Directional Bias and Environmental Cues in Golf Putting—An Exploratory Study

Gal Ziv, Ronnie Lidor
2016 International Journal of Golf Science  
The purpose of the current study was to explore the influence of the distance of a wall located behind the hole in performing a putt in golf. Our assumption was that a performance condition where the wall is located a short distance behind the hole would help novices minimize any left/right directional bias. Novice golfers performed a putting task from a distance of two m in front of the hole in two learning settings. In the Far Wall Condition, a wall was located 4 m behind the hole, and in the
more » ... Close Wall Condition the wall was located 90 cm behind the hole. The putt was performed under both quiet and distracted conditions. Results showed that overall accuracy was greater in the Close Wall Condition than in the Far Wall Condition. In addition, different patterns of left/right directional bias in the two performance conditions were observed. However, the hitting deviations were more balanced in the Close Wall Condition. It is recommended that coaches consider the use of environmental cues that have the potential to improve accuracy in golf putting.
doi:10.1123/ijgs.2016-0002 fatcat:alwq3o2p6fanzlnnkuez5vitwe