Even after trialing the instinct-awakening golf exercises found in Awaken Your Inner Golfer a couple times or more you may be asking, “Why would these “odd” exercises, which don’t appear to have a logical purpose, be effective in improving my golf swing; what’s the reason and logic behind these exercises?”
For the purpose of this Golf Blog I am going to simplify the functions of our right and left brain hemispheres. Our left brain is responsible for analyzing, questioning and logic. Our right brain is responsible for creativity and physical movement. Society conditions us to live in our logical left brain. We are programmed to question anything that does not support and validate logical thinking and conventional wisdom.
Any physical movement, including swinging a golf club, is primarily a right brain function. The golf instruction industry’s promotion of focusing on the left brain analysis of the “correct” mechanics of an “ideal” golf swing has become the “conventional wisdom” of how to swing a golf club correctly. It does not work that way! To repeat, any physical movement is primarily a right brain function.
If you’re willing to honestly and deeply examine
the purpose of most conventional wisdom
you will likely find that the primary purpose
is usually to maintain and protect the status quo.
Think about the many physical movements you perform during a typical day. Do you think about how to make all those movements, or analyze the mechanics of those movements?!
The philosophy rooted in martial arts is that all physical movement originates from the internal central core of our body. The intent of the instinct-awakening exercises is to counter the left brain’s tendency to analyze and control the mechanics of swinging a golf club……and get to the core issue (pun intended!).
In the golf swing, we don’t use force we create force,
and movement creates force.
Bill Melhorn/Bobby Grave (Golf Secrets Exposed)
Below are two golf exercises found in Awaken Your Inner Golfer that help activate our core and stimulate natural instinctive movement.
Figure Eight Movement
Standing up straight without a golf club,
similar to a figure eight movement,
continuously alternate moving your right hip bone
in a horizontal clockwise movement,
and your left hip bone
in a horizontal counterclockwise movement
Repeat for as long as feels comfortable.
Then, beginning with chip/pitch shots,
and working up to longer shots,
hit the ball with a subtly similar feel.
Center of Chest
Make the only focus for your swing be to feel
the center of your chest making your swing
and allow your arms, hands, and golf club
to just respond to the movement.
Again, start with chip/pitch shots
and work up to longer shots.
The slower swing chip/pitch exercises are also intended to produce “soft hands” and feel in your hands. Soft hands can more readily act as a conduit to carry out the “instructions’ of the movement of your body.
You could classify these golf exercises as un-reason-able. You shouldn’t try to logically reason how they might help your golf swing……but just go with the flow. You will be quieting your mind and awakening your body……quieting your left brain and activating your right brain.
If you continually try to find the logical reason how these exercises might help you, you’ll have a legitimate reason to give up the game (out of frustration)! If you go with the flow your game will be free to grow! Let the game play you!!
Keep it Simple Golf 