Fred Shoemaker and effortless, extraordinary golf

I really don't know where to start. There is so much to say about Fred Shoemaker and his book 'Extraordinary Golf: the art of the possible' that it is difficult to do justice to it in a few words.

Suffice to say: read the book, or at least check out Fred on the web. His ideas may not appeal to everyone, but anyone who ignores his ideas is not serious about making real changes to their golf.

I believe there are lots of good golfers, including professionals, who could benefit from some of his thinking about how to play golf. His emphasis on balancing enjoyment, learning and performance in our golf makes so much sense.

Fred's pet topic is probably 'awareness', a crucial part of the learning process. He de-emphasises 'teaching' and emphasises 'learning', and self learning at that. He would not be popular in some teaching circles, and probably be branded a crank by some, but the average (and better) golfers should take note.

I have been using some of Fred's ideas, mainly those around balance, in my recent games. And, I cannot say enough about how much more I am enjoying the experience of being free of technical thoughts and some of the fears and negativity previously so prevalent in my game.

I am also enjoying the challenge of changing my focus from the ball to the target (the destination of the ball) - something that does not come all that easily - but which is definitely part of some more mainstream golf instruction, particularly the good instructors like Shawn Clement.

Trusting your swing is part of this challenge and not telling yourself stories about your limitations in various areas. It's all good stuff, much of which follows the thinking of Tim Gallwey - the 'Inner Game' guru of golf and tennis - and a mentor of Fred Shoemaker.

Having said it's too hard to do justice to Fred's ideas in a few words, that's actually quite appropriate. Fred advocates self awareness and self teaching. He does not believe in heavy instructional models, rules, dos and don'ts, and bemoans the 'culture of golf' that encourages this dead end path.

I am an extraordinary golf convert. I am resisting tips and technical thoughts. I am throwing my club, figuratively, at the target (not the ball) and trying to rely on my instincts and natural ability to groove my game. So far it is going well and relatively effort free. Let's see what happens.

Extraordinary golf

I've just read Fred Shoemaker's "Extraordinary Golf: the art of the possible'. It is an extraordinary book that offers a fresh way of thinking about the game and indeed life, even though it was published in 1996.

The great thing about the book is that it is free of technical golf talk, but includes ideas that could be of significant benefit to many golfers, including me. The book is essentially about how to be present, how to experience the golf swing, and how to overcome the fears, distracting thoughts, expectations and other hurdles to playing good golf.

Shoemaker is a thinker, but not on the golf course. For example, he rejects the concept of swing thoughts, not to mention golf tips. His focus is on a free and joyful approach to the game, where performance is only one of three elements, the other two being enjoyment and learning. He also says, as one of his main tenets, that the focus during the swing should be on the target, not the ball.

All of this reminded me of the golf teacher / coach Shawn Clement, who I believe also a member of the Shivas association that Shoemaker is part of. This group traces its origins to the novel 'Golf in the Kingdom', a sort of quasi-mystical exploration of the game, which I won't go into now.

Clement's emphasis regarding the golf swing is fairly holistic, or fluid rather than static. He also places great emphasis on the target (out there) rather than the ball and the mechanics of the swing. Shawn does go into a lot of detail in relation to the swing, but his 'toss the club' and 'swing to the target' approach is consistent and, I think, very helpful.

Recently, I have been telling myself to finish my swing, which I believe is a variation of the swing to the target approach. I have, however, probably still maintained my ball focused attitude and 'don't go there' thought pattern, not to mention my anger, frustration and propensity for 'living in the past'.

I clearly need to work on freeing up my swing and, as Shoemaker would put it, 'find my natural swing'. I might even try the club throwing exercise that Shoemaker has made famous. This exercise explains why ball focus is bad and why practice swings are generally good. All very interesting stuff.