IMPACT: Programming the Subconscious Mind

A round of golf is a simple “slice of life” where seeds are planted to bear life and golf fruits at future times and places. To grow these fruits of consciousness the only assignment is openness. And, for this student of golf and life, the experience has been that simple is good! And simpler is even better!! Today, the game is about 1) set-up—grip, aim, stance, posture [shoulders high and back, bend forward from the hips, keeping the back straight] and ball position; 2) takeaway—when the club shaft is parallel to the ground the clubhead is in line with the hands; and 3) impact. Let us take a quick journey to impact.
In 2015 it was a pleasure to work with Mike Kahn, a golf course consultant from Florida. Mike had been hired by the community’s golf course feasibility committee to offer input to the challenge of deciding whether to purchase the community’s 27-hole golf course. Having maintained a friendship with Mike, recent email exchanges about golf lessons led him to request a video of the golf swing. His feedback about the swing video came with 1) a seven point impact checklist; 2) descriptive, yellow lines on front and down the line pictures detailing the checkpoints of the swing at impact; and 3) a picture of Tiger Woods at impact. These checkpoints have become quite useful during practice and play that program the trusted subconscious mind to deliver a clubface to the golf ball at impact. Checkpoints at IMPACT are as follows:

• Head behind the ball.
• Knees and elbows toward each other.
• Right heel off the ground: show the cleats on the heel and sole pushing hard off the ground and turning aggressively into the lead hip while keeping the upper body down through the shot.
• Right shoulder tilted below left shoulder 49 degrees, like water draining from the right ear.
• Left leg resistance.
• Left foot on outside edge: show the cleats.
• Right knee is bending—driving—forward through the shot toward the left knee.

For this golfer, the toughest checkpoint has been the 49 degree, right shoulder tilt at impact. A practice routine that has really helped feel the tilt and extension at impact is working in the garage with a Momentus Swing Trainer. Using the Trainer, playing golf and working with GOLFTEC assigned drills the number of weekly swings approaches 1000. Hello subconscious mind! Hope you are feeling and learning!! And the golf is the “bestest” and “funest” ever! Perhaps the impact checkpoints will work for you! Trust the subconscious to swing the club and have fun!! As Jordan Spieth advises, “The most valuable advice of all is to ‘play like a kid.’ Just freewheel it and have fun. I tell myself to just keep my head down and focus on why I love the game.”