On this page you can read a short preview of my eBook. I have included below the Contents, Preface and Epilogue. This eBook covers the main theme of this website and will open the door to 'true learning', 'sensory awareness' and 'an extraordinary golf experience'.
Using this golf triad, my daughter Juliana, by the age of thirteen, managed to achieve a very impressive handicap of four (3.8) and was able to out-hit and out-play the vast majority of male golfers at our club.
With this true learning method, it is not a case of here today, gone tomorrow. Instead all students gain confidence in their inbred ability to learn and what they do learn remains learnt.
Some feedback from a few people who have read this eBook...
... "The Golf Triad was an enhancing experience for me. It gave me much more than a new way to look at golf. Up to now I have only worked on the 'smiley drill' from chapter one. This alone has uncovered a lifetime of misconceptions and gave me the keys to unlock a new world of opportunity in my golf game. I am looking forward to putting the many other tips to use."John (Ca.)
... "Golf used to be scary but now it has become fun. Is that possible? I love it. What a change from before reading this book, when I played in a state of nervousness and fear!"Marjorie (England, Hdcp 14)
... "I am Swiss and would love this book be translated on the German language. I have understood the main subjects of chapters but there are fine descriptions that I feel need clarified. I love the continuing story about your daughter and the two answered mails I have already received from you. Thank you. "Edi (St. Gallen)
The Fun-damentals of Learning and Performing
Preface
I have been teaching golf for many years and have given tens of thousands of lessons to players of all levels. During this time I have, like many of my colleagues, prided myself in giving my students my fullest attention and effort when influencing them with some specialised knowledge of the swing and the game.
However, about ten years ago, I realised that I was not managing to get what I considered a relatively simple set of instructions efficiently across to them. They did, for the most part, understand what I was explaining but when it came to performing these tasks, there were huge shortfalls.
I was, in effect, conforming with my peers and teaching all of the normal basics for putting, pitching, chipping and the full swing. Using the normal directives like: “Keep your left arm straight. Don’t roll your wrists. Keep your right knee flexed. Maintain your spine angle. Etc, etc, etc.”
I would busy myself analysing their swings, identifying any faults, and then putting them on the right track to improvement. Sometimes these fixes would work for a few days, or hours, and sometimes only a matter of minutes, but unfortunately they would seldom be set in stone. They understood and were aware of these mistakes but fixing them permanently was proving frustratingly elusive.
At this point, I would like to discuss a motor skill/activity that most of us have learned to an efficient level, namely cycling. When looking at this every day activity, the main attributes are balance, coordination, and stamina. In golf, concentration could replace stamina as cycling involves much less brain work.
We normally learn to ride a bike in childhood and on a basic level this doesn't involve using a specialised cycling coach. We accomplish this skill more or less on our own and acquire, quite swiftly, rather adept skills.
The main difference, in comparison to golf, is that these skills stay learned and no matter how seldom we cycle our competence does not noticeably fluctuate. The same could be said for walking, running, throwing, catching, jumping, hopping, climbing, driving a car or even brushing our teeth. And, of course, countless other motor skills.
So what is the difference between excelling in these everyday activities and the rather disappointing and inconsistent levels we achieve in golf? It is, without doubt, a rather puzzling game because one day everything is going well and seems easy and, for no apparent reason, the very next day we cannot understand how we could have thought that this menacing game was easy.
In the following chapters, I am going to discuss this theme at length and use some simple pointers that should lead you to a better golfing experience. Working together we will also be able to awaken the golfing master within us who, up to now, appears rarely and unfortunately rather non spontaneously.
I have read many golf books, articles and watched countless instructional videos that have helped in my research and understanding of this theme. I would like to take this opportunity to thank and acknowledge some of the people who have inspired me with their writing and teaching.
Michael Murphy Gregg McHatton Timothy Gallwey Rick Smith Fred Shoemaker Jim McLean Dr. Bob Rotella Bobby Schaeffer Deepak Chopra Bill McKinney Dr. Alan Shapiro Jack Nicklaus Dr. Gio Valiente Tiger Woods Joseph McLaughlin Dr. Joseph Parent
I would like to acknowledge that this book has been inspired by these people, among others, and any similarity to their work can be attributed to my trust and belief in their theories.
I have been practising and developing this method of teaching over the years and this book is a by-product of this. There have been many books written on the mental side of this game and hoards of books, videos and articles that approach the strategic and mechanical aspects.
I am attempting to merge these two topics in this book concentrating on themes like self coaching, staying in the present, playing in the zone, enhanced concentration and awareness techniques and golf mastery through sensory awareness. My main goal was to approach these themes without sounding like I was giving a lecture on advanced psychology or physiology.
I have also tried to portray this at a level that is suitable for golfers and not for people who want to achieve a doctorate in this field. I have also developed helpful golf drills that are easily understood, and at the same time, interesting, fascinating and exciting.
To finish, I would like to credit a third of this work to what I have read and studied throughout my career, another third to my own personal coaching and playing experiences and the final third to 'divine inspiration'.
A Wealth of Divine Inspiration
How often it is when we are faced with a problem, an idea comes to us. It often solves the problem with minimal or no fuss. We often worry unnecessarily so, And do not give divine inspiration a fair go. It is creative and therefore we are creative. It is how we were created to live. Whatever happens in life we need to step outside the emotional barrier. Be productive and positive and become a divine carrier. We have been provided with a faculty in us to live well and live in peace. If we learn to use this faculty we will find that all our anxieties will ultimately cease. Search back through your memories and you will find inspiration every step of the way. It was through ignorance of the laws of life we couldn’t hear what we had to say. What we see as miracles is but the divine thought and action at play. People often look to see a silver lining or Golden ray. To the theologist or psychologist it is the Divine Will ever flowing for us to tap into. It has always been here and not something new. Practice practising the presence and be co-creators with the Divine. Let inspiration’s creative energy and your soul now align. Always say a prayer of gratitude with each divine session. Walk humbly with inspiration and give thanks for the lesson.
Adapted from a poem by Andrew Pell
Contents
Chapter 1 Playing in a State of Shock p. 9
Chapter 2 Juliana's Story (Teaching Children) p. 24
Chapter 3 Putting without the Grey Matter p. 42
Chapter 4 The Art of Zen p. 70
Chapter 5 Using a Monitor with Sensory Awareness p. 87
Chapter 6 The Power Source p. 97
Chapter 7 The Psychology Story p. 106
Chapter 8 Developing a Golfer p. 119
Chapter 9 The Four Finger Grip Drill p. 137
Chapter 10 Fun(damentals), Learning and Performing p. 151
Epilogue
Golf is a wonderful game and in my opinion is one of the most fascinating and testing recreational activities ever developed by man. It's the chess of sports, requiring specific mental strength and tactical skills. Played properly, it's both character building and mind strengthening all in one.
There are not many sports that have a competitive system where a seventy year-old man can play on the same level with a young man in his physical prime. There are even circumstances where that older man must give shots to a much younger opponent. It is also a game where both genders can play and compete together in the same tournament.
At the very top level, Michelle Wie has proven in recent times that this is possible. Albeit not yet with significant levels of success but she has proven that the wide span of man's dominance in the sport has at least been narrowed.
On an amateur level, the mainland Europeans (Germany, France, Spain etc.) are leading the way, in allowing both genders to compete together in mixed Stableford tournaments with the ladies receiving their forward tee advantage.
When I first witnessed this I thought they were tampering a little too much with the basics of the game but there are some notable advantages. Because of this, in these countries, golf is more of a family sport with clubs having a much larger percenage of complete family memberships.
It is no longer a case of Dad and John Jnr. hitting the fairways while Mum and the 'Teenage Witch from Hell' go shopping. Instead they join in in a friendly 'four ball'-'best ball' against the men. And all of a sudden they are managing to hit the ball so far that the men sometimes complain that the ladies' tees are too far forward.
This influx of female golfers in Central Europe created a substantial migration of professional teachers from the British Isles. Because of the differing and complex learning needs of these 'Golferettes', a less arrogant and less directional method of teaching has evolved.
I am glad because I, for one, do not feel too comfortable bossing any ladies about. It was the widespread use of these methods and rapid improvements that the ladies were showing, which led to a steady advancement of men queuing up for some of the same.
It has been my experience that because of these ladies, many coaches, who teach using sensory awareness techniques, have been able to hone their non-directional teaching skills, thus adopting a finer and more natural teaching method.
Some day all teaching will be carried out in this way and I will fervently follow this journey towards coaching excellence. In the meantime, I can only advise the people who swear by the more directional teaching methods to re-read the chapters of this book and also the works of some of the other authors I have mentioned.
As a species, we are getting too methodical, scientific, sceptical or just too downright clever for our own good. This shows in our over-analysis of a relatively straightforward physical activity which we have convinced ourselves is an unnatural physical motion.
I am a firm believer that this game evolved through using choice characteristics and ideals from other natural activities and these culminated in the creation of this supreme sport for this world's supreme beings.
Golf is therefore the perfect pastime for the 'supermind', requiring more use of and inventiveness from our all-knowing inner consciousness and thus utilising many millions of years of hereditary perfection.
I hope this book has helped you to understand this and therefore helped simplify the unnecessary complications that have been dreamed up by the far from perfect opinions of man. I believe all coaches owe it to their students to at least find out more about these methods.
I am very aware that the fundamentals of the golf swing must be learned and a good knowledge of the mechanics does no harm. But nothing is more important than fully understanding how efficient learning takes place. The key lies in the use of sensory awareness and setting a learned task in stone before moving on to another skill.
