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Attachment To The Outcome

I have many students who are attached to the outcome of their golf shots. They fail to surrender to the process of doing the simple things they need to do in order to get what they say they want. I pay a lot of attention to pre-shot routine and setup. Anybody can do these things, regardless of athletic abilities. The hardest job I have is getting my students to practice these two things. Most of them think that the key to their success is going to be some “mechanical’ tip. I tell them that mechanics are guys who work on their car.

Now I do believe in effective physical movement. That is why I study and practice The Alexander Technique. But you can’t make effective movements unless you’re prepared to and set up to. It is amazing what the body is capable of doing when it is prepared and set up.

Maria Montessori (Montessori Schools) tells us “to allow your body it’s own wisdom”. She also says “…the nervous interconnections have an unconscious way of finding the needed harmony, given an initiative provided by the will.”

The intellect is overrated. You cannot control body movements while making them in a relatively fast happening activity such as a golf swing (it takes less than two seconds). What you can do is learn how to provide your body a clear intention of what you want it to do, allow it to do it as effectively as possible at that moment (given the amount of training it has experienced) and notice what happens. The secret to golf is to say “the heck with it” before you hit it rather than after you hit it. You can learn how to do this. If you are trying to control your body during the swing you will be attached to the outcome. You won’t like it.