"Tell me, I"ll forget, show me, I'll remember,
Involve me and I’ll understand.”
Confucius
Looking back over my notes from that impromptu meeting, I shake my head at Bob’s eccentric approach. If I hadn’t seen the practical application first hand during our game, I would have dismissed him as just another crackpot who claimed to have discovered golf’s Ark of the Covenant.
The potential applications of the record player theory were intriguing, but before trying to apply any of this left field stuff during my lessons, I felt obliged to use myself as a guinea pig.
For the past five seasons, I’ve averaged three games per month. Between teaching and stocking the pro shop, my schedule allowed me time to hit four buckets of practice balls per week.
I began carrying a small notepad with me. After every good shot, I would pause and jot down everything I could recall from the moment I walked up to the ball, to how the swing felt, what I heard, saw and even smelled immediately after. I quickly filled several pocket-size notebooks.
After two weeks, I began reviewing the notes and noticed some common elements. Whenever I wore a blue shirt, my practice sessions were more productive. Now I understood why Tiger always wore red in the final round.
What the heck, if it’s good enough for Tiger.
I carried a stopwatch with me during practice and noticed my optimum time frame between addressing the ball and starting the swing was four seconds. After two weeks of practice, I had ingrained the feel of my optimum pre-shot timing.
Here’s the biggie!
My practice sessions had always focused on correcting mistakes. It’s amazing how one automatically looks for technical faults. Now I became less concerned with why I hit poor shots and more focused on how to trigger the good ones. You can’t dwell on what’s wrong when you focus on what’s right.
“So did all this mental mumbo-jumbo really work?” you ask.
I played my first game after two weeks of practice. My score was still in the high seventies, but the mental fallout from the poor shots was minimal. For the first time in five years, I didn’t have any blow up holes.
In the past, I would replay a poor shot over and over in my mind, trying to figure out the mistake. It would take me three holes to calm down. One bad shot would lead to two or three. For the first time in twenty years, I was able to let go and focus on the next shot. I wasn’t emotionally drained by the end of the round. The game actually became fun again.
(Anyone who played with me five years ago could tell that, even when I played well, I wasn’t having fun. Just ask Harvey).
My swing has changed - aesthetics have become secondary.
After years of trying to perfect swing mechanics, I am finally learning to play by feel. The secret to honing your sense of feel, is realizing that no two swings are the same.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure there will be days when nothing feels right. That’s an integral part of the game. Now I understand that the inconsistencies in my game are not due to flaws in technique, but rather in the quality of the memories and the efficacy of the anchors I use on any given day.
The most relevant aspect of this system is the simplicity of applying the concepts on a day-to-day basis.
Memories are at your disposal - anytime, anyplace. I’m convinced that any golfer can use these tools to develop their natural ability. The most difficult task will be giving up the long-standing beliefs you may have, regarding the technical elements of the swing.
If you’re still with me, let’s pursue a topic that seems to elicit strong diverse opinions from many amateur golfers.
Have you ever taken a professional golf lesson? Did you see positive results, or did you just give up and go back to your old style?
These questions are the topic of discussion, as I would ask you to consider…