Monday, August 27, 2007

How Are You Wired?


Five, count 'em, FIVE decades OR...if you're keeping score(that's 2 1/2 score) have taught me that there are basically two general types of golfers. GROUP I: those who watch a golf swing, let it hard wire directly into their own motor skills, have zero interest in the technical side and rewire their own swings in effect...they represent the 1% with pretty, effective, consistent, & powerful golf swings. Please find below words from a student who definitely fits in this elite group. Group I.

In part..."Jim, I so wanted to have the silky smooth swing that you have but could never get over the hump. I would always revert back to the bad habits that had been learned over a lifetime. I would tell myself that it just can't be as easy as Jim says it is! The breakthrough came when I started reading a book on THINKING. How changing our thoughts can change our reality. I felt brand new and full of energy! I pulled an "all-nighter" with your videos. Only this time... without the sound. I watched your swing over and over and over again. Jim, it was like I was actually "seeing" the swing for the first time. I went out and practiced the "swing" and to my absolute amazement...beautiful golf shots. Crisp, clean, pure contact. My mind wanted to tell me that it was a fluke but my thinking has changed. I am a golfer with a smooth, powerful, and beautiful swing. Thank you, Jim." Marlon Glenn, Inkster, MI.

Group II...Then there are those poor souls that can't take YES for an answer. Who insist that everything is complicated, complex, the Sun is fixin to burn out, and the sky is falling. They want all the ridiculous and non pertinent details that the man with the great golf swing never considered in the first place. This group invariably comes from an engineering, technical, academic, think inside the box, someone has to tell them when & how to PEE....background. It is very difficult to convenience this group that the great swings are simply copied by watching. You should try reaching this group of hard of hearing, sightless, lost at sea urchins...banging your head against a brick wall won't help one bit!
This group will forever have swings that appear contrived, robotic, and artificial. These golfers are incapable of swimming down stream or riding the horse the same way the horse wants to go. Rewiring for this group is very difficult, they speak a different language. Screaming louder and louder "where's the bathroom" to someone that speaks only Swahili is futile. Better, find a bush, quick. The information is right there in front of their face but their eyes are slammed shut and they have ear plugs...they flatly refuse to "learn the language....break the code" "watch & do..Keep it Simple" ...as Marlon, the golfer above, did.

This Group II Group, W-A-S-T-E their time searching for some mysterious secret somewhere beyond how a 7 year old will simply watch and copy. It can be very exasperating for both the instructor and the student if one decides that a great golf swing is acquired from the same technical approach an engineer would use. It's possible all the angels in heaven will never change their minds. It is so simple but these bull-headed mules refuse to budge. What to do? Brain surgery, hypnosis, threatening their life?...who knows?

The best way is the lazy man's way. "Hell, I don't have time for all the technical mechanics garbage. Show me a great swing and I will steal it"!

Warning.... YOU.... are wasting your valuable time with Group II!.. They're wired weird. You'll have better luck teaching a squirrel how to play the harmonica.

Jim McLellan, "The Anti-Pro"

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Couldn't disagree more - I am sure there are pro golfers on the tour who are analytical to a fault. In fact, in any given field there are challenges along the way, and mastery is open to all - it just takes some longer than others. The true test lies with the teacher... is he enlightened and patient enough to enable all to grasp his intent, without casting any people aside, blaming their personality. Imagine if the Buddha had said "there are just some people who don't get it" Instead he racked his brains so that he could enable all people to become enlightened, even if some took longer than others.

The Anti-Pro said...

Thank You, for proving my point!