The 'Unusual Lesson' was moving along pretty routinely. I was going full bore, making my presentation to the Doc on the causes and effects of physics and physiology on the golf swing. Around 20 minutes into swing info 101, the Doc dropped the bomb. Right in the middle of a sentence he interrupted me barking out, 'All right, enough of this swing stuff. I need to hit some balls. I learn by hitting balls, not by listening to theory.'That stopped me in my tracks but did not render me (as you probably know) speechless. I countered with my own knock out bomb and I did not hold back.
'So you learn by hitting balls. Sort of the concept of the Ben Hogan statement that says learning a swing is in the dirt. The more balls you hit, the more you learn and the better you get.' 'That's it,' he replied. 'I need to get hitting balls.' I shot back, 'If hitting balls was the answer, you could have saved a lot of time and money and stayed home and hit balls there. You could already have been beating balls for at least 5 or 6 hours and would still have 5 or 6 hours more from now until you get back to be hitting balls and finding your swing.' My jumping into his shorts had him flabbergasted and he was speechless. I kept on my barrage by adding, 'You know that beating balls is not the answer as it only gets you sweating bullets and gives you blisters. Hitting balls with no rhyme nor reason accomplishes little to nothing.'
I added, 'You came down here because you know that you don't have the answer of what to do to hit it better. I do, but the key is, you have to listen and learn to get the information into your brain. Once you understand the What to do'¦Why you need to do it'¦ and the How to do it in you brain, then hitting balls and learning can that feeling take place in the dirt.'
I went on to explain that swinging and hitting balls was no different from learning medicine and surgery or other professions. You have to have 'book knowledge' learning, asking questions and getting answers for total understanding, before you can begin to acquire the physical skills of practicing medicine and doing surgery and — let's not forget — hitting golf balls.
Muscles only move when the brain knows 'the why' and sends them the messages of when and how to move. People hit tons of balls saying they have to learn 'Muscle Memory.' The muscles do not have a brain. There is no muscle memory. It is 'Mental Memory.' And mental memory is acquired only one way, through learning the What, the Why and the How, and transferring that into messages to the muscles on how to move. Then, the more we hit and use our senses of sight, hearing and feel, the brain remembers the swing motion and the feeling of the motion. It is building this memory bank of motion that triggers the muscles to reproduce the swing for the desired shot.
I then said, 'You really know that. And that is why you committed the time and expense to come down here to see me. So let's get this done right. Let me finish giving you the book knowledge so you understand everything that needs to happen. The doing it is simple.'
Doc agreed to continue with the mental learning session. I am certain he knew and sensed that he had to, as I would pull the plug and end the lesson because my success as a teacher of the golf swing is not only teaching the correct PPGS that is in harmony with physics and physiology, but because I teach correctly. That is, my lessons are first and foremost mental learning, not 'BALL BEATING LESSONS.' You don't get a golf ball to hit until you have earned it, first by learning and understanding the 'What'¦Why'¦and How' of the swing. Second, you have to make good practice swings until I see what I am looking for in your swing motion. When I see what I am looking for in numerous correct swings, you have earned you golf ball to hit.
I promise you that in 95% plus of all my lessons, when the student 'EARNS THEIR GOLF BALL,' they hit a good shot within 3 swings. Usually the swing and impacts get better to where swing 3 is a really good hit. Usually, if they do take 3 swings to get the good hit, I joke with them in the middle of their excitement and tell them they were a 'Slow Learner.' Sometimes it takes more than 3 swings, but again, EVERY student that comes to my lesson tee gets BETTER, right from the FIRST lesson. (Note: after the first few lessons where there is still mental learning as we get deeper into the PPGS, hitting balls increases, but only relative to the learning formula of earning your golf balls. Later lessons, when what we are working on is already known and we are in a reinforcing lesson, much more hitting will be part of the lesson.)
The key to a good lesson is learning and knowing exactly what you want to do and how to do it. The brain triggers the muscles to move correctly to produce the swing motion you desire. Beating balls –sweating bullets and getting blisters — is not the way to build and learn a swing. 'You've got to KNOW before you GO!'
The Surge!