Shaping Your Swing With The Power Of Intention

Shaping Your Swing With The Power of Intention
By Brandon Richardson, PGA 5/30/12

Before every golf swing, an intention created it.   How we swing is merely a physical manifestation or expression of how the world occurs to us at any given moment. In other words the way you see the golf course is how you will act on the golf course.  If you look out and have a clear vision of how the ball will travel to the target, your body will respond brilliantly to this feedback.

Don’t believe it? Take a ball and toss it underhand towards a target, but when you throw it, throw it so the ball spins from right to left in the air….What just happened?  I provided the intention (which you could create yourself) to send a ball to a target in a specific way so the ball was spinning from right to left. How did your body know how to move in such a way so that it created this kind of spin?  Because there was a clear intention to do it. Even if you have never thrown a ball in your life, in a short while you would be able to make the distinction of spinning the ball from right to left, left to right, and relatively straight. The source of this action or any action is the intention, the vision and creativity occurring before the action. Anyone who attends a Golf with Freedom Learning Curve Workshop would experience this by throwing clubs in a similar way and the foundation of learning to shape your shots is revealed to have been within you all along, only needing a clear intention to begin the process of developing your awareness of how to curve the ball.

Of course if your vision of the ball flight is one that revolves around “don’t hit it there, there or there” your body will respond to this feedback too, and it will respond in a defensive, threatened sort of way. It only takes an instant to have your intentions shift and in turn your actions will shift as well.  This is observed in the transition of most golfers practice swings to their actual swings. Your practice swing is smooth, complete, and effortless because your intention is to make a swing that feels good and sends the ball to the target. Then like Jekyll and Hyde your intentions shift when you address the ball and your smooth complete and effortless practice swing becomes a monster.  Your intentions turn to survival mode, the ball becomes the target, and your defensive slash of a golf swing gives off the body language as one of being hopeful, cautious, or threatened. You created the context, your body is just doing what it’s told.

And every day life example is if I have letters that need mailed, my intention is to drop them off at the post office and all my actions leading me to the completion of this task will stem from that one clear intention. It’s how we connect to targets, how we create possible futures that inspire us to act, inspire us to learn, and inspire us to explore and discover what’s possible that generates real change in our swings, our businesses, and our relationships.

 So can you be intentional about your intentions?  It takes practice becoming more aware of what was previously operating underneath your radar of consciousness.  Can you begin to notice when your intentions to swing with freedom are overridden by your intentions to survive? Can you begin to notice how certain actions match your original intentions and how other actions don’t? Can you see how the creation of a possible future is the road map in which your body can begin to follow? 

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Swing-thought Addiction & Recovery

Swing-thought Addiction & Recovery
                  by Brandon Richardson, PGA

Swing-thoughts began I am sure shortly after golf was first invented. People who had experience whacking a ball with a specially designed stick in a field would share their thoughts on how and why they were able to send the ball skyward and you sent yours dribbling a few feet from where you stood...Let the snow ball start rolling down the mountain that triggers the full force avalanche that is today's Swing-thought addiction epidemic...

So let's start with what a Swing-thought is. Generally it is some sort of tip that the golfer thinks of before swinging and sometimes during a portion of the golf swing the tip is suppose to "fix". The Swing-thought may "work" for a little while but soon (usually in a week or two at the most) that Swing-thought has been replaced by a half-a-dozen others... I still haven't met a golfer who has continued to use the same Swing-thought beyond a few weeks before abandoning it for the next one and still the validity of Swing-thoughts remains unquestioned. We just continue to keep trading one for the next, with wishful thinking that this Swing-thought is some how better than the one before it.

Learning an action naturally does not occur this way. When a child begins to learn how to walk, talk, throw a ball, ride a bike etc. these complex actions are learned without the interference of mechanical Swing-thought like thinking. For example, if you were reading this sentence out loud would you be thinking about the tongue positions required to pronounce the words that form this sentence?  Or when was the last time you thought before descending down a flight of stairs, "Okay, nice and smooth, bend your knees and lean enough forward without losing your balance to move forward,"? Probably never. So how did we learn how to do that stuff without the presence of mechanical Swing-thought like thinking? And is ALL thinking interfering? Let's take a deeper look...

In my experience in order to learn any action it only requires your intention to do it and your attention of what you are doing while you are doing it. The intention provides the structure for the upcoming action and is a form of thinking but it is creative, generative, and inspires the body to move with a sense of awareness & freedom. This kind of thinking is very productive and I would encourage you to engage in this creative thinking before every shot. Swing-thoughts however, are not creative or generative and are actually a great barrier in the development of your awareness.  They distract you from being present, and if you are not present, you can't feel what you are doing with clarity, and if you can't feel what you are doing with clarity, you can't make the distinctions necessary to develop in any lasting or meaningful way.

To recover from Swing-thought addiction you must first realize you are addicted to Swing-thoughts. There are a lot of publications and telecasts that enable this behavior, keeping you in your head, promising to fix you because you are some how lacking...The Internet magnified the level of Swing-thought addicts to epidemic proportions because the information was now able to spread like wildfire on a global scale (That's probably why and how you stumbled across this blog which by now you have probably guessed won't be enabling your Swing-thought addiction). If after indulging in this media onslaught of swing-thought propaganda the voice in your head says, "Hey, you have that same problem they are talking about and if you think of this you might finally fix that slice you have been trying to fix for 25 years." If that sounds familar then that is a good indication you are a Swing-thought addict on your way to your next fix that unfortunately keeps you chasing your tail and the awareness needed to once and for all know how you slice continues to elude you.

If you begin to recognize Swing-thoughts as interference during the act of swinging a golf club (or any action really) the compulsion to continue searching for the next great Swing-thought will wane. You will become the source of your own learning and development, and you will go from addicted to Swing-thoughts to addicted to real and meaningful learning that energizes you and your game where the possibilities really seem limitless...














Brandon Richardson, PGA
Golf with Freedom Lesson Center
www.GolfwithFreedom.Net
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Learning Can Be a Dirty (& Enjoyable) Business

When most people go to learn or develop in some way it is something they generally have the attitude of "hurry up and get it over with." The same goes for health and fitness and you can see the commercials on television littered with this point of view every day.

But what if learning was so interesting, so enjoyable, that you couldn't wait to get to it?
What if when you woke up in the morning you felt a sense of excitement because the possibility of real breakthroughs in learning and development were possible? What if learning wasn't seen as something where there is an end to it like with the attitude of "get it over with" but rather something that is always on going? What if each moment presented an opportunity to learn, grow, and enjoy the hell out if it?

This is my dog Rilo who couldn't be happier in this picture, completely covered in mud. He absolutely loves it! I use to hate when he would get in these things because cleaning him off was such a chore but when circumstances changed in my life and I wasn't able to spend much time with him anymore, there was a shift in my point of view. Now when we get the chance to go to the dog park I embrace his joy more than ever, and you can't see it in the picture but on the other side of the camera I was smiling just as much as he was. If we hadn't driven there I would have probably gotten in with him!

The lessons drawn from this story are many but clearly it's possible to get dirty and love it. All joy takes is your willingness to experience it and the same goes for learning and developing.

Recreate the business of your learning & developing by making it fascinating, just like a giant mud hole at a dog park is to my dog Rilo, then see what happens...

Happy Holidays,

In appreciation,

Brandon Richardson, PGA
Golf with Freedom Lesson Center
www.GolfwithFreedom.Net
www.Facebook.com/GolfwithFreedomLessonCenter
www.Twitter.com/GolfwithFreedom

Understanding isn't Knowing...

To understand something does not mean you know how to do it. When it comes to learning an activity like a golf swing, you don't need more information to get better, you don't need more understanding to lower your handicap, you need more awareness. I am not saying information isn't useful, because it is but when you experience something fully, when you can distinguish one action from another and how they create different results, that's moved beyond understanding information into actual knowing, and that kind of knowing doesn't fit in a book or belong only in your mind.

Fred Shoemaker said it best in his book Extraordinary Golf when he wrote, "If something is only in your head and not in your body, you don't own it, and you can't really trust it."Something to check out if you want more on this from the man himself: Fred Shoemaker YouTube interview

The kind of learning required to develop your golf swing is the very same kind we are born with, the kind that allowed us to learn how to walk and trust that ability so much so we don't need any "walking thoughts" to get us through the day.

It's simply ACTION, AWARENESS, RESPONSE. Move, notice what happens, then respond accordingly.

Much of the teaching I see going on skips over the awareness part of this biologically necessary feedback loop that allows us to learn actions and motor skills naturally... I find this absolutely baffling. If someone has NO AWARENESS of how they are moving and you ask them to move differently it's like asking someone to give you directions over the phone without first knowing where you are. It's hard to get anywhere and a lot easier to get lost.

Experience is the key here, and your ability to be present during your practice and play is the access to greater, faster learning. Now, one of the reasons learning to walk was such a breeze for most of us was because we didn't understand language so there was no judgment coming from our parents, or from ourselves. We could fall over again and again so we could gain the awareness necessary to find balance. So in order to really discover what's possible, judgment needs to be removed from the equation. It generally only takes about two swings in order for most people to go away from their instincts, to start judging, manipulating, trying, remembering etc, and it becomes a struggle to learn until they are given the opportunity to return to the foundation for which we were all gifted as human beings. If you understand what I am saying here that's great, but don't stop there, get to KNOWING it!


" The love of learning does not have to escape us just because we have become adults, actually, our capacities to grow and develop very well may depend on it" -Brandon Richardson, PGA

Golf with Freedom Lesson Center
www.GolfwithFreedom.Net
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Trying doesn't work...

Just a quick piece on the word "try" and how "trying" doesn't work.
The definition of "try" is:

—Try:To subject to something (as undue strain or excessive hardship or provocation) that tests the power of endurance.  To make an attempt.
When you "try" to do something more effort is used and the implication within the word "try" generally means you failed..."I tried to ice-skate" doesn't really provoke any images of success does it?
      Or when a child has decided they don't like carrots and you ask them to "just try it" has that ever won them over? Perhaps by exchanging the word "try" for another, more possibilities in learning and development could open up... although I imagine there will be mixed reviews on how saying to a child "Let's explore carrots!" works out, but it's worth a shot...anyway back to the point and how it relates to your golf game!

      
 Exploring:def.Travel in or through (an unfamiliar country or area) in order to learn about or familiarize oneself with it: Examine or evaluate (an option or possibility)

 "Exploring" might be a word worth substituting for the word "try".
 For example, if I were to say "I am going to explore how I curve the ball today," rather than "I am going to try to learn how to curve the ball today," which one sounds like it's more empowering, open to learning and has the greatest potential for making progress and developing awareness?
You can keep trying,  which seems to only have your attention on what you THINK should be happening rather than ACTUALLY experiencing what IS happening.  You could keep "trying" while using extra effort, creating more tension, and basicly resisting any kind of real time experience you could be having while swinging a club(or listening in a business meeting or to your significant other) or you could choose to start being present and begin exploring. You could re-discover your instincts, develop a sense of knowing that previously wasn't hitting your awareness, and you could be well on your way to discovering what's possible.
   













 Brandon Richardson,PGA
 www.GolfwithFreedom.Net 
 www.Facebook.com/GolfwithFreedomLessonCenter

Practicing for Break-Throughs

"His one sorrow was not solitude, it was that other gulls refused to believe the glory of flight that awaited them; they refused to open their eyes and see." ~Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach

The first thing it takes to achieve a break-through is to know it's possible. A big part of my job with students is to "open their eyes" to what is possible.
Each possibility of course requires a certain level of awareness to develop in order to experience a break-through. During the awareness development phase we often experience a distruption in performance that is actually a biological requirement in developing.
Take the act of a child learning how to walk, throw a ball, or ride a bike. These actions are incredibly complex yet most all of us become quite proficient at these tasks, after safely failing, over and over and over again. What I mean by safely is more than the physical danger of falling or getting hit by a ball,but the support system that also creates a feeling of safety to learn and keep at it.(When I was learning to catch, my dad threw a baseball to me that hit me right in the eye, then simply said, "That's where your glove is suppose to be son." Long story short I learned to catch pretty well.)
The less judgment that is present while learning, the more you will learn. period. By simply distinguishing the differences in an action, just as a child does when learning to walk, you will begin to find balance, or your golf swing in the context in which we're talking. A child would never find balance without the vivid experiences of imbalance. 
HOW TO PRACTICE(in a nut shell)
-No matter where you are in terms of experience, awareness development and knowing who you are being(enthusiastic, excited, curious, doubtful, afraid, resigned etc.) will always be the fuel that drives you towards or away from a break-through....
1) If your point of view does not change nothing will change. You might see the light at the end of the tunnel but you will never know how bright the light is or how it brings a whole new world to life until you step outside of  the darkness of the tunnel.
2) Being intentional with each shot in one half hour of practice is far more engaging and developmental than spending 1 hour wacking golf balls with your "same ol" commitments to looking good and trying to hit it straight. (Hint:It's way easier to be intentional when judgment is removed)
3) Just because you are hitting the ball good doesn't mean your learning anything and vise versa, just because you are hitting the ball poorly doesn't mean there isn't great possibilities for you to learn from that experience that could lead you to a break-through.
4)You have to be present either way. Being present is simply having your attention on something for the length of time you have determined to have it there for.
If you are not here(not here meaning in your head, thinking, judging, anticipating etc.) to notice any one of the following: Your body, the ball, the club,or your connection to the environment/target, then the last two seconds of your life while swinging the club was a blur...It also takes presence to notice that you weren't present, "Wow! I noticed my attention went to that dog barking rather than feeling my arms swinging back and through."
5) Create an environment for yourself where you are free to explore, create, laugh, learn, imagine, and play...then see what happens...


In appreciation,
Brandon Richardson,PGA
Golf with Freedom Lesson Center
www.GolfwithFreedom.Net

Failure? How Fascinating!!!

You just sent another relatively simple chip shot screaming over the green...how do you feel about it? Typical responses include "pissed" "frustrated" "disappointed" "mad" "angry" etc...

Why do you feel that way? "BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO DO THAT!!!"
Got it.
But here is the question I would like for you to consider. Suppose that the reason you are mad isn't because you hit the ball over the green but rather you are afraid of doing it again. I mean if you knew you were going to make the next shot would you stay mad for long? Would you even get mad at all? It's absolutely a possibility that you could play wonderfully from here on out right? I am not talking about odds here, just is it possible? 

Now, if you are afraid of doing it again why is that? Because you haven't experienced how you are being and what you are doing to create that shot in the first place. So rather than looking at that poor result as an embarrassing failure and a blow to your ego, could you recreate that experience as fascinating? Can you use your curiosity to get to the bottom of it rather than your past conditioning controlling your emotions and behavior? This will help you learn how you are being and what is happening with your body and the club when you send the ball flying over the green,  dump it into the bunker or do exactly what you intended.

Experience, presence, and awareness is what will advance you beyond what is now unknown to you. You don't need to "remember to keep your head down" because then you are just experiencing a voice in your head trying to tell your body what to do...can you just create an intention, become present to your senses while you are swinging, and actually experience what is happening in the moment that it occurs?

When you see great players playing great, they still hit "poor" shots from time to time, but they don't carry them around with them for long. They don't think they are going to do it again the same way you don't think you will trip again when you briefly lose your balance after catching the toe of your shoe on a rock while walking. You experienced the whole thing and you move on. If you are afraid of doing it again it's simply because you are unaware of critical distinctions during the action. Become aware of them and you can't help but improve.  How do you develop awareness? Create an environment for yourself where failure is fascinating! Practice this and see what happens... 

Play Golf with Freedom,

Brandon Richardson

http://www.golfwithfreedom.net/

"Discover what's possible"