Can A Ballet Dancer Improve Your Golf Game!

I've had all kinds of students over the years. Everything from floor sweepers to NFL stars. This is the FIRST time I had a ballet dancer as a student. Phil Skaggs is a great ballet dancer for the Richmond Ballet. He's a great guy and it goes without saying that the rigorous physical activity all ballet dancers goes through is tremendous.

Here's what might be interesting to you. Some of the "lingo" and references are very similar from Ballet to golf. For instance; I am constantly reminding students that balance is NOT a thing to do but a place to go! Exactly the same with a ballet dancer. Phil understood this immediately and could do it even faster!

What really struck me was his ability to GO to a swing position even if it didn't feel comfortable. I hear constantly from students, "this doesn't feel comfortable to me", no XXXX Sherlock! Golf ain't suppose to feel good.

Phil said that as a ballet dancer they are trained to GO to a specific dance pose or position and to expect it NOT to feel as it should. I guess that's why they have all those mirrors in their practice room. They look at the mirror to SEE where they are and then try to relate the feel to the position.

It is exactly the same way with improving your golf swing. That's why I always tell students that their best friend is a full length mirror at first. Both the video analysis and the mirror will help them relate the visual to the feel.

Use your mirror and your video analysis to visualize where you should be, then relate the feel of where you are and trust that you are in the right place, it just doesn't feel like it. This is someone like a pilot that flies on instruments. The pilot can NOT count on his feelings. He has to follow the instruments no matter how much his "feelings" tells him he is out of position.