SWING THOUGHT CHAOS
In a 2016 email Marshall Gavre, coach and associate of Fred Shoemaker’s Extraordinary Golf school, comments,
As Fred (Shoemaker) notes in his book (Extraordinary Golf), the four real things at play in golf are the body, ball, club and environment (including target). We have found over the years that as a golfer becomes more aware of, or present to any of those four realities, learning seems to take place easily. The other focus that gets most golfers attention is thoughts in the mind…Thoughts typically either keep us in the past or project us into the future, neither of which are present right here right now.
How does one not swim in swing thoughts and focus on body, club, ball and target? During discussion of Ritual, Golf as Guru (www.johnedwindevore.com) notes, “For every shot, the golfer needs to evolve a ritual for creating a personal teepee where mind becomes clear and quiet and the physically, emotionally and mentally programmed subconscious is given absolute trust to deliver the ball to the intended target.”
Creating the personal teepee is individually unique; and experience offers that mindfulness and awareness meditation can nurture monkey mind quietness and enable body, club, ball and target awareness. For this golfer, when ready to pull the trigger, relaxed focus offers a golf ball dimple as a single point of concentration coupled with awareness of a relaxed body, a club and a golf ball resting at the intended target. A brief story…
In 2001, sparked by a stagnant bowling average, a trek to learn to meditate was launched at Naropa University. As relevant literature had revealed, a desired result was to begin to experience the connection between the body and the mind through the breath. By early 2004, the bowling passion had expired and as a three-year, trained, novice meditation practitioner, a treasure hunt evolved to discover a connection between meditation and golf. In 2017 experience evolved gold; and although the journey to understand and experience the meditation-golf link continues to blossom, the connection is simple. Meditation can support 1) quieting the mind, at will; 2) expanding awareness; 3) visualizing and creating multi-dimensional images; 4) increasing the likelihood for in-the-zone experiences; 5) heightening of relaxed focus; 6) deepening of feeling, passion and intent to put a ball at a target; 7) facilitating harmony with surroundings; and 8) growing insight about the game. If you are up for learning to meditate, recommend that a first step be to find a meditation coach who understands your individual uniqueness and goal and with whom you have good chemistry. P.S. Enjoy Golf as Guru, silent self-alone and becoming one with the club, ball and target.
