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Authors: George Knudson, Lorne Rubenstein
Tags: General, Sports & Recreation
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happened. I’d gotten ahead of myself, out of balance. Anticipation got the better of me. I’d given in to it. Then I saw Arnold Palmer. He’d won the tournament in 1958, 1960, 1962, and 1964. I related the story of what had happened to me on the twelfth tee.
Palmer said, “So what’s new about that? I was like that the entire last round in 1958.” The difference was that Palmer was able to play through it. I didn’t know what to do with the feelings. I should have calmed myself down after looking at the scoreboard. But I didn’t realize how important it was to be emotionally balanced. I wasn’t aware of how closely I had to monitor myself.
Not long ago, I had another illuminating experience while I was out hitting balls. I’d made a few nice passes with a five-iron, after which I started swinging a three-iron. Ten or twelve swings into my practice session, I noticed that I wasn’t feeling as free-wheeling through the ball as I normally do. Stepping back, I stopped for a moment and chuckled. As much as I know how important it is to evaluate each swing according to whether or not I was in balance – and a few other fundamentals I will teach you – I hadn’t been doing so. I’d fallen into driving range boredom: hitting one shot after another without setting up properly, without thinking about what I was trying to do. No wonder I’d lost the sense of freedom. Here was a useful object lesson. It suggested I had better keep my mind on what I was doing. Bad habits are a mere lapse of concentration away.
Now even when you understand that mental balance or knowledge leads to emotional balance, you must still keep an eye on your responses. It’s self-knowledge.You have to learn what emotions work for you. Do you need quiet or excitement? Do you like to chit-chat while you’re playing or would you rather play golf as if it were chess, silently? Are you a fast walker or do you prefer a modest pace?
Palmer likes the excitement. Fellows such as Julius Boros, Gene Littler, or Larry Nelson prefer something milder. Ballesteros seems to want to conquer, and needs the right venue to get in the conquistador spirit. He was exhilarating when he won the 1984 British Open over the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland, and equally thrilling when he led the British-European team to its first Ryder Cup victory on American soil in the fall of 1987. Perhaps this is why he seems to court controversy in the golf world. He needs to feel fired up. It’s the dynamo in him.
Whatever your disposition, you will learn to lessen your anxiety as you come to understand the natural golf swing. Lowering your anxiety will allow you to learn about yourself on the course. Anxiety impedes self-knowledge; it’s all we can think about when we’re beset by the feeling. Yet it’s the emotional state in which most of us are locked.
You will, however, progress as you practise the natural golf swing and learn to evaluate both your poor swings and your successful ones. Mental and emotional balance will open you up to the physical pleasures that come with a coordinated swing motion. You will appreciate that the graceful swing is also the pleasurable swing. As you experience more enjoyment from the motion itself, you will more easily drop your old habits and ways of thinking.
PRE-GAME BALANCE
I’ve always thought that preparation is one of the most important aspects of golf. We want to set up an environment in which we have the best chance of performing to the maximum of our ability. I like to stack the deck, but it’s still too easy to go to the course with the wrong cards. It’s happened to me plenty of times.
Consider the ways in which we can get out of balance even before we pick up a club. For one thing, we may set up imbalances in the way we approach the game. Imagine the following situation, one that I’m sure we’re all familiar with.
You’ve got a game arranged for eleven o’clock. You’ve known about it for two weeks. Somehow,
Palmer said, “So what’s new about that? I was like that the entire last round in 1958.” The difference was that Palmer was able to play through it. I didn’t know what to do with the feelings. I should have calmed myself down after looking at the scoreboard. But I didn’t realize how important it was to be emotionally balanced. I wasn’t aware of how closely I had to monitor myself.
Not long ago, I had another illuminating experience while I was out hitting balls. I’d made a few nice passes with a five-iron, after which I started swinging a three-iron. Ten or twelve swings into my practice session, I noticed that I wasn’t feeling as free-wheeling through the ball as I normally do. Stepping back, I stopped for a moment and chuckled. As much as I know how important it is to evaluate each swing according to whether or not I was in balance – and a few other fundamentals I will teach you – I hadn’t been doing so. I’d fallen into driving range boredom: hitting one shot after another without setting up properly, without thinking about what I was trying to do. No wonder I’d lost the sense of freedom. Here was a useful object lesson. It suggested I had better keep my mind on what I was doing. Bad habits are a mere lapse of concentration away.
Now even when you understand that mental balance or knowledge leads to emotional balance, you must still keep an eye on your responses. It’s self-knowledge.You have to learn what emotions work for you. Do you need quiet or excitement? Do you like to chit-chat while you’re playing or would you rather play golf as if it were chess, silently? Are you a fast walker or do you prefer a modest pace?
Palmer likes the excitement. Fellows such as Julius Boros, Gene Littler, or Larry Nelson prefer something milder. Ballesteros seems to want to conquer, and needs the right venue to get in the conquistador spirit. He was exhilarating when he won the 1984 British Open over the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland, and equally thrilling when he led the British-European team to its first Ryder Cup victory on American soil in the fall of 1987. Perhaps this is why he seems to court controversy in the golf world. He needs to feel fired up. It’s the dynamo in him.
Whatever your disposition, you will learn to lessen your anxiety as you come to understand the natural golf swing. Lowering your anxiety will allow you to learn about yourself on the course. Anxiety impedes self-knowledge; it’s all we can think about when we’re beset by the feeling. Yet it’s the emotional state in which most of us are locked.
You will, however, progress as you practise the natural golf swing and learn to evaluate both your poor swings and your successful ones. Mental and emotional balance will open you up to the physical pleasures that come with a coordinated swing motion. You will appreciate that the graceful swing is also the pleasurable swing. As you experience more enjoyment from the motion itself, you will more easily drop your old habits and ways of thinking.
PRE-GAME BALANCE
I’ve always thought that preparation is one of the most important aspects of golf. We want to set up an environment in which we have the best chance of performing to the maximum of our ability. I like to stack the deck, but it’s still too easy to go to the course with the wrong cards. It’s happened to me plenty of times.
Consider the ways in which we can get out of balance even before we pick up a club. For one thing, we may set up imbalances in the way we approach the game. Imagine the following situation, one that I’m sure we’re all familiar with.
You’ve got a game arranged for eleven o’clock. You’ve known about it for two weeks. Somehow,
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