The Evolution of a Golf Swing

Level 3….Pulls and Hooks

Where the Pull Came From

The pull

Pull Illusion

Overcoming the Pull

Overcoming the Hook

The hook

Overcoming the Hook

The Evolution of a Golf Swing, Level 3: No Slice

The dreaded slice!

This series is about the evolving swing. There are 7 distinct, predictable levels a golfer’s game goes through, en route to high performance; people go through these levels at different speeds, and some unfortunately get stuck in one for life. The reason we get stuck, is because each level has corresponding illusions that become obstacles to moving further.

Last installment (see tip archive) was about getting the ball airborne. Once people can `get it up’ with regularity, a new pattern arises in over 80 percent of players. They develop a wicked slice!

Using the karate belt approach, this would be the tan color.

THE GREAT ILLUSION

The slicer is pretty much doomed to mediocre golf, because the harder she hits it, the more it slices. There are two illusions that keep the golfer in the trance of the banana ball; one is a grip illusion, and the other has to do with the clubface.

GRIP ILLUSION

Give a kid a club for the first time, and he will hold it doing what feels good and natural, not thinking too much. Give a club to an adult, and she might look at the markings on the handle, and assume both thumbs should be on the top. It sure looks that way, you can’t blame them. (Then well meaning husband will say you must lock the fingers together, and the poor golfer’s hands end up looking like a can of worms!)

CLUBFACE ILLUSION

Again, the rational, reasoning adult might think it obvious that if the face of the club should be square to the target at impact, then keeping it square to the target well beyond impact should really make it go straight. This is not correct, and has caused many a Titleist to go sailing into the bushes. To make matters worse, a chronic open face from the two illusions usually causes a new problem to evolve, an out-to-in swing and poor alignment. More on that next time.

In reality, the club face should be close-ing through impact. (Note the ing. Not close-d, close-ing). It is this face rotation, like a door close-ing, that allows the face to square, resulting in escape from the weak fade. Letting the forearms rotate, with a proper grip, will stop the slice forever, and will allow the golfer to graduate to the next level.

The Evolution of a Golf Swing, Level 2: Airborne

Lift-off!

Using the karate belt approach, this would be the yellow color. Once a golfer learns to contact the ball every time, seeing it fly into the blue sky is the next order of business.We see our friends do that and think;` I want to see it fly as well.

I mentioned in the last article about the importance of your intention: what you are trying to do. If the intention is wrong, the outcome will be wrong.

The Great Illusion

This is an incredibly deceptive situation, proof that looks are deceiving!Please believe me when I stress: THERE IS NO LIFT IN A GOLF SWING. The lift is built into the club. If your intention is to lift, then you will fail.

Contrarily, changing your intention to: SWING THE CLUB, BRUSHING THE GROUND, then you will succeed in getting the ball airborne, without trying to get it up.

Look at the ball, put it in the right place in your swing as determined where your swish occurs, but don't think about it (the ball) or try to do anything to it.

• We are addicted to the ball
• We are seduced by the ball
• We are hypnotized by the ball

Understanding Swing Technique

There are as many ways to swing a club as there are golfers. Just look at the tour players; are there any two that are the same? Each player has a swing `fingerprint’, all different.

THE EVOLUTION OF A GOLF SWING

Sometimes the very thing you are trying so hard to do is what’s keeping you from doing it. If that sounds like a Zen Koan, or an impossible statement, follow along. In trying to hit the ball, as the sole task, we forget about swinging the club. We also forget about sending the ball to a destination. Like trying to look at your own eye, trying too hard to hit it (outcome) gets in the way of the motion of the club needed to hit it (process).

Overcoming the Level 1 Illusion:

The way to evolve out of Level 1 to the next layer of the onion, is by beginning to place your intent in the right place. Think `swing the club’, and you will begin to discover a few important facts.

Three Steps to Playing Great Golf

Point 1, the Mind

Last month I wrote about a 3 point program that can lead you to the best golf of your life.

Slow-mo is not only good for your swing, it also helps build golf strength, if used with a weighted club. In my experience, this is the best drill a golfer can do, a self-learning tool. Do it every day, one minute. Is ½ hour a month asking too much?

Then, either in the indoor range, or outdoors, begin hitting balls at 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and finally 100%. If it works for the World #1, it must be good enough for you!

Arms or Body?

The first piece of golf instruction came centuries ago, shortly after the first golf shot.

Another shepherd saw the historic ace and said `laddie, I bet you cannot do that again’ (The first bet came immediately after the first shot). So the original golfer tried again, and, of course failed, slicing into the gorse.

So shepherd #2 suggested; `try turning your hips in the follow through’. So less than a minute after the first golf shot, the first instructor was born. It didn’t take long before a debate arose; the third shepherd happened to overhear the lesson, and scolded the original teacher, saying, `forget the body, just freely swing your arms’. I thank my good friend, Dr. Joe Parent, (Zen Golf, Zen Putting) for that story.

To this day the debate rages among golf instructors-arms or body, body or arms? In this piece I would like to offer my views.

I have a video of Tiger Woods hitting a ball when he was less than 5 years old- the most striking component of that stroke is how he cocks his wrists, then uncocks and releases the club. Hands and arms.

Look at his swing now, and it appears that his body controls the club, with his hands and arms being quieter. Some body people might suggest that he used to do it wrong, but now he does it right. My belief is that his swing evolved, and without early feel for the clubhead and active hands and arms, he would have never gotten to where he is today.

Like the first creature who left the ocean to breath the air, the myriad of creatures who followed could not exist without lungs. A golfer’s lungs is the rotation of the forearms back and through, which serves to get the instrument on plane, going back, and square the face coming down. In addition, there is an angle formed between the arms and the club. Another name for this angle is LAG. Click here for a previous article on lag. Once that part of the jig-saw puzzle is in place, the golfer may begin to hook the ball. Enter the body.

To eliminate the hook, use bigger more trustworthy muscles, by learning to shift and turn the body more efficiently. The body, being stronger, is able to import more horsepower to the ball. Ideally, the rotation of the torso on the correct plane, will deliver the golfers arms and hands to the ball, where the previously learned forearm rotation will now naturally occur.

Many world-class golfers lift their arms, then drop them back down and reconnect with the body, others swing the arms across the shoulders/chest, which eliminates the need to be so dependent on timing. BOTH WAYS WORK, the key is that when your body turns, your arms must be connected to that turn.

Efficient body motion in a golf swing has to be turning around something. That steady center is the golfer’s spine. You could say that where the backbone starts, it pretty much stays, except for a little `bump’ that moves the lower spine over to the forward leg, to start the downswing. From there it’s just turn, turn, and keep turning, always relating to the VIP original spine angle. My coach Norrie Wright would say in the downswing, put your right shoulder into the space where your left shoulder was.

Efficient hand and arm motion in a swing connects ones arms to ones body, either all the way through the swing, or by the time the downswing is underway. The arms also have some rotation to accomplish

To sum up, it is my opinion that a golfer’s hands and arms have a small task-and if they try to do much more than that they will ruin the shot. But if they don’t do their small bit, then the golfer will be a short-hitting slicer, going back into the water with the rest of the fish who didn’t develop lungs!

An Aiming Parable

When a golfer misses a lot of fairways, it may be the result of a faulty swing. But it could also be from vague, or even non existent target choices. The following story might help you to focus better.

In Japan, a form of mind-training called Kyudo uses archery as the medium for developing super focus and riveting concentration. There is a story of the teacher testing his three best students, to identify a successor.

He brought them all to a field, and pointing to a distant tree, said: `in the tree is a bird. The test is to shoot out its left eye’. (These monks probably did not kill other beings, so it was probably a stuffed bird).

He brought forward the first student, and asked: `Do you see the bird in the tree?’ The student answered, `Yes master, I see it.’ Gruffly the teacher dismissed him with `go back to the dojo, you are not ready!’

The next student was invited forward, and was asked the same question` Do you see the bird in the tree?’ The answer was `What tree?’ `Hmmm’, the master mused. `Do you see the bird?’ `Yes master’ `Go away, you are not ready’, the master shouted.

The third student walked confidently to the master, and was again asked, `Do you see the bird in the tree?’ `What tree?’ Again, `Do you see the bird?’ The answer: `What bird?’. The master smiled and asked: `What do you see?’ The student answered: `I see only the left eye, master’.

Yes is the wrong answer to both questions. `What do you see?, should prompt the answer `That tiny tree in the distance’, or `the small discolored patch of grass about 260 yards out’.

When I present this notion to golfers, often they wimp-out a little with: `It doesn’t matter where I aim, it won’t go there anyway.” I find that to be a lazy response. Keep trying, develop your focus muscle. It may take a while. In this instant gratification world, if something doesn’t work the first time we give up, looking for an easy way. Here, there is no easy way. Keep trying. The eye of the bird can be yours.

Congratulations Irene, Eric, Sean, James, and Sam !

How Opposing Forces can Strike a Balance

I don’t mean for the title to seem complicated; the concept is really simple. To evolve a dynamic, efficient golf swing, certain parts have to grow. When those parts become too powerful and top-heavy, another force is then needed to offset that (now too big) force.

What I’m talking about is the interplay between hook, and body motion.
I will try to explain:

The road to great golf goes from slice, to hook, then to great golf. I first heard Hank Haney say that at a teaching Summit in Dallas many years ago. I have used that theme in my teaching ever since, to great success if I may say so. He went on to say that a slicer will never improve much, because the harder they hit, the more it slices.

I would add, that if you slice, then you had better restrict the body motion through the shot, because again, it would make you slice more. Also, slicers usually compensate by aiming left, and swinging even more left (righty golfer). Now you have 2 problems! Enough said. Learn to not slice, by learning to hook. In some ways you are being innoculated with a mild form of the disease, to insure you will be immune! More on that later.

Once a golfer can hit a hook by squaring club by rotating the forearms, only then can great weight shift and hip turn be introduced, to then take away the hook. In essence, you are still hooking, but hooking LATER. Another word for this is lag.

When the dynamic play between hook and body motion are properly working, great ball striking is the result.

How to hook: The following information is for slicers only (85% of the golfing population). Hookers can skip to the next part.

I sometimes tell my students that I am a traffic cop, and this is a left-turn-only zone. If it goes to the right, you’ll get a ticket. Turn left, and do it for a few weeks before going to part 2. The best transfer athletes from other sports to golf, is racecar drivers; I believe the reason is that they know how to turn left.

You might say, you have been innoculated with a mild form of the disease, to make you better later. Certainly a big hook is not desired on the course, it is only a step in the development process.

To get rid of it, shift your hips to the left, as you turn them in a rotary fashion. (Turn into your left leg). This motion carries the hook motion more to the left, causing it to happen later. Back to Mario Andretti, you still want to turn left, but now do it at the last moment possible. The result is that magical feeling called lag.

This is the process, in the simplest form I can put it, to develop a quality golf striking motion. Good Luck,

Ed

The Evolution of a Swing Flaw

The last article was about the bottom of the arc, and exercises that can help you strike the ball so it has that `click’. That article can be found in the archive section.

This installment is about that that downward spiral that can leave you wondering where your game went. Usually, sadly, it comes from misunderstanding the role of the clubface.

So many golfers think the face should be square, and remain square, going through the ball. Their mistake is that they are trying to be square to the target line, which is straight. But the arc of the swing is round; the face remains square to the arc, not to the line.

When I taught in Bhutan, at first communication was a problem, even though everybody spoke English. I had to find ways to get the point across, in their world. On my walk to the course every day, I noticed people kicking around a ball everywhere, in fields, in parking lots, even on the course.

It dawned on me that the club and your shoe are similar; a toe, a heel, and a sole. If the toe passes the heel at the right time, the soccer ball will go straight.

In golf, the clubface will produce straight shots if it is clos-ING, like a door that swings on its hinges not clos-ed or open. It is. The result is a successful ball flight.

Back to the flaw(s); having a face that doesn’t rotate the correct amount produces hooks and slices, usually slices. So the swing that hits the ball to the right all day long, will begin to aim and swing to the left, naturally. Now you have 2 problems, an open face, and a compensating swing to the left. The result is weak fades, a mediocre, wimpy way to play golf.

So the evolution of this swing flaw was 1) misunderstanding the proper motion of the club face, 2) open clubface through impact, 3) compensating aim and swing path

THE FIX

Just as the swing evolved into a dead-end, it can also de-evolve into a powerful, efficient motion, but there are 3 steps. 1) understanding the proper motion, 2) clos-ING the face through impact, 3) aiming and swinging according to the new ball flight.

Step 1 is not hard; if you agree with what has been said so far, then you have already begun unraveling the flaw(s). Step 2 is a matter of making a bunch of little swings, and learning the feeling of rotating the forearms the right amount. If you do it right the toe will pass the heel, and the ball should start going to the left, following the aim and old swing path.

Step 3 will have to wait for evolution to happen again. If you start hitting left, it won’t take long to realize that the aim and path don’t match the clubface, and as quickly as the problem started, it will end. But you can help it along.

Swing path exercise: Put a board, preferably at least 8 inches high and 2 or 3 feet long, next to your ball. Angle it very slightly to the right for right hand golfers. Place the ball 3 inches from the board, and start learning to swing less to the left. WARNING: be careful not to swing hard at first, as you may break your club or hands if you wack it on top!

Good Luck! Ed

Sometimes it is a Game of Perfect

While teaching on the lesson tee, I will often ask a student: “on a scale of 1 to 10, how solid did that shot feel”. I discovered that many players are getting used to mediocrity, giving a 9 or 10 to what to my eye and ear seemed slightly fat or thin, less than perfect.

The topic of this article is solid contact, and how to repeat it. Ask a golfer after a career best round how they played, and the answer is often `I hit the ball solid’. I would like to talk about what are the conditions of a solid golf shot, the one that has a `click’, and feels like the ball is not even there.

Harvey Penick, the great golf-philosopher, spoke about the importance of getting the bottom of the arc in the right place. When I taught in Bhutan, the juniors had a hard packed bare-dirt range to practice on; they learned quickly that the only way to hit a ball off the ground, was to `pinch’ it, catching the ball first, with the club continuing down to the ground after contacting the ball.

Modern technology proves that good golf shots occur when the bottom of the arc is a good four inches past the ball. We see good golfers shift their weight, and create lag in their swing, but we cannot see what they are thinking to make that happen. I can assure you that they are not thinking about the ball, or even worse getting under it.

Another question I ask golfers during lessons is: “what were you thinking about when you hit that shot?” The most common answer is `the ball’, or `hitting the ball’. I follow that question with an exercise: “point at the spot where you want the bottom of the arc, that place where the club begins to go upward”. High handicap golfers usually think they should bottom out before they reach the ball, catching it on the upswing. Even good golfers will point under the ball, which is also incorrect.

You have all seen the pro’s take a divot on good shots. When amateurs take a divot, it usually means a poor shot, because the divot starts too soon. Make it happen later and you are going to be a player.

Bobby Clampett, a golf commentator on TV and a former full time tour player, did a study that he describes in his book Impact. What he found is that a good player bottoms out after the ball. Even with a driver on a tee, the club is slightly descending. This completely blows away the advice to hit the driver on the upswing, which I previously thought was a set-in-stone law.

If you want to improve the quality of your shots, IMMEDIATELY, just mentally boycott the ball, and instead place your mind (not your eyes), 4 inches ahead as the place to reach bottom.

Practice exercises: On the Range: count out 10 balls with any club. Only the ones you hit dead-solid-perfect count. See how many points you can make (at first, 5 is good). Don’t worry about direction, only contact. This is a self correcting exercise; as the player gets more proficient, his or her standards go up.

On the course: Do the same thing, but while playing the course. Forget about score and direction, only solid contact, including putts.

There are 2 balls in golf; the small ball is the one you hit first. The BIG ball is mother earth. Hit the small ball first, then the big ball, and you are on the way to the best golf of your life.

Click here for The Golf Drill Guru, a recommended site for the following article

Let the Ball be your Teacher

Inexperienced teachers tend to work on a players golf swing. Experienced teachers work on a players ball flight. The difference is, there is a different swing for everybody, depending on your body and temperment. But the ball can only go in 9 directions (see above image).

Furthermore, golfers have preferences as to the flight; some prefer looking at a fade (Hogan, Travino), some like a draw (Billy Casper), some like to hit it straight (Moe Norman). If you are struggling with your game, look first at the flight. Only then can you make the proper corrections

I have had the good fortune to have watched some of the greatest teachers of the modern era giving lessons. They seem to be working magic with their accurate assessment of the players problem, and quick improvements that happen after their sometimes subtle suggestions. It's not magic: it's science. Those great teachers know what the club is doing to cause a certain undesired ball flight, and can offer a fix on the spot.

I heard Mike Hebron say that the ball is a little computer, sitting there waiting to be programmed. It only knows the moment of impact, when the club meets the ball. Where it goes is the printout. The ball can only go where impact programmes it to go.

Let the ball be your teacher, and you can get your game on track quickly. Suggested reading is anything by Hank Haney, or John Jacobs, the two masters of understanding ball-flight.

COMPRESSION!

Improve your Swing with Silly Putty

This game becomes hard when we are fooled by illusions. Examples are: You don't have to swing hard to hit far, and you don't have to help the ball into the air.

One of the greatest illusions happens at impact. It would appear that the ball has to be hit in order to get it moving. While there is truth to that, there is a bigger picture that most people miss.

That is, the golf ball has to be compressed to move it. It actually flattens somewhat and sticks to the club for nearly an inch.

After that interval, of ball and club joined together, the ball springs back to its round shape, and jumps off the clubface. It is the springing back to shape that ultimately moves the ball.

Without compression, you wouldn't go very far. Try hitting a rock 200 yards! The opposite produces another problem. How far do you think you could hit a marshmallow?

Look at the photo above of a driver compressing a ball. My camera is very high-speed, and can catch long hitters squashing it even more.

Just being able to see through the illusion will help your game. Compression implies through, beyond, keep going, acceleration.

Next time you are in K mart or Toys R Us, get a package of silly putty, or clay, and roll it into a ball. Smush it onto the sweet spot of any club except a putter, and take a swing.

Imagine you are sending the ball to a destination with your swing. Feel you are accelerating enough to force the putty off just after impact. The word fling, or send comes to mind, not hit.

Next time out, see if you can capture that feeling. Go as far as to imagine the ball is already stuck to the club, and you are simply flinging it off, in the direction of the target line.

What might happen is a `flip' in the way you think about the golf swing.It could be the AHA! you are looking for that simplifies the whole thing.

The Teachings of Norrie Wright:

Second Axis Tilt, the Spine

Most golfers (yes, most) come at the ball weakly from out-to-in. They try desperately to swing the arms from the inside, but fail every time. The reason they fail? It is because the body is invading the space that the arms should be in. Said in southern-speak: the arms go where the body isn’t.

If you slice, pull, and seem to lose distance, this information will help you.

Watch a good golfer setting up to hit a drive. There is a noticeable tilt; the bottom part of the spine is closer to the target than the top part. So many golfers set up to a drive with the spine straight up and down, inviting a steep, chopping swing.

Once you are set-up at address, visualize that your right shoulder is against a wall. As you swing back, slide the right shoulder back on the wall, putting your chest flat on the wall at the top. Another simple phrase would be to bury your right shoulder.

In my 25 years of teaching, some of the most dramatic improvement in a golfer’s success has come from learning the above move.

To learn about the second axis tilt, lag, release, and other cornerstones of Norrie’s teachings, watch The Wright Swing, an instructional DVD produced by filmmaker James Hoagland. To order, e-mail me at ed@awarenessgolf.com.

The Trail Arm Illusion

1) You must drive the legs and finish in a reverse C-looking follow through.
2) The swing is controlled by the left arm, and the right should be kept out of it altogether. (This applies to right handed golfers. I will periodically use the terms target arm and trail arm to accommodate the lefty’s).

This article is about the illusion of the quiet trail arm.

But problems began to develop.

Thank goodness the conventional wisdom began to change, and golfers began to use both arms again. But to this day, golfers blame overuse of the trail arm for problems that are actually from incorrect use, not over-use.

The golf swing can be described as a side-arm throwing motion, a lot like skipping a flat stone on a lake. Most right-hand golfers also throw with the right hand, (not all; the hockey influence makes Canada an exception), so using this throwing image can simplify and clarify your swing thoughts.

In the backswing, the trail arm folds, but not too much. Think of a box at the top, or as the old Scottish pro suggested, a waiter holding a tray of food. Better yet, if you were in the shower, turned sideways so that the curtain rod was behind you, and you reached back to hold the rod, your trail arm would be in the correct position, with the club (rod) perfectly on-plane.

A correct feeling would also be of the right arm pushing out on the left. If you have trouble keeping your lead arm straight, it is because the trail arm isn’t pushing it.

In the downswing, the trail arm begins to straighten and drop underneath your shoulders, with both arms going straight just after impact. The straightening of the right arm supplies a great deal of the punch in a good swing.

A FANTASTIC EXERCIZE

Get a thin but strong rope, about 3 feet long. Tie a loop in one end, about as big around as your arm at the shoulder. Slip the loop over your target arm, holding the loop in place with said hand where the arm meets the shoulder.

Hold the other end of the rope with your trail hand, making the rope taut.

Swing back and make the box, keeping the rope taut. That rope represents your target arm. Notice how it is straight. The trail arm straightens the target arm.

Coming back down, keep the rope taut, gradually straightening the arm. Just past impact it will be fully extended, still putting pressure on the rope. Keep the rope taught to belt-high, at which point the arms can begin to fold.

Then, put a 7-iron and the rope both in the trail hand, and do the same thing, slowly. Once you get the idea, put a ball down and hit a few one-handed, with the rope as your new target arm.

Train the trail arm in this way, and you might discover a missing piece to your golf-swing puzzle.

Wrist Cock

If you answer the following question correctly, skip this article, because you understand wrist cock. However, if you answer incorrectly, be prepared to see through the illusion that is keeping you from playing good golf.
The Question: How does the right wrist correctly cock in the golf swing?

Demonstrate your answer by extending your right arm in front of you, as in reaching out to shake some body’s hand. Now, cock the right wrist, as it should in your swing.

The Answer: If you bent the right wrist back on itself, forming a concave at the back of the wrist, then you are correct. But if you angled the wrist up to the sky, with the back of the wrist essentially flat, then you have been fooled by some of slight-of-hand; it sure looks like that should happen! Read on, and your game will improve.

The proper bending back of a golfers right wrist is not unique to golf; a baseball pitcher will do the same thing when throwing a fastball, or a tennis player when delivering a serve. The illusion comes because the left wrist does cock upwards. It would seem inconceivable that one wrist cocks back while the other cocks up; but that’s exactly what happens.
The reason this is possible is explained in the grip illusion section; if the palms opposed each other, you could cock the wrists in the same direction. Thumbs-on- top and palms opposing go hand-in-hand with faulty wrist cock, and weak golf.

The correct move can be illustrated by the age-old image of the right arm holding a tray at the top of the swing. Assume that position, and just turn around and look. The right wrist will be bent back. Now this image can be further refined; even more accurate would be the image of reaching back with your right hand while in the shower, and grasping the shower curtain rod.

To practice proper wrist cock, take a 7 iron and assume your stance. Then right in front of you, bend back your right wrist, while cocking up the left. The back of your left wrist should be relatively flat. (If this seems awkward or even impossible, I can assure you that your grip is faulty). From this pre-cocked position, swing the club back and strike the ball. Good hand, wrist, and arm swing is the lifeblood of a good swing.

Many people go to the doctor only when they feel sick. Similarly, folks go to the Teaching Professional when their game gets sick. It’s as if you suddenly forget how to play; it leaves you, and none of your old, trusty swing-thoughts seem to work.

This process is usually gradual, a little alignment problem here, swinging too hard there, then developing a few compensations along the way that work for a while, and suddenly you can’t get it air-born. You lose trust in what used to be automatic.

There’s a way out. Anne Mulcahy, CEO of Xerox, quotes a Texas business leader who has a simple solution for when the wheels come off. “When everything gets really complicated and you feel overwhelmed, think about it this way: You’ve got to do three things. First, get the cow out of the ditch. Second, find out how the cow got in the ditch. Third, make sure the cow doesn’t go into the ditch again”.

To get the cow out of the ditch, stop working so much on your swing, and instead learn to play again. Let the target re-teach you how to swing. Research By Dr. Gabriel Wolf on where athletes place their attention, concludes pretty clearly that focus on the target produces better and more consistent results than focus on the body.
Click here for the Gabriele Wulf research

A Golf Swing Waiting To Be Born, by the brilliant instructor Mike Hebron, states the same conclusion, that sometimes just playing can produce flawless technique, not the other way around!

Doing that one-pointedly for a while should get the cow out. Then, set up regular check -ups with the golf doctor, to make sure old Bessie doesn’t fall in again!

September 25, 2005

The Quiet Eye

As a regional coach for the RCGA, I have been invited to some cutting-edge seminars on teaching, coaching, and understanding how people can learn to play the best golf possible.

This spring, I attended one such groundbreaking presentation, given by Dr. Joan Vickers, of the University of Calgary. Dr. Vickers (Faculty of Kinesiology) has become well known as the scientist who came up with the quiet eye research, presented in a recent Golf Digest cover story. The magazine gave a good overview of her work, but there is a deeper impact, that can help you become a much better putter. I’m a believer, having seen it happen over and over with my students.

Following is her talk, taken directly from my notes at the Spring conference at Glen Abby.

Essentially, Dr. Vickers and her associates hooked up a large number of golfers of all ability levels, to a device (very expensive), that monitors eye movement. It actually shows on a screen for all to see, where the subject is looking. In essence, the gaze of a poor putter never settles. Their eyes flit from place to place, with no sense of resting anywhere. They don’t really ever look at the target or the ball, and in fact 70% of the time at impact the eyes are still darting around.

Compare this with an excellent putter: typically the great putters she studied gaze at the back of the ball for a few seconds, then to the target (specific target, very finite, ie. one blade of grass) for a few seconds, then back to the ball, resting there for at least a half-second to a second, and still quiet for a time after the putt has left the blade. It seems the duration of focus is the important criteria.

When I first heard this, I questioned the importance of the resting eyes, after all, a putt can be hit with the eyes closed. But it turns out, A SHIFT OF GAZE MEANS A SHIFT OF ATTENTION! It’s like driving a car while talking on the phone, eating a cheeseburger, and changing the radio station all at the same time.

Dr. Vickers went on to the two parts of the human brain; one specializes in slow movement, one in fast movement. The quiet eye occurs in the slow brain. The fast brain developed to protect us from saber- tooth tigers and other things that want to eat us. It is peripheral vision, constantly flitting around to detect trouble. As we evolved, the fear of being eaten changed to the fear of missing a putt: it’s the same neurological response, and it leads to real bad putting.

So, the quiet eye does a lot of positive things. In Dr. Vickers words, it `provides the information for the motor system to organize the billions of neurons in the brain in order for us to perform optimally’. It `orients the athlete in space within the task environment’.

For the yipper, who has worn out a neurological part of the brain, it puts them to a fresh place in the brain, where they have a chance to have beginners mind again.

Hold out your thumb an arms length in front of you; the quiet eye stays within the width of the thumb. Anything outside of that is the fast brain. The term for that is acuity.

Back to the poor putter: when the eyes dart off the ball at impact, the command to move the eyes had to come somewhere in the backswing (that’s the amount of time it takes to get the information from the intention to move, to the eyes). If you are telling yourself to move your eyes while the putter is still swinging back, you are in for some missed birdies.

Dr. Vickers suggested those in attendance look up the research of Gabriele Wulf, on external vs internal focus. Essentially, thinking about the result (target) leads to better results than thinking about the technique. The eyes, in this case, direct the stroke, by feeding the information into the system. In Dr. Vickers words, `the motor system self-organizes itself, unencumbered’.

Wow, do you mean all I have to do is look at where I want to go, give my brain a few seconds to process the information, then let it happen? Sounds too easy. Maybe that’s why golf is so hard, because less is better.

Good Luck, and Great Putting! Ed


Click here for the Gabriele Wulf research
And here for the quiet eye research
And here for the Golf Digest article.

July 25, 2005

Golf in a Fishbowl

Recently I went to a one-man show with THE KING OF COMEDY, Andy Jones. One of his skits was about what it might be like to be a goldfish in a small bowl.

Getting into the mind of a goldfish, Jones surmised that it went something like this: the fish would be swimming along, minding his business, when suddenly he notices the other side of the bowl. His eyer light up, and he goes off on an adventure to explore his `discovery', when Boing, he bangs into the glass.

Stunned, he floats in a daze for a moment, completely forgetting what just happened. Then, once again, his eyes light up: `Hey, look, there's the other side of the bowl!' And off he goes again, only to bang the glass, get stunned, forget,....and do it all over again. Day, after day, year after year.

What does this have to do with golf? I believe that really good golf is slightly boring, and has that over and over again, forgetful quality. `Look, theres the target! Lets send the ball over there! Smack! Go get it. Forget the last one. Then `hey,look! There's the target! Smack, go get it, then `hey, look, theres the target...over and over...68, 70, 72 times, whatever the case may be.

My point is, it doesn't have to be spectacular, or even exciting. It's slightly boring, in fact. Keep an even keel. As the master violinist said, when asked about how tightly he strings his bow: `not too tight, not too loose.'

1 July 2005

Play Better Golf using the Magic of No- Big- Deal

Cartoon characters have a trait that would make life interesting for real humans; that little bubble that shows everybody your thoughts. I invite you to look into the heads of two golfers as they play a round of golf: Golfer #1, Bill, is a big-deal golfer, while Joe practices no-big-deal golf

Bill on the first tee: `If I really crank this drive, I will surely win the accolades of everybody watching. And a great score at the end of the day will cement their estimation of my golfing abilities. On the other hand, if I screw up, they will think I’m a choker with a bad swing. It’s all on the line here!’

Joe on the first tee: `The way this green is designed, the best approach is from the left side of the fairway. Even a shot in the light rough is fine, and in fact leaves a terrific look at the flag. My target is that maple tree in the distance. It’s the first tee, and there is a tendency to tighten up, so pay attention to grip pressure

Bill is a big-deal golfer, the big deal being HIMSELF. It all revolves around him, how people perceive him, and how he compares. Joe on the other hand is a no-big-deal golfer; what is important is the next shot, the conditions, the game.

Again, Bills inner thoughts on his second shot: `I hope I don’t go in the water by the green; my score would be toast and it’s only the first hole!’ The result? He tightens up and goes right into the water.

Joe: `Since there’s water on the right of the green, and the pin is cut to the right, the smart play will be to play to the middle of the green, which would leave an uphill putt. My target is that undulation 15 feet left of the pin. During my pre- shot routine, I want to do a quick body scan to see if there is any tension’.

Notice how Joe plays the shot at hand, while Bill is attached to the result. Playing the shot, noticing the body tension levels and breathing, keeps Joe on the spot, in the moment. This is the magic of no-big-deal. And no-big-deal becomes a great score, one shot at a time.

31 May 2005
This Site
titled A Golf Swing Waiting To Be Born, offers one of the best descriptions of why golf is difficult, and what to do about it. It's by a fantastic instructor, Mike Hebron, who has put alot of thought into how we really learn golf, and the roadblocks we will encounter. Recommended to read before a lesson!

As I write this I am reminded of a commercial on the golf channel; the young son at the dinner table is playing race-car through his mashed potatoes with his fork. Finally dad cannot bite his tongue any longer, and blurts out `son, how many times have I told you; ACCELERATE through the turns!’

More distance in golf is patiently waiting for you to learn how to apply mother natures laws, to the design of your golf club. One law governing distance is acceleration. Defined by Britannica as rate of change of velocity, one of the elements is on a curved path, the acceleration can never be zero.

Play video of racer Hans Stuck on a track in Germany. Hold on tight around the curves!

What this means to a golfer is similar to what it means to the cowboy snapping the whip; when a straight line or path becomes a circle, IT SPEEDS UP. Furthermore, the laws governing centripetal acceleration state that the force on the object is directed toward the center of the circle.

Putting this together in simple terms, when a straight line suddenly becomes a circle, tremendous acceleration occurs. And that acceleration force is directed toward the center. So how do I put this information into a drive on the first tee of my weekly match with the girls? In other words, what does it FEEL like?

The answer is: the arms DROP, then the hips POP. The dropping arms are the straight line. The popping hips (and including the whole torso), are the circle. The force goes to the inside (torso), and the acceleration to the club. The ball compresses, and goes a mile.

How do I do it? The first step is to create a good coil, getting the body essentially out of the way, to allow the space for the arms to free fall. My first coach, Bill Strausbaugh used to call it `burying the right shoulder’ (right- hand golfers). If the body invades the space that the arms should occupy coming down, then the straight line is disrupted and the circle starts too soon. When this happens, the circle is too far from the center, thus the acceleration is less. (A ball spinning on a string will accelerate more if you pull the string to make the circle smaller).

And if this doesn’t work, just look at the back of the ball and rip it!

This article is directed toward 2-plane golfers. A one-plane golfer will have less drop and more turn. If you do not know which you are, visit a competent PGA or CPGA teaching professional.

1May2005

Turn-hard (like Bernhard) to hit it Longer (like Langer)!

Bernhard Langer is one of the most successful golfers of this era, the only German golfer I know to reach such a high level. He is a very left-brained, methodical player, so in his honour I would like to present a short, technical view of the golf swing.

Please note: there is more than one way to hit a golf ball effectively. The following article is for the two-plane golfers. The one-plane golfer should skip this, or read to see how the other half lives! (If you don't know which you are, it might help your game to find out).

You don’t just hit the golf ball with your body. The club is held in the hands, swung with the arms, supported by the turning and shifting torso...to a point.

That point is through the ball-a few feet before impact to just past impact. If the sequence of events has been in order, you will find your hands near your right leg, with the club lagging behind.

The green light is now on-use the big guns, the hips and torso (the new in- word is core) to FIRE: Turning through like lightning.

At this point an interesting sensation will occur; it will almost feel as though the arms are stopping, the only moving parts being the inner (hips-center of gravity), moving the outer (clubhead). Move the arms too quickly at this point, and the outer-inner connection will be broken.

The ball will compress, carried along by the only part of you strong enough to support the collision at that speed, your core.

(Or if that all seems too complicated, just look at the back of the ball and whack it!)

23jan2005

IMPROVE YOUR PUTTING OVER THE WINTER BY TRAINING YOUR EYES
New research from the University of Calgary shows that a good putter uses his or her eyes very differently than a poor putter. Great putters are disciplined and precise in how they look at the line.

Quiet Eye is a link to that research.

5 April 2005

Here in Nova Scotia, we are lucky to be able to walk most golf courses. Many US courses require you to ride, which changes the flow of the game, not to mention losing the physical benefits involved in carrying a bag for 18 holes.

Now is a good time to get your legs in shape for the upcoming season. Take brisk walks. Do it often. You have probably in the past experienced a tiredness at around the 15th hole, especially early in the season. Overcome this with a strong pair of legs and good cardio conditioning.

This Site
titled A Golf Swing Waiting To Be Born, offers one of the best descriptions of why golf is difficult, and what to do about it. It's by a fantastic instructor, Mike Hebron, who has put alot of thought into how we really learn golf, and the roadblocks we will encounter. Recommended to read before a lesson! 18 Feb 2005

How to Make a Change

Change is difficult in any endeavor. If you are used to doing something one way, and then begin to do it differently, it might feel wrong! When my wife moved the silverware from one drawer to another, it took me the longest time to not reach for the old drawer!

The secret to making a change is not sheer willpower, but rather the opposite; Just Noticing. If you clearly and intimately notice every time you do it the old way, and without agression, just note that feeling or movement, only then can you learn to do it another way. Pema Chodren titled her best selling book START WHERE YOU ARE. Little did she know she was writing a golf book!

Turning a Negative into a Positive
Those of you working on refining your swing over the winter might be helped by the following attitude: Studies show that it takes 6 hours to form a new motor-skill habit. Since a golf swing takes a few seconds, 10,800 repetitions are needed to make the change your own.

To make it simple, cut that number into smaller groupings. Say to yourself: 'to begin to feel comfortable with this change, I will probably mis-hit 300 shots before I start to get it'. Now that does not sound like alot. It's workable.

So every bad shot now becomes a positive thing. (Shank)"Only 299 to go. (Slice)"Only 298 to go", and so on.

Just be careful not to be overconfident either. Hitting 5 good shots in a row doesn't mean I've Got It. Remember, only 297 to go!

10jan2005
The actions that you perform out there, begin in here. In other words, your intention creates your actions. If your intention in playing golf is to have fun with friends, then it really doesn't matter what you shoot. On the other hand, if you intend to compete on tour, you had better stop dreaming and get to work. And if you are 41 years old and cannot break 90, you had better match your intent with reality!

If your intention on a drive is to not to go into the woods, then topping the ball straight down the middle is a successful outcome. And so on. My point is, get it right on the inside first.

Which brings up the question, how do I do that? The answer can only be, you have to learn for yourself. Find a teacher, read a book, contemplate the question, keep a journal, whatever works for you. The answer will only come if you are able to voice the right question. You have to trust your instincts.

So the task is to find out what you really want from the game of golf. Get this view right, then go for it!

31oct2004
Properly fitting clubs can be extremely important in the big picture of the development of a golfer. As your level of play increases, the importance of fitting also increases. But having said that, don’t make the mistake of blaming every bad shot on your clubs. The Cape Bretoner might say `it’s not the fiddle, it’s the fiddler!’. Or as my First Nations friend Notah would say `It’s not the arrow, it’s the Indian’.

Golf Swing in a Vacuum

`When the whole thing's just not working, everything's lined up against you,
Don't try to find some way to change it all;
Here the point to make your practice is reverse the way you see it,
Don't try to make it stop or improve.
Adverse conditions happen, when they do it's so delightful-
They make a little song of sheer delight!'
Gyalwa Gotsangpa's Seven Delights

I love that line: `reverse the way you see it'; it always makes me think of what it must have been like to first realize that the earth was round, not flat. That reverse in the way something is seen, changed human history.

Similarly, many people believe that, if they can perfect their golf swing, at the moment it is perfect, they can present their great game to the world, like the man who will write his book as soon as he knows everything he needs to know about his topic. Meanwhile the other guy decides to start writing, and in the process of writing his knowledge is perfected

The golf swing does not exist in a vacuum, it lives in an environment. That environment has a target, and a performer who is human, and humans change daily. In many ways, it is the target that forms the swing, a reverse in the way the swing is viewed.

Think of the dart player, who decides to practice his technique, by going to an open field, and throwing darts without a target. Or the chess player who practices by just moving pieces for an hour. Lacking in these examples is the actual game, the strategy, the playing part of playing golf. It's like a golf swing in a vacuum.

Three Week Group Clinic

The three week clinic is designed to accommodate golfers of every level. We start at impact, and work from there to the rest of the swing.

Week 1

• Impact: left arm and club line up (righty golfer)
• The body tilts: hip-check. Hip is closer to target than head.
• Grip: tees in v's
• Stance: club up the spine
• Exercise: hit alot of short, `punch' shots
• Practice the grip and stance at home
• Next class: bring a 7 iron again

Week 2

• Review week 1
• Grip pressure: squeeze a tube of toothpaste
• Plane of the swing: `On the Roof' (not the wall or ceiling)
• Left arm and club make an `L'
• So; 2 L's on the Roof
• In the follow through, Knees Kiss
• `The Cocking, Uncocking, and Recocking of the Wrists gives LIFE TO THE SWING
• Next session, bring a 3 wood or driver, a 5 iron, 7 iron, and pitching wedge

Week 3

• Review everything
• Ball position for different clubs:
• Driver = left heel
• 5 iron, and all long clubs off the ground = 1 ball back
• 7, 8, 9, wedge, 2 balls back
• Follow-through; don't hold back
• Mental game: `come to your senses!

Mind and Body in Sync

`Mr. Duffy lived a short distance from his body'

`No head, no headache'

Ther first quote is from a famous book that I can't think of for the life of me. The second is from my friend Dr. Joe Parent.

Both are about the connection between body and mind. It is fairly clear what the body is; you can touch it, feel it, see it. But the mind is invisible, hard to define, hard to see. We know we have one, but try to point it out, corner it, or keep it in one place and you will find it to be elusive.

What we do know, is that there are times when it all seems to flow. In golf, when we are in sync there are no problems. There's the ball, there's the target, just do it. Other times there are doubts, fears, spaced out thinking, lack of focus.

Is there a way to promote the zone? Are there ways of using the mind in a positive that can be cultivated? I think so.

The Good Mind

Good mind for golf is pretty simple. Pay attention to the next shot. How far to go, best place to land, best club to use, where to go to make the next shot easier, percentage shot, etc.

Bad Mind

The destructive thinking process is: where not to go, how can I screw this up, boy am I bad, they're all watching, tight, try too hard, don't care, can't wait until this is over, no committment, no trust.

Bridge between Mind and Body

In the Short-Game/Mind-Game Schools at Penn Hills, we do an exercize that is very simple, and with practice, can help you go directly from Good Mind thinking of the next shot, to the body which ultimately has to hit the shot. That technique is breathing.

The breath happens naturally, without thinking. It also can be made to happen. That is why it is a bridge; it can be controlled, or left alone.

The exercize is to simply notice your breath, without changing it. Are you holding your breath, is it shallow, deep, strained? If the body is tense, the breath will be tense. Body relaxed, breath relaxed. Just notice.

Before every shot, make it a point to notice your breathing. Make it as much a habit as putting your hands on the club. Again I would stress, don't change it, just notice it.

Don't be surprised if a new sense of flow and relaxation begins to happen in your game

Balance, the Invisible Fundamental

I once attended a PGA conference where Peter Kostis gave a presentation on the golf swing. His theme was the importance of good balance.

It seems that many if not most swing problems can be tamed if your balance issues are cured.For example, the all too common over-the-top move. Did you think it was your arms at fault? Too quick?

Perhaps the problem stems from a different place altogether. Mr. Kostis used the example of a high-wire acrobat. When the performer's center -of-gravity is directly over the wire, his arms are very steady. But get the COG off just a little, and the arms begin to flail and thrash in order to regain balance..

So if the golfer's center is out of the `balance zone', the arms will flap out and around, resulting in the slice or power-pull.

George Knudson wrote :`no wonder the unbalanced golfer whips his hands so abruptly into the ball; he doesn't know where he is in space; he is, of course, all over the place, and reacts by trying to get his club on the ball any way he can. It's all very inefficient, and unpleasant to watch. He's working too hard

New technology can now track a golfer's center of gravity. Balance can be learned! We are thrilled to have the most powerful technology available to track balance in the golf swing, the Dynamic Balance System This incredible tool shows, in real time, where your COG went, and when.

Your personal data can then be compared with a library of high performance golfers, with problem areas isolated and worked on.

The DBS is like an MRI of your swing. We hope you will take advantage of this learning tool- The cost to use the machine is $30. It will also be used with lessons with Ed Call 450 0111 to book on the DBS.

The First Step; knowing why you play

My kid brother asked me one summer evening as we teed off on the 54th hole of the day, “what do people do who don’t play golf?” This old memory got me thinking about the reasons people play this game.

So I did a little survey in the golf shop and asked a cross section of golfers, “ why do you play?” Following are a few of the responses:

• Cheaper than a therapist
• Always different
• Camaraderie (this was the most frequent answer)
• I've got nothing else to do
• I used to think it was better than working, but I changed my mind
• The most enjoyable thing I’ve ever done
• To find dates (this answer from an attractive woman-beginner)
• Good for health, love to walk, fresh air
• The only athletic competitive event I can play at my age
• Betting. I won’t play unless the money’s right
• To keep from doing housework (this answer from a man)
• The most challenging game of all
• I don’t know
• Started late and trying to make up for lost time
• Always the possibility of improving
• Playing the professional tour
• Winning the club championship
• The sound and feel of a perfect shot
• Something to do in retirement, activity with spouse
• Golf has saved my sanity (not everyone agreed with this one)
• I like everything about it except for the way I play
• I love to practice- intrigued by the golf swing
• Makes me feel younger
• I like to compete against myself (I’m the only one I can beat)
• Forces me to concentrate (a diversion from daily problems)
• I learn a lot of new words

Golf seems to bring out the best in a person and the worst in a person, sometimes all in the same hole. Most everybody agrees that there is something about this game that `hooks’ you.

Why a clear knowing of your intention can help you play better and enjoy it more

The reason you play the game has to match the effort you put into it, otherwise you are `barking up the wrong tree’. For example, If the reason you play is for camaraderie, then it doesn’t really matter how well you do. What matters is choosing the group you play with. You don’t need to practice, only play.

If you play to compete, then you might put more effort into mental practice, as well as picking the events you participate in, and so on.

Each of the above reasons for playing will have a different approach. If you begin diluting your intention with mis matched attention, you will fail. (Chase two rabbits, and both will escape).

Take the time at this point to think about the reason(s ) you play. Write them down in your journal, or in a file on your computer (the `better golf’ file). Dig deep, and speak from your heart.

Once you have determined the reason you play, write down the steps that might augment those reasons, or where you could direct your attention. Some possibilities are :

• Practice more
• Play with better golfers, (for those who compete)
• Walk the course instead of riding a cart (for the health folks)
• Organize a regular foursome (camaraderie people)
• Find a new hobby (If you play because there is nothing else to do, you might try volunteer work or stamp collecting)
• Join a league (for dates, or couples)

The list goes on. This process is the first step in the journey to more enjoyment of the game.

Ed Hanczaryk, PGA, CPGA 2005 Top 50 Teachers in Canada
Awareness Golf School

• Private Lessons at Halifax Golf
• Golf Schools at The Links at Penn Hills

Check the web-site for details: www.awarenessgolf.com, or call 450 0111.

Rick Reilly, America's leading sports writer,

shocked golf fans and players with his devastating assessment of the US Ryder Cup team, in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated. Thanks to Grant Jarvis for passing this along

"I LIKE warm beer and hairy-legged women. I drive a car so small, you could park it in the glove, compartment of a Hummer. I enjoy funny brown cigarettes in the loo. That's because, as of now, I am officially a European.

I have turned European because I'm bloody sick of the US getting the haggis stomped out of it by Europeans in these Ryder Cup golf matches. Every two years the Euros dye their hair and smoke their cigars and get drunk and wave their blue Euro flags and beat us like Dickens's orphans, then sing songs shoulder-to-shoulder and laugh and dance on the clubhouse roof and wave their private parts in our general direction.

No more. I'm a Euro now. Changed my passport and everything. I like real football now, not fat guys in helmets. I no longer see the point in regular dental check-ups. I tan by 4O-watt bulbs. I eat tatties and neeps in my flat and see what's on the telly. Ooh, brilliant! It's Mr Bean!

I'd been considering turning Euro for a few years now, but on Monday, when the American team was announced for next month's Ryder Cup at the K Club in Ireland, it ripped me knittin', as we say down at the pub.

Have you seen the US team? It has all the intimidation power of the Liechtenstein navy. It would have a hard time beating the Winnetka. Country Club ladies' B team: It's the single worst squad we've ever taken to a Ryder Cup, and that's saying something, considering, the last batch got pummeled 18 ½-9 ½ .

“We'll definitely be the underdog," Phil Mickelson says. "You lose four of the last five Cups, you're the underdog." This outfit would be the underdog to a stiff breeze.

Or do Brett Wetterich, Zach Johnson, J.J. Henry and Vaughn Taylor make your timbers shiver? It sounds like somebody's Webelos troop. None of those four have ever played in a Ryder Cup before. Three of them missed the cut at last week's US PGA Championship, and Henry finished.41st. Wetterich has missed five cuts in his last eight starts. You look at him and think, was he my waiter at Olive Garden last night? If he wasn't, he will be soon. Won’t Tiger be psyched to be paired with him?

That's the other thing: Tiger. He's the No 1 player in the world by a light year, the Golfing Gladiator. Until he goes to Ryder Cups, and then he suddenly becomes Dead Man Walking. He mopes around like a husband in couples therapy, only he talks to his partner less. It may be the only thing he sucks at His Ryder Cup record is 7-11-2, and no wonder. He wasn’t wired for team play. He trusts nobody. Why should he buddy up with people he's been trained to swallow in two bites or less? The hangman doesn't play on the prison softball team. Lions don’t room with lambs.

Yet every two years all the US players seem to take their Stepford cue from Woods. They all play as though they have to put their shirts back in the boxes when they're done. Of the 12 guys on this year's team, nine have a losing Ryder Cup record or no record at all. You know who's got a great Ryder Cup record on the US team? Tom Lehman (5-3-2), Corey Pavin (8-5). and Loren Roberts: (3-l). Only problem is, they're the coaches!

This thing needs a readjust. We've lost seven of the last ten. Can't they at least give us Canada?

Only eight players on the American team are in the top 50 in the world. The Euros have ten, and they've still got two captain's picks left. They have the same group of partyers that has been popping US corks for ten years now: Olazabal, Garcia, Harrington, probably Westwood and Clarke. Nothing changes every two years except the site of the execution.

They'll outplay us and outguzzle us and outwhoop us, and at the end, while the American players are slinking back to their jets, the Euros will be swan diving off the TV tower into a swimming pool full of Guinness. And I'll be there with me straw. I'm with them now. I've joined the champagne-swilling side.

I'm more European than pay toilets. I wear knee-socks with sandals and drink Beaujolais at l0am and never read a news¬paper that doesn't have a naked girl in it. And if you don't like it, you can bugger off.

Wait Excuse me? You say all true Euros love Monty? (Pause.) OK, forget the whole thing."

GOLF IN THE KINGDOM OF BHUTAN

I am very pleased to announce that I have been chosen to teach golf in Bhutan from Dec. 28 through April 23.

Bhutan is known as the last Shangrila, and only recently has opened its borders for limited tourism.

The King is a lover of the game, and has built a golf course in the Capital City of Thimpu. Rick Lipsey, a staff writer with Sports Illustrated Magazine, started a programme that sends PGA members to teach in 3 or 4 month intervals.

The programme is funded by The Royal and Ancient Golf Society in Scotland, the PGA of America, Calloway Golf, and US Kids Golf, as well as private donations.

Click here for more information on `the land of the Thunder Dragon'.

Golf in Bhutan

When I first saw the words Bhutan and Golf together in the same sentence, I had to look twice. Was this a Monty Python skit, or maybe the theme of a golf joke? I was on the conservative PGA of America members web site at the time, looking to escape the Nova Scotia winter and work elsewhere for a few months.

I thought, ` isn’t The Kingdom of Bhutan that hidden, inaccessible, remote Buddhist Shangri-La way up in the Himalayan Mountains? As great as this game is, surely it isn’t played there!’

I was wrong. I heard said the other day that golf is `the new rock and roll', accepted by nearly everybody, nearly everywhere. Tiger Woods is the most recognised face on the planet. For the months of January through April, I will be teaching at the Royal Thimpu Golf Club, as well as going out into the even more remote areas of the country, to teach. Every two weeks, I intend to post, on this home page, a journal of my activities and observations.

This part is being sent from the Ambassador Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, where I am resting for a few days after 22 hours of flying. Then on New Years Day (western new year, Jan 1), I will fly to Delhi India, Katmandu Nepal, past Mount Everest, to Paro, Bhutan. Each stop is a first visit for me; I feel grateful that my livelihood, teaching the game of golf, is affording me such an awesome adventure.

Many thanks to Rick Lipsey, founder of the Bhutan Youth Golf Association, and the many people who have assisted me with advice on the country, books, warm clothing, and other gifts for the trip. Thanks as well to the Royal Canadian Golf Association for a package of hats, prizes, and teaching handbooks from the successful Future Links Program.

Finally, thanks and love to my wife and daughter, for `keeping the hearth warm’ while I am gone. I look forward to showing you both around when you come to visit.

Now, I’m off to get some authentic Thai food, and finalize preparations for my upcoming assignment. I'll keep in touch!

Yours in the Spirit of the Game,

Ed Hanczaryk

New Year’s eve in Bangkok

The fireworks were more than I had bargained for: a few minutes before midnight, 6 bombs went off at busy areas of the city. Two people were killed, two dozen injured. After midnight another, even more powerful bomb went off, fortunately nobody was hurt by that one.

The word on the street was that it was a backlash from the recent overthrow of what people say was a corrupt government, and not as CNN might have suggested a response to the hanging death of Saddam Hussein that morning.

Needless to say, as much as I enjoyed the city to that point, I was glad to get on the plane the next morning to quiet, gentle Bhutan.

SHORT GAME SCHOOL: OVERVIEW

The Essence of the Mind-Game:

• Come to your Senses; see, feel, hear
• Don't forget to breathe
• `Fake it until you make it'

How we `get in our own way':

• Fear: (don't go in the water)
• Distracted,
• Negative self-talk

Antidotes to the destructive ways of thinking:

• Just notice when you do it. Dont try to change.
• Breathe. Again, just notice your breathing
• Body-scan. Let the sunshine melt away the tension./li>

Putting:

The most important new information on putting is called the `Quiet Eye'. I guarantee that this will help improve your putting.

Chipping:



Chipping can be simplified as a putt with a 7 iron (or whichever club you choose). The secret is to pretend you are putting with a funny-looking putter. Don't try to lift the ball up into the air with your wrists. Set up with your weight left, and the top of the club leaning forward.

The Secret Formula for choosing a club:

• A sand wedge
will travel in the air the same distance it rolls on the ground: 1/1 ratio.
• A pitching wedge is 2/1: (Ground/air)
• A 9 iron is 3/1
• A 8 iron is 4/1
• A 7 iron is 5/1
• A 6 iron is 6/1

Pitching:

The secret to good pitching is that the club is never decelerating through the ball. At the same time, you don't want to smoke it over the green. To accomplish that, the backswing is shorter than you can believe possible. From there, you can hit the ball with vigour, and still not be long. This is the brilliant teacher Dave Pelz demonstrating the `verticle back, horizontal through' pitching technique.


Vertical club in back swing, horizontal club at finish.



Play the ball in the middle of your heels, and use great tempo, and you will begin to get it up-and-down more often from 30 yards and in.

Three Steps to Playing Great Golf

Separating your swing from your mind is not possible. It’s like taking the wet out of water. For that reason, any positive change in your golf swing has to be accompanied by a change in the way you think about your swing; it all starts in your mind.
Not long ago, the human brain was thought of as a `black box’, unchanging, fixed. But recent research on this `three pounds of electrical flesh’ comes to a different conclusion; the brain can change, and dramatically. It is plastic, malleable. And we have the tools to direct our brain to its full potential.
In golf, that could mean getting rid of fear of water, or the first tee jitters. It might mean becoming a better putter, making a much needed swing change, or becoming more confident. You can do these things, but in order to do so, three requirements must be met.
• You have to find a way to settle the mind, to calm down emotional upheavals and general thinking too much. This is called mindfulness.
• You have to know some basics on what great technique feels like. Not what it looks like on the surface, but deeper, to a secret level. I call this overcoming illusions, or awareness.
• You need to practice. And there is a right way and a wrong way to practice.
Did you ever have the thought; `If only I had a great golf swing. I would be a terrific player’. Or, `If only I could get my mind right, I would be a contender’. How about, `I just need to practice more’. I just don’t believe you can separate out any one of these three factors. In future articles on this page, I would like to go into these in more depth.
17oct2004
Most instructors agree that tension can ruin a swing or a game. The best way I know to monitor tension is by using a body scan. Start from the top of your head and work down, slowly. Hit every area of your body, shining the light of awareness on the body part. If tension is detected, the act of noticing will melt the tension. Let it flow down and out of your body, through your feet and out into the ground. With practice, this can be done in a flash, before every shot.

03oct2004
CAUTION; TIPS CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR GOLF GAME! Poison for one person can be nectar to another. There are many body types, psychological styles, men, women, etc. They all could have different approaches that work. Best to see your PGA or CPGA Professional for advice.