Enlightened Golf

Playing Enlightened Golf requires an understanding of the performance-mechanisms with which golf is played. In other words, golf is a mental endeavor; and playing Enlightened Golf means playing with an understanding of what the Mind is and how to use it to create the outcomes you desire.

Thanks to modern science, and medical research, we can now observe the pathway through which human activity takes place. Interestingly, this performance pathway has been discussed for thousands of years, in practically every culture and religion, and only recently has science and medicine ‘proven’ what the ancients knew: Thoughts become things through a series of energetic exchanges through which energy becomes denser and slower. Einstein was perhaps hinting at this process when he said that Energy and mass were interchangeable, or were the same ‘stuff’ moving at different speeds (E=mc²).

The performance-pathway looks like this: Thoughts arrive in the Brain and create Electrical energy, which travels through the Nervous System, stimulating Endocrine glands to release Hormones which act on the Cells of the body causing them to change shape and function – the collective result of which is all of the activity of the human form. Thoughts become things; “As a man thinketh, so it is done unto him.” Remember, “Golf is ninety-percent mental.”

The Mind-Body-Club Connection is simply a description of the performance-mechanism used to send the golf ball toward the hole. All human action is generated in the Mind in response to a desire; the receipt of thoughts in the Brain begins the physical processes which manifest the action we wish to see take place. Thoughts emerge; our bodies respond; and a club swings.

In other words, when we decide to swing a golf club, our Mind sends a burst of information to our Brain which generates the electrical and chemical messengers which ultimately change the shape of the body so quickly that we can potentially propel a golf ball hundreds of yards with some degree of accuracy – by swinging a golf club. It is amazing to think of the billions of chemical signals required to generate the muscle activity needed to swing a golf club; but those signals also contain the guidance information which can ultimately allow a golfer to hit a hole-in-one if the right conditions exist.

All of the factors influencing the flight of the ball are transmitted from the Mind, through the Brain and Nervous system to the Endocrines, and through the bloodstream to each cell of the body – causing the musculoskeletal changes which cause the body to swing the arms, which in turn swing and position the golf club in a way ‘intended’ to deliver the precise amount of energy and spin to the ball in order to move it to its target. So now that you know, what do you do?

Pete Koerner, Sports Performance Consultant

The world is full of golfers who play un-Enlightened Golf. Playing Enlightened Golf means playing with ‘awareness, presence, and command;’ all of which are qualities you have seen in the eyes of Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. The qualities of an Enlightened Golfer are taught, learned, practiced, developed, and refined; these qualities are also mental aspects of a game which has oft been called 90% mental. And, they aren’t for everyone. Developing mental mastery is easy, but requires desire and commitment; otherwise, there will be little incentive to learn something new.

The fact is that humans mostly think that they are right; and none of us knows what we do not know. This combination leads to a condition we talk about in the Enlightened Golf workshops called a ‘resistance to new learning,’ or a ‘learning-allergy.’ One unfortunate effect of these learning disabilities is that, instead of trying and benefiting from something new and different, most people sit around complaining and saying really smart-sounding things like, “I ain’t ever heard of that before.” Or proclaiming their lack of insight with such declarations as, “I don’t see how…” or “I don’t see why…” Enlightened Golf can improve your hearing and seeing by teaching you things, and by showing you demonstrations, you have never heard or seen before. Your vision will be expanded; you will be informed. Learning-allergies can be cured.

To remain uninformed is the definition of ignorance. The definition of Enlightenment is ‘freedom from ignorance.’ There are many things about your body and mind which you have never been taught, and of which you remain uninformed. Francis Bacon said, “Knowledge itself is power.” The absence of knowledge is to play with less than full-power. By full-power, I mean with the full use of your Mental Skills; the truly valuable golf equipment is not in your golf bag. When you play at less than your full potential, balls go in the lake, get lost trees, bury themselves in sand, and do other tricks.

After one of those ‘stupid-ball-tricks,’ most people are too busy doping-up on their emotions – some just for an excuse to drink another beer – to notice what happens as a result. What happens is Stress; the bent clubs, thrown bags, embarrassment, cussing, drinking, and other unbeneficial (but easy to understand) behaviors are simply warning lights on your dash panel – the bigger the display, the greater the stress your body is trying to cope with. Breaking things doesn’t make you a better golfer; and it really doesn’t make you feel better, either – it’s just a sign of stress.

But when your body is coping with stress, you are in the Stress Response. There are some things which ALWAYS happen in the stress response, and none of them are good for you unless you are actually running from a ‘real’ Tiger or something like that… The AMA estimates that up to 95% of all doctor’s visits are due to stress-related complaints; and we know that stress causes weight gain, high blood-pressure, heart disease and heart attacks, impotence, and every other symptom known to man. Each time you play golf, you are either relaxed & happy, or you are STRESSED. Relaxed & Happy plays good golf; Stress ‘sucks’ at golf. Stress also kills; and playing un-Enlightened Golf is guaranteed to cause Stress. Playing Enlightened Golf could possibly save your life!

Pete Koerner, Sports Performance Consultant

If you check out the available instruction on golf swings, you will find a lot of information on what you are doing wrong in and with your golf swing. These perspectives on fixing the golf swing are all mechanical views and fixes for what is believed to be a mechanical problem. Enlightened Golf says to go beyond the obvious and to ask yourself if your golf swing really comes from a ‘mechanical’ place; because if it doesn’t, mechanical fixes will not hit their intended mark – and golfers, on average, will remain at about their current level of play. A golf swing is what your body does in order to move a club-head straight down your target line through the impact with the ball; the swing movements should establish the club-face in the proper position and alignment, at impact with the ball (and just before to just after), to deliver the proper energy and directional guidance to the ball. Your results are the ultimate indication of problems; if the ball doesn’t get where you want it to go, then you have a problem with your swing. But is the problem really with your swing, or is it just ‘showing up’ in your swing? I go back to the original question; “What messes up my golf swing?” The first obvious answer is that you just don’t have a golf swing because you haven’t learned one yet; or if you have learned one, you simply haven’t practiced it long enough to become comfortable, or proficient. If you do know how to hit a golf ball properly, and you still have something wrong with your swing (as indicated by your ball travel), then think it through more than the next step… Most of the flaws typically blamed for poor swings have to do with unnecessary, or unwanted, body movement: “You turned your shoulders too early…,” or “You lifted your head and pulled in your hands…” Obviously, this list is rather long and you’ve probably heard more of it than you care for me to repeat. Don’t worry; I won’t repeat the laundry list of mechanical glitches. But I will tell you that any mechanical glitch, or body movement, which occurs during your swing is beyond you ability to ‘fix’ physically. Like Jack Nicklaus said, “The golf swing happens far too fast to control it consciously…” Once you’ve started your swing, anything that happens either hurts, or helps, your body’s efforts to move the ball to the hole; conscious thinking always hurts at this point. And, any unconscious movement is the result of Psychological and Neurological ‘static’ which can quickly be eliminated with several of the RESET techniques. When I say ‘eliminated,’ by the way, I mean in seconds, and forever. If you move your shoulders, or lift your head, or even squeeze your club too tightly, there will be obvious effects on the swing which will show up in the path of the ball. If you move your body, eyes, head, or hands, we know that to be the result of muscle activity; and we know muscle activity is ‘caused by’ hormonal and neural activity. Neural and hormonal activity is caused by Psychological and Mental activity; this is the Performance Pathway. Physical glitches in your swing mechanics come from unmonitored nervous system ‘glitches’ which are all the result of brain activity. What messes up your swing is always the Mind – regardless of where you try to address it.

Pete Koerner, Sports Performance Consultant