How you learn to golf

I have been meaning to write about this subject for some time. This is the story about how you learn. Let me explain what this means and how it directly affects how you will learn and play the game of golf.

There are two ways to access your brain for the purpose of teaching you how to golf. For simplicity, we’ll call them the left and right hand side of the brain approaches. The left is the “analytical” brain. It is also the one which tries to dominate the conversation and tell you what to do. The right is the “creative” side which when left alone allows access to the unthinking site in your brain which permits you to perform without screening each and every movement.

To get a feel for the power and pervasiveness of “left brain” learning, think of the modern education system and how we transmit knowledge to our youngest and most vulnerable community members. There is an absolutely brilliant video featuring Sir Ken Robinson which you must watch . It is a joy to watch and it has enormously entertained everyone I have shared it with. Go to this link now; watch it and come back here.

  www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Let me pick up the thread again. You can now grasp why the bulk of golf instruction is organized as it is. It is really only the adult version of how you learned math or grammar in grade school. It appeals to the left side orthodoxy which governs how we think we should learn.

But can we really teach one to dance by simply mapping out a series of steps and sequencing? Perhaps. But are we not teaching the dancer a very limited vocabulary? Can you see where more is possible when we introduce music, movement and creativity? Moreover, can you not see where this is blocked if we only appeal to the left side of the brain?

Tim Gallwey, the author of the “Inner Game of Tennis” and the “Inner Game of Golf” has explored how we can access the right side to both master and integrate the physical learning. There exist, too, studies from sport scientists and physiologists from Duke University demonstrating and developing a sport skill learning methodology which bypasses the “rational, dominant” part of the brain (left side) to embed the movement and skill into the unconscious netherlands of your brain. These are but a few of a new breed of coaching pioneers who are pushing the frontiers of how we learn new physical skills, particularly in sport.

Where does that leave us? Well, firstly, you must discover the optimum techniques to allow you to perform the athletic skill whether that is a baseball swing, a golf swing or a tennis forehand. Once you have accessed the technique, you now must find a “learning method” which permits you to assimilate that skill or set of skills into your mind and body. If the two are in harmony, you stand a very good chance of reaching your own potential and achieving something akin to mastery.

You should go here if you wish to discover the optimum swing technique. 

The important thing to realize is this is always a process. Let me share Tim Gallwey’s metaphor of the rose with you so you get a feel for the process:

"When we plant a rose seed in the earth, we notice that it is small, but we do not criticize it as "rootless and stemless." We treat it as a seed, giving it the water and nourishment required of a seed.

 When it first shoots up out of the earth, we don't condemn it as immature and underdeveloped; nor do we criticize the buds for not being open when they appear. We stand in wonder at the process taking place and give the plant the care it needs at each stage of its development.

The rose is a rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies. Within it, at all times, it contains its whole potential. It seems to be constantly in the process of change; yet at each state, at each moment, it is perfectly all right as it is."

What a great way to treat yourself at each stage of the learning process. Who knows, it may be you who discovers a breakthrough in the way golf is taught? There are certainly legions of golfers out there who would be in your debt if you could decipher this Rosetta Stone.