“Golf cannot be taught; it must be learned.”
—Mike Hebron, Master PGA Professional
Golf, the Alexander Technique, and Tai Chi have been part of Ed Bilanchone’s life for many years. The longest association he has with any of these, by far, is golf. For more than 50 years, he has followed the trends and trendsetters, eventually “digging my swing out of the dirt” as Ben Hogan advised. “If I have learned one thing,” Ed says, “it is the value of a relativistic approach to learning and teaching golf. Relativism is the art of seeing relationships to the whole instead of focusing on discrete parts. Mechanistic golf instruction teaches swing keys, club head and shaft positions, and a sequence of movements. The mechanistic positions and sequence of the golf swing are important, but they must be in the service of the swing as a unified act. As it is, the swing is just a part of playing the game. To be a great golfer you must learn different shots for different situations.”
CHI GOLF—A new swing from the cutting edge of neuroscience and ancient movement arts.
To achieve mastery of yourself and your golf game, you must also train the whole brain. Various golfing greats have placed a numerical value on the importance of the mental game. Some say it is as high as 90 percent of the game. Myths, metaphors, and aphorisms dot the landscape of the mental game in golf. Fortunately, the exploding science of brain research is beginning to separate reality from myth.
There are two golf myths exposed by recent brain research.
The first is that “Golf Feel” is not the Holy Grail all golfers seek. Feel is a useful tool for learning the game because it helps us compare one swing with another, but it is limited and limiting because feel is notoriously inaccurate and too slow to use when you play. Feel is giving you information about what has already happened, and by the time the conscious brain has assessed whether the feel is right or wrong, the swing is over.
The second myth is that the golf swing is not about correct positions. The swing is about the dynamic interaction of spatial and temporal elements. Time is addressed in the tempo, timing, sequence, and rhythm of the swing. Spatial relationships between the body, club, ball, and field of play—especially the hole—are not normally explained in a dynamic way. During the swing, spatial relationships are changing constantly.
Come for a free introductory lesson; if you like what you hear, consider a five-lesson training package. Smart Moves for Living also has on-course instruction and group classes.
Contact & book your next Golf Sessions!
~Ed Bilanchone