Wednesday, May 28, 2008

You, the Golfer---Response



So intrigued are countless readers (at least one) by my initial post titled "You, The Golfer," that I feel compelled to take plume in hand and prepare to "modestly" go down in history as one of the great minds of the Twenty First Century.

Emerson(1803-1882) said "What you are speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you are saying." Taking that famous quote a step further and applying it to golf, I submit the following:

Golf mirrors life and life mirrors golf. Golf is more than a 4 hour stroll through a cow pasture punctuated by a series of body movements. Once the golfer overcomes the insanity regurgitated by the opportunists, only then can he see the correlation between the philosophy of life and the connection to the game we refer to as golf. Only then does the real golfer crack through the egg!

Given the opportunity to witness You, the golfer, in various activities__outside the links, & based upon my considerable experience acquired while you were doing something else, it is crystal clear to me that what you are off the golf course, is what you are on the golf course.

Do you think for yourself or rely on others? How do you handle adversities such as untangling a string of Christmas tree lights? Is your walk smooth like a cheetah or hurried like a man late for work? Do you understand cause and effect? Is there rhythm in your speech? Do you have a spiritual fragrance? Do you see the simplicity in a 2 second golf swing? Do you have confidence in yourself? Do you listen more than you talk? Do you have definite goals? Can you see clearly where you are making mistakes in your life? Do you fully understand that a group of 5 year olds will have much better golf swings than any group of golfers at any driving range? Do you understand that the entrepreneur plays better golf than the employee? Do you know that the brick layer will play better golf than an engineer? Have you grasped the concept that the average IQ is better suited for our game than the intellectually gifted? Do you know that a dance instructor will play better golf than an attorney? Do you know that the more a golfer studies, reads, takes lessons and listens to advice the worse he will do? Have you thought about the fact that one who plays great golf also does other things very well, and one who has trouble with golf has trouble with most everything else, including life? Do you accept responsibility for yourself? Do you analyze everything to death? What is your political view? Do you respect history? Are you fully aware that the most powerful word in our language is CHOICE? Do you realize that you will die using only a very small percentage of your potential? Are you part of the problem or part of the solution? Can you play a musical instrument? Can you paint a picture? Do you dance? Can you sing? Do you have a piano in your home? Frugal or wasteful? Handyman or helpless? Believer or atheist? Conservative (I'll figure it out for myself) or Liberal (the world owes me a living)?
Still reading? OK this is for you. I can tell within a couple of strokes what kind of golf you will play by what kind of a person you are, NOT by what you say. I will know exactly how you think ___or__DON'T__ and how this will translate to your personal golf game. I knew you long before you got your sticks out of the bag!

Jim__ The Anti-Pro, The Maverick__ McLellan

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Natural Golf


The very word Natural has a nice cozy ring to it, doesn't it? Natural, the way Mom cooks or cooked. Natural, anything that man has not screwed up. Natural tomatoes, carrots, beans and rice. Natural, no bad "stuff" in it.

Natural is a tidy word. Natural, the only thing to buy or thing to do. Who in their right mind would ever consider buying anything UN natural or doing anything UN natural? Stick the word natural in front of anything you want to sell and you have an automatic winner!

If someone with the last name Natural is trying to entice you to buy something, he's off and running. Joe Natural, what a lucky name. Joe Natural's coffee beans is what you want to buy. Suppose Gus's last name is Unnatural. Would you buy Joe Natural's coffee or Gus Unnatural's coffee? Pick a can.

What if some marketing genius decides to apply the magic word Natural to his golf gimmick? Since golfers are a gullible lot, he would catch tons of customers that would jump at the bait like a barrel full of fish, based solely on the name alone. Once we step beyond the word and check it out to see if it's really as the name implies, Natural, we are in for some shocking surprises. For those who didn't check it out and fell for it, based on just the word alone, whoops, shame on them.

In today's world of rampant Internet scams, it behooves one to be a skeptic and be driven to do one's homework before one makes a fool of ones self, AGAIN.

Let's say that some carny folk, who sleeps in his car, comes up with a plan to fleece the golfing public. Let's say that this guy practices his method at every waking moment and develops a certain skill with his method based solely on an unnatural amount of practice. With no job and nothing to do, he can spend lots of time slamming golf balls. A baboon could do as well with that much practice. Let's say that his method has appeal because it is different. Please, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, disregard the fact that it is contrary to how all great swings function. Get this . . . if his marketing is good enough he will be able to overcome common sense, logic and rational decision making in the view of the potential customer aka, pre-fool/fool.

Cleverly placing the magic adjective natural in front of golf guarantees him ample money to write non-rubberized checks, drink wine with a cork instead of a screw cap, sleep inside a dwelling instead of his car and employ a multitude of circus performers to spread his gospel.

Now then, what if his method doesn't work? The fact that it doesn't work is a moot point because he already has the golfers money. In exchange the golfer has a goofy ineffective swing loaded with bad habits. He has no grounds to sue the con man. The con man skips down the primrose lane, whistling a happy tune, all the way to the bank. There is no neutral (not natural) effect here.

If you buy a suit and it doesn't fit you are only out your money. But, if you buy a suit and you have to wear it there is a negative not neutral effect. You are out the money and people laugh hysterically when they see you wearing your "mistake." When you add something to your golf game, make sure it fits 'cause you're gonna wear it!

In our fictional adaptation of the chance of some outrageous possibility, possibly being true, could it be possibility possible for a golfer with his tail tucked between his hind legs to admit that he didn't do his homework? . . . that he fell for it, & carelessly squandered enough money for a trip around the world, TWICE! Does the red faced golfer pray that no one notices the errors of his ways? Perhaps it was only a horrifying dream on Elm Street, Freddy!

What if the jewels of wisdom found in the conjoined sentences above, some refer to as paragraphs, were indeed true/fact? We have sweaty palms from phone calls and countless emails from golfers expressing outrage that the Natural Golf method is anything but natural.

Natural stinks they say. I can show you how to hit a golf ball over a 100 yards__with a pop bottle, doesn't mean it's natural for golf.

From now on, when you hear the word natural, ask the question . . . "What the hell do you mean by natural?" If you don't, you could end up with a tummy ache from eating rotten apples or a golf swing that guarantees you a room with bars on the windows, rubber wallpaper & a staff fully equipped to make sure you stay in your room.

Jim McLellan

"The Maverick Anti-Pro"

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Monday, May 12, 2008

The Real Game of Golf



"There is something extremely important about what Jim McLellan strives to teach, which many students can't or don't want to see.

We live in a culture that is fixated on the foreground (golf lessons, magazines and books, freeze frame golf analysis) and yet Jim struggles to reveal the background (essence, rhythm, interaction of golf and life) . . . This background is the source of the power and drama of the game of golf. It gives life and makes golf breathe. It provokes rather than distracts, confronts rather than pacifies.

Golfers have lost the sense of common sense. This is why today's mainstream golf instruction is ineffective. Most people only teach the foreground and most people only ever "get" the foreground, because it is what is being taught today. It is easy to point to; it's tangible, but it is also superficial.

The foreground is important only to the degree that it points to the background, to make the background leap out. This is what it means for golf to "get" you--to be seized by the power of the real game of golf.

What Jim seeks to teach isn't mere metaphor; it isn't just talk. It is precisely what is deepest, most poignant, and most real about the potential and possibilities of one's personal relationship with their REAL golf game! "

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Golfers! Your participation, please!


Help!

Your comments are needed! My blogs are only one dimensional.

I get emails and phone calls telling me how much my blogs are being enjoyed, but...I need comments to the blog pages to make it multi-dimensional ...to make it sing. I don't need to be a one man band when there is a full orchestra out there with great ideas, personal stories, comments to share.


So, consider this an invitation to become involved more than simply as a reader. We have readers worldwide who would like to hear from you who are very much like you.


If you have time for only a sentence or two, at least send it. If you have the time for several paragraphs, I will post your comments, thoughts, perspectives, and viewpoints.


Something you would like for me to write about? Let me know!


Thanks,


Jim McLellan "The Maverick Anti-Pro"


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You, The Golfer



If you and I had dinner together, went fishing together, took a road trip together, spent any time having a fireside chat . . . and we never discussed golf, I would know many things about you that would help me determine exactly what kind of a golfer you were.

Jim Mclellan

The AntiPro/The Maverick
Visit or Return to McGolf Home of the Perfect Golf Swing