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Golf And Zen - Chapter 3
About Golfing Zen: This is the third in a continuing series of
short essays dealing with the application of Eastern spiritual
philosophy to your golf game.
The surface intent is that, as you apply the ideas, your golf
and your enjoyment of the game will grow. However there is also
an underlying motive: as you are able to see gains on the
course, you'll then be moved to alter your approach to life as
well.
Today's Topic: You Already Know
The fundamental objective of Eastern spiritualism is
"enlightenment," a complex idea, sometimes referred to as
"waking up," or "recovering from" the illusion.
The illusion --again simplifying -- is the illusion of
separation, of being something or someone distinct from,
separate from, everything else that we see and experience.
Remember, Easterners see reality as being one universal entity
out of which everything emerges.
We are born into the illusion, and the search is to recover what
we always knew: our true nature as an integral part of the
universal consciousness. We already knew it... we're trying to
remember!
So... how does that relate to golf?
I would maintain that in a very similar way we already know what
we need to know about golf. We simply forget... or we refuse to
acknowledge the facts that are there, right in front of us.
How can I say that? How can I suggest that a 20-handicapper
knows? Isn't golf this terribly difficult and subtle game? Isn't
it beyond most of us... at least beyond our ability to excel?
That would certainly seem to be the case. Statistics -- year
after year -- show that 90% of us have handicaps over 10, and a
whopping 60% are over 18. The numbers don't lie... clearly we
don't know. Or is really that we don't remember? That we don't
act on what we know? I maintain the latter, and here's why...
Golf is not a hand-eye coordination game. Games where the ball
and/or the player are moving -- tennis, baseball, ping-pong,
etc. -- are hand-eye games. Golf, on the other hand, is
a
repetition game: the ability to repeat a specific motion,
reliably and under pressure.
Said even more strongly, golf is not a skill game. After all, it
doesn't take any great skill to hold the club correctly, to
stand up to the ball with correct posture and alignment. All it
takes is paying attention, paying attention to what we already
know (as anyone who has played for any time at all has read or
been told the basic fundamentals). Further, if we know how to
hold the club and stand up to the ball, is it a difficult and
illusive task to move smoothly to the top-of-the-backswing
position? Given that one doesn't have a physical handicap of
some type, the answer is obviously a resounding "no." It's
inescapable... we must obviously choose not to do so.
Here's the most obvious example. We all know that balance is
part of the game; that being able to swing to a balanced finish
position on our front (leading) leg is a fundamental. If we open
our eyes at all, we see that every skilled player -- 100% --
does that every single swing.
But go to any golf course or driving range and watch. True to
the single-digit statistic quoted above, you'll see that 90% of
us don't hold a balanced finish, and most of us are falling
backwards. How do we expect to move the ball forward when we're
falling back?
The conclusions are inescapable: the fundamentals of golf are
right in front of us; the skills required are well within most
or all of us. We know, but we don't do. We forget to remember!
Worse, we choose to forget.
If true --and it is -- it begs a simple question:
Why?
For more information, check our podcasts, found at www.golfingzen.blogspot
.com.
Next Time: Choosing To Remember.
About the author:
Wayne Smith is a golfer, close-up magician, zen student and
author. His golf/zen novel, "The Hole of the Third Eye," and his
podcast series can be found at his golf web log:
http://www.golfingzen.blogspot.com
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