, getting on the course this spring has been next to impossible. Mother Nature has been cruel, and this weekend’s snow storm hasn’t helped. If you can’t hit the course, there are still many other ways to improve your game. Golf domes are one option, but mental training can be just as beneficial, so I thought I would share a visualization strategy to give you an edge...particularly how to watch golf and get better.

An "echo" can be defined as a close parallel of a style or event. Echo Visualization means you purposefully view a player watching his or her strategies and techniques. But it goes a step further...you also visualize yourself in that person’s shoes...like you are watching yourself instead of just that player. When that player swings, it is YOU swinging.

The Power of Echo Visualization

When Tiger Woods was an infant, he spent hours watching his dad hit golf balls into a net in their garage. Tiger would sit in a high chair soaking in each strike of the ball. In essence, Tiger was purposefully visualizing. By the time Tiger was nine months old, he was able to hit his own ball into the net. By watching his dad, it was a form of Echo Visualization.

Vonn Miller, linebacker for the Denver Broncos, was once confronted by a reporter: “You play so much like Derek Thomas of the Chiefs. It is amazing!” Miller then explained how honored he was because Thomas was his favorite player. Miller revealed that he spent time every day in college watching film clips of Thomas. Miller’s hours and hours of analyzing his favorite player had allowed many skills and techniques to transfer to his own game. Another success story of Echo Visualization.

How to Echo
Echoing can work for you on the golf course, and here are some steps to success:

1. Pick a golfer you truly look up to.
2. Find or record footage of that golfer. Use a DVR or use your phone or computer to find clips online.
3. Before you watch the shot, think STRATEGY. What type of shot is being hit? Pretend you are talking to your caddy or coach.
4. Watch the shot 3 times.
   • First, watch it as a whole.
   • Second, see yourself hitting the shot and watching it play out.
   • Third, see yourself hitting the shot, watch it play out, hear the crowd reaction (or pretend there is a crowd reaction) and FEEL how it would feel after hitting such a great shot! (Pride, Elation, Joy, Awe)
5. You might be wondering, “What if it is a bad shot by that golfer?”
   • Do everything the same, but change your mindset in the third viewing to focus on how you will get to the next shot. It could also be interesting to watch your favorite golfer deal with adversity. What does he or she do to get to the next shot? How do they attack their next shot, especially if it is a difficult shot?

Echo Visualization will not only help you through times when you can’t get on the course, but you will improve your game and learn along the way.

Duane Jourdeans
Director of Performance Psychology, Western WI Golf

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