In conjunction with years of reading and study and research I have come up with a set of principles to which my coaching adheres. I would hope the golfers’ learning will follow the same principles. These are based on learnings from readings I’ve done on Tao and Zen and other stuff like that. Let’s get into lesson 1.
Centred Be.
The beginning of any part of golf (good golf) starts with being centred. Teeing off the first hole your mood must be centred – not too excited, not to apprehensive. The club must sit centred in your hands for a square clubface. The opposing forces of the hands limiting the need for unnecessary clubface rotation and manipulation.
Your body in a state of balance relative to the ground. Our spine in its natural shape, legs supporting the visceral weight are arms hanging from the shoulders. There are no forced positions – we are in balance. We are centred over the ball. We won’t tip forward or back, or left or right. There are many variables to this of course. If we are playing on a hilly course, if it is windy, the different clubs we use, how the ball is lying are all parts of it. The key is to be totally centred over the shot.
If you are centred and not forced into position your body will flow the way it wants to. I’m reminded of George Knudson who wrote The Natural Golf Swing. There was nothing forced but he appeared to have balance and smoothness common to great strikers.
Your backswing and downswing and finish will all be centred and smooth. The easiest thing you could do is swing the club. In fact the easiest thing to do in the whole round is swing the bat.
Work on your balance. Swing the club back and forth and feel what your body wants to do. There’s no need for extra movements of the club. Use the ground to balance yourself – I shouldn’t be able to push you over in any direction if you do this correctly. Get this ingrained before we move to lesson 2 – Breathe.
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