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.