This conversation occurred between me and my wife after I got back from hitting a golf ball around the big field near my house with a 6-iron.<\/p>\n
Me: I learned something today, for the umpteenth time, and maybe this time I\u2019ll remember it. But I\u2019m never sure.<\/p>\n
Wife: And what would that be?<\/p>\n
Me: We, and by that I mean every golfer living, wants to hit the ball a long way. <\/p>\n
Wife: What\u2019s wrong with that? I would want to do that if I played golf. Which I don\u2019t. <\/p>\n
Me: But which you will someday, knock on wood. The thing is, we keep thinking to hit the ball far, we have to hit hard. That means swing hard. In reality, all we have to do is put a swing on the ball, with the distance the designer built into the club, and we get all the distance we need.<\/p>\n
Wife: In other words, stop trying so hard to make it happen.<\/p>\n
Me: Yep. <\/p>\n
Wife: And you’re still learning this after having played golf for how long?<\/p>\n
Me: Sixty years this coming June, but that\u2019s beside the point. It just seems natural to want to hit hard, We try not to, but we can\u2019t help ourselves. It\u2019s like we don\u2019t trust the swing and the club to get the job done. It\u2019s so effortless when you do it right that we really can\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n
Wife: So why don\u2019t you just say to yourself you\u2019re going to swing easier, then do that?<\/p>\n
Me: I do. And I suppose other golfers do, too. I take the club back easy, but when I finish my backswing and am about to start the club forward, I think, \u201cHIT THE BALL!\u201d and all my self-restraint goes out the window. <\/p>\n
Wife: Maybe you could tell yourself something at that point other than \u201cHit the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Me: That\u2019s right, and that\u2019s what I did. Right before I started the club forward, I said to myself, \u201cCenter of the clubface.\u201d Or rather, I thought that, because it\u2019s quicker to think that than to say it. But it worked out the same. In this shorthand way, I replaced one conscious thought with a different conscious thought. You have to be thinking about something, and it\u2019s just as easy to think about the right thing as it is the wrong thing. What this did is prevent me from adding that little extra something that doesn\u2019t add, but subtracts. Now my swing was slower, but it wasn\u2019t deliberately slow. I let my unconscious mind take over and it made me swing only so fast that I would be able to get that center hit, which is slower than my \u201chit\u201d instinct wants. But, boy, did it work. Straight, great ball flight, and all the distance I want out of my 6-iron. It turns a power swing into a finesse swing that has power.<\/p>\n
Wife: So you finally have it figured out? This time for sure?<\/p>\n
Me: Yes, at least until the next time I hit golf balls. When I\u2019ll have to \u201cdiscover\u201d this all over again. And I\u2019ll come home and tell you all about it like it\u2019s the first time. Again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This conversation occurred between me and my wife after I got back from hitting a golf ball around the big field near my house with a 6-iron. Me: I learned something today, for the umpteenth time, and maybe this time I\u2019ll remember it. But I\u2019m never sure. Wife: And what would that be? Me: We, … Continue reading The Slow Golf Swing<\/span>