Harrington and the Man with Two Brains

Padraig Harrington gets ready to hit a shot wearing electronically wired hat as an operative (left) observes the results.Golf might be played on the six inch course between your ears but Padraig Harrington took things a step further yesterday by monitoring his brainwaves in practice.

The Dubliner, who will wear glasses in competition for the first time this week,  leaves no stone unturned in his search for perfection and monitoring which side of his brain he was using over his shots at the Blue Monster certainly falls into a whole new category.

Padraig Harrington will wear glasses in competiton for the first time this week. Picture: Fran Caffrey / www.golffile.ieWearing a specially designed baseball cap fitted with electronic sensors that beamed information to an iPad, the three-time major winner could work out which side of his brain was more active over a shot - the analytical left side or the more instinctive right side.

His mental coach Bob Rotella said: “We definitely want him in the right brain but likes to get over in that analytical side.  You don’t want him using that other side, not when he’s playing.

“Sure, you are shifting back and forth from one side to the other but when you are trying to swing, you definitely want him using that right side of the brain.”

Harrington admits that he tends to think too much on the course, confessing in South Africa in January: “In a reactionary sport, obviously you’re getting your right brain involved.

“If you get your left brain involved, you’re going to be slower, so that’s the last thing you want in a reaction sport.”

Golf is not a reactionary sport like football which is why Harrington has always struggled with his focus.

He worked on the course alongside his performance coach Dave Alred with another man monitoring Harrington’s brain waves on a tablet.

“The easiest thing to say is that it attempt to monitor right and left brain activity,” Alred said.

“It works on electronic impulses with a sensor on the forehead and a sensor on the temple and an earthing on the ear.

“One side of your brain lets you get on with stuff and the other side of your brain clutters what you are trying to do. That’s it in a nutshell.

“Golfers have to oscillate between the two sides, which is where it gets complicated.”

As for his glasses, Harrington said they make it easier for him to read the greens, which has been a problem area for him over the past two seasons.