THE QATSPY GOLFER’S PAGE
By: Charles W. Boatright
I was a senior in high school when the first Star Wars movie was released, in 1977. What a movie to grab the imagination of young person just starting their career. One phrase that caught my attention more than any other was “May the Force Be with You!” Being a passionate golfer, I can’t think of a more apropos statement to make, in regard to one’s golf game, especially since golf is 90 percent mental, and the other half is physical, as Yogi Berra once stated about baseball.
Golf, being mental, can work to your advantage, as well as to your disadvantage. Not capitalizing on your subconscious mind’s abilities can leave a large gap in your golf game and make it extremely more difficult to reach a low handicap, single digit, status. The ability to create mental images in your golf swing allows the golfer to take advantage of the huge potential, the subconscious mind. I call it the special effects of golf, something that ‘Star Wars’ is known for. Mental imaging of ExtraSensory Performance allows the golfer to synchronize their practice game with how they perform on the golf course. This is the disconnect in golf — not being able to synchronize the conscious mind (practice routine) with the subconscious mind (performance routine).
One method that allows me to synchronize my golf swing is to use the mental image of a JEEP grill OIIIIIO and boxing gloves. This allows me to properly preset my wrists, especially the Thenars (Hypothenar and Thenar), that Ben Hogan discussed in his golf swing technique. In anatomy, these thenars are the strongest and most dexterous muscles in the hand. The thenars are the only muscle capable of being able to transfer the power generated from the lower and upper body to the club-head at impact. The headlights on the JEEP represent the right Hypothenar and right Thenar for the right-hander. I use the carpals in the left wrist to preset the right Hypothenar to CAM and right Thenar to CAM-OVER to the preset lock position noted in the left Figure above. This also creates another important mental image, using the left thumb. The left thumb indicates the proper swing plane to take the club up to the top of the swing. Three simple swing elements will provide great confidence in your golf game to produce more consistent swings and shots.
I have a background in ergonomics, kinesiology, and engineering. One of the objectives of an engineer is to have the fewest moving parts and to get the most results, with the least force exerted. I probably spent more time performing my golf swing analysis (from 2007 to 2014), than it took to make Star Wars movie, including the special effects contained in the movie.
I filled three Xerox boxes full of data, with two labeled “THIS DOESN’T WORK” and one partially-filled Xerox box labeled “THIS WORKS.” The box that was labeled “THIS WORKS” became the basis of my book, The ESPY Golf Swing Coach. This is a self-coaching golf swing book that allows the golfer to use the elbows and shoulders to function as sprockets. This is how sprockets on the ten-speed bicycle function.
Ponce de León was in the right state of Florida, but just the wrong time frame to find the fountain of youth, THE GAME of GOLF. Flagler had not yet built his resorts in Florida. If Ponce de León had discovered what Florida is known for, GOLF, he would have found his fountain of youth.
When instructors or professional golfers describe how they use their core body to generate speed, instead of trying to swing the arms and forearms faster, you see a puzzled look on people’s faces. But what instructors or professional golfers are doing is setting up the body to function as a sprocket-type golf swing.
The term ESPY has a dual meaning in my book, with the first meaning as Ergo, Synch, Protract or Preset, and Yaw, three simple ergonomic elements used to set up your golf swing mechanics. The second meaning is ESP, meaning ExtraSensory Performance or mentalization, used by Colonel George Robert Hall http://goo.gl/W1jAuC. He was a P.O.W. held at the Hanoi Hilton for seven-and-a-half years and still shot his handicap of four (4) at the Greater New Orleans P.O.W. Open, only six weeks after his release. In other words, focus on improving your mental part of your golf game. This is accomplished by taking advantage of the Triad Learning Pyramid, where self-coaching has the best retention rate (90 percent), compared to lectures or golf-type lessons, with only a 25 percent retention rate.
This is what I meant by the phrase, May the Force Be with You! The force of sprocket mechanics and ExtraSensory Performance or the subconscious mind. Most high-handicap golfers do not take full advantage of their natural mechanics. This is why the statistics remain pretty much the same for the average golfer, who plays 23 years or more.
I had a local radio station interview, where the host was describing how terrible and awful his golf game was over the past six weeks, and one of those games he played was on the Old Course, at Saint Andrews. As I was relaying the concept of my book, he interrupted me and said, “That golf lessons were the only pathway to improving a golfer’s game.” I responded by asking him, “How long have you been taking lessons?” He replied, “About six years.” My response was, “How has that been working for you?”
Learning how to develop the natural force as Ty Webb was explaining to Danny Noonan on the movie Caddyshack is one of the best advice the golfer can use in the golf game. There are two natural forces at work– ONE is the golfer’s subconscious mind, and the SECOND is using the shoulders and elbows as sprocket mechanics to improve your golf swing and golf game. It’s not that hard to do, if you know how to sync the elbows with the shoulders.
The quote that Ty Webb gave Danny Noonan on the golf course was– Danny, let me give you a little advice. There is a force in the universe that make things happen. The only thing you got to do is to get in touch with IT. Stop thinking and let things happen and be the ball. Be the ball allows the golfer to redirect the conscious mind and not let the conscious mind interfere with the Subconscious mind, the FORCE in golf.
The ESPY Golf Swing Coach– Price for Paperback $15.75 and E-Book $8.99, Hardback is also available on my website: www.espygolfapp.com/store OR your local bookstore and also:
Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/The-Espy-Golf-Swing-Coach/product-reviews/1483416356
Barnes & Noble.com http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-espy-golf-swing-coach-charles-w-boatright/1120604749
Check out my full library of BLOGS @ www.espygolfapp.com/blog or purchase your copy of “The ESPY Golf Swing Coach” @ www.espygolfapp.com/store.
Facebook – The QATSPY Golf Approach
Twitter – @cwboatright
Google+ – ESPY Golf Swing Coach
YouTube – ESPY Golf Swing Coach
Once you learn WHY, you don’t forget HOW!
YouTube Videos:
https://youtu.be/ZGVNrIw_wlo (Cam & Cam-over elements)
https://youtu.be/K2FDHZ3AX9w (Figuring your proper swing plane)
https://youtu.be/TO82PMO6G8M (Developing muscle memory)
A Recommendation for your Golf Game:
I would like to recommend a wonderful radio program that I regularly listen to on my I-Heart Radio app to KARN 102.9 FM station out of Little Rock, AR. They air a golf show called “Arkansas Fairways and Greens,” at 7:00 AM CT each Saturday morning, hosted by Bob Steel and Jay Fox. Bob occasionally has on his show a guest named Shawn Humphries, a Professional Golf Instructor from Dallas, Texas. One thing that Mr. Humphries stresses is the mental part of golf, not focusing on the results but the process.
Until next time– Be Synched, Tee-to-Green, with The ESPY Golf Swing!