90664

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Learning from Tiger Woods

The August 14, 2000 issue of time Magazine features an article about Tiger Woods titled The game of Risk - How the Best golfer in the World Got Even Better. Although I have no specific interest in the sport of golf, I do have a long-standing fascination with the general theme of the article: how can someone learn to do something better?

Thats precisely what the Alexander technique is all about. And while Tiger Woods has probably never heard of it, its interesting that his quest for a better golf swing parallels in many ways the process F. Matthias Alexander - the developer of the Alexander technique - went through a century ago.

Alexander was a Shakespearean reciter who ran up against limitations in his ability to perform well on stage. At that time there were no microphones and speakers and so he had to fill an entire auditorium with just the power of his own voice. Like Woods he was very talented at his profession but he also knew that there was room for improvement. In particular, he found that his voice gave out during a longer performance and that he had a tendency to gasp for breath on occasion.

Neither his doctors nor his vocal coaches were able to help and so he set off on his own, using a system of mirrors to monitor his performance in order to see precisely what was causing his difficulties. If he were living today, he would probably use videotapes of himself to see what was going on.

Thats what Tiger Woods did in order to improve his swing. I knew I wasnt in the greatest positions in my swing at the Masters, Woods said. But my timing was great, so I got away with it. And I made almost every putt. You can have a wonderful week like that even when your swing isnt sound. But can you still contend in tournaments with that swing when your timing isnt good? Will it hold up over a long period of time? The answer to those questions, with the swing I had, was no. And I wanted to change that.

The article notes that Woods has become ...an obsessive student of the game who reviews videotapes of old tournaments for clues about how to play each hole. Alexander too was an obsessive student of his performance and in the end his obsession paid off not only in providing a solution to his voice problem, but later in the discovery of a process that could be taught to others who wanted to improve the quality of their physical functioning.

What is most remarkable about Woods, the article continues, is his restless drive for what the Japanese call kaizen, or continuous improvement. Toyota engineers will push a perfectly good assembly line until it breaks down. Theyll find and fix the flaw and push the system again. Thats kaizen. Thats Tiger.

And thats Alexander, too. Never content with the progress he had already made - first in solving his own voice problem and later in developing better ways to teach others, and to train teachers in his technique.

Woods first instructor, Rudy Duran, commented that he has the ability to stay in the present during a tournament and focus on hitting one shot at a time.

Alexander, too, discovered that in order to change his way of speaking he had to learn to stay focused on what he was thinking and doing in the present. Much of what Alexander Technique teachers do to help their students with today is teach them how to develop this skill for themselves.

Its no wonder that so many leading performers in the fields of acting, music, and dance have studied the Alexander Technique and have publicly endorsed it. It turns out that this ability is also very useful for people who dont consider themselves to be performers but whose performance of activities in their daily lives has put harmful stress on their bodies, often to the point of causing pain such as backache or stiff shoulders and necks.

Learning how to monitor your thoughts and actions in real time is a valuable skill for anyone to master.

Robert Rickover is a teacher of the Alexander Technique living in Lincoln, Nebraska. He also teaches regularly in toronto, Canada. Robert is the author of Fitness Without Stress - A guide to the Alexander Technique and is the creator of The complete guide to the Alexander Technique at http://www.alexandertechnique.com.

Yoga Mats Reviews

Add a comment

Nov 30, 2007 Dec 1, 2007 Dec 2, 2007 Dec 3, 2007 Dec 4, 2007 Dec 6, 2007 Dec 7, 2007 Dec 8, 2007 Dec 9, 2007 Dec 10, 2007 Dec 11, 2007 Dec 12, 2007 Dec 13, 2007 Dec 14, 2007 Dec 15, 2007 Dec 16, 2007 Dec 18, 2007 Dec 19, 2007 Dec 20, 2007 Dec 21, 2007 Dec 22, 2007 Dec 23, 2007 Dec 24, 2007 Dec 25, 2007 Dec 27, 2007 Dec 28, 2007 Dec 31, 2007 Jan 1, 2008 Jan 3, 2008 Jan 4, 2008 Jan 5, 2008 Jan 6, 2008 Jan 7, 2008 Jan 9, 2008 Jan 10, 2008 Jan 11, 2008 Jan 12, 2008 Jan 13, 2008 Jan 14, 2008 Jan 15, 2008 Jan 16, 2008 Jan 17, 2008 Jan 18, 2008 Jan 19, 2008 Jan 20, 2008 Jan 21, 2008 Jan 22, 2008 Jan 23, 2008 Jan 24, 2008 Jan 25, 2008 Jan 28, 2008 Jan 30, 2008 Jan 31, 2008 Feb 1, 2008 Feb 4, 2008 Feb 7, 2008 Feb 8, 2008 Feb 9, 2008 Feb 11, 2008 Feb 12, 2008 Feb 13, 2008 Feb 14, 2008 Feb 15, 2008 Feb 16, 2008 Feb 17, 2008 Feb 18, 2008 Feb 19, 2008 Feb 20, 2008 Feb 21, 2008 Feb 22, 2008 Feb 23, 2008 Feb 25, 2008 Feb 26, 2008 Feb 27, 2008 Feb 28, 2008 Feb 29, 2008 Mar 1, 2008 Mar 2, 2008 Mar 3, 2008 Mar 4, 2008 Mar 5, 2008 Mar 6, 2008 Mar 7, 2008 Mar 8, 2008 Mar 9, 2008 Mar 10, 2008 Mar 11, 2008 Mar 12, 2008 Mar 13, 2008 Mar 14, 2008 Mar 15, 2008 Mar 16, 2008 Mar 17, 2008 Mar 18, 2008 Mar 19, 2008 Mar 20, 2008 Mar 21, 2008 Mar 22, 2008 Mar 23, 2008

90664

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Learning from Tiger Woods

E-mail this post

var a = 0; if(a == 0) {document.write('No comment');} else if(a == 1) {document.write('1 comment');}else{document.write(a+' comments');}

Add a comment