The Golfing Journey
The Role Of Imagery The Game: Mental or Physical? Imagery Is Learned Through Experience The Role Of The Coach Awareness And The Way We Learn The Performance Mode Golf Is An Underhanded Game Tossing Is Natural Clubface Awareness Using Your Natural Hand From The Short Game To The Long Game Awareness Skills The Process Of Imagery Watch Out For Negative Images Staying Within Yourself
Why Do We Play Games? Analyst, Hoper, Or Golfer? The Purpose vs. The Goal Spending Time On The Purpose Who Do You Bring To The Course?
Developing The Fundamentals Golf Is A Target Sport Tossing It Around Developing Your Tossing Awareness Tossing With The Club Playing The Shots Extending Your Follow-Through Developing Confidence In The Short Game Summary Of Tossing Skills And Fundamentals
Beginning With The Finish The Basic Fundamentals And The Finish Developing The Finish Journeying To The Finish Developing A Center For Your Swing Pivoting And Finishing Understanding The Lateral Shift The Swinging Motion Turning On The Power Setting It All In Motion Summary Of The Long Game Skills
Finding The Source
The Warm-up Routine One-handed Tossing Two-Handed Tossing Swing-Tossing Notes On The Short Game The Warm-Up Routine Finishing The Swing Swinging To The Finish Turning To The Finish Fine-Tuning Your Skills The Warm-up Routine Summary
Letting Your Inner Golfer Play The Game
Golf, An Ever-Evolving Game
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- Foreword
- For several decades golf instruction has remained stagnant, as evidenced by the fact that the
average handicap has not been lowered—despite advances in golf club technology and
improvements in course conditions.
This stagnation is not due to a lack of knowledge of swing mechanics by instructors—quite the
contrary. Video technology has enabled teachers to isolate quite precisely the proven effective
mechanics of the golf swing. Almost every trained instructor knows the way a good, effective golf
swing works. The problem has been a lack of innovation in the communication arena. The game
has not had enough creative, imaginative teachers who discover new ways to explain the known
mechanics to students in ways that enable them to perform those mechanics. But all that has
quickly changed. Led by the pioneer thinking of Michael Murphy, an army of forward thinking,
innovative teachers have mobilized around the world, and are poised to revolutionize the way the
game is taught and learned.
The vanguard of this instructional revolution—imaginative instructors like Fred Shoemaker
(“Extraordinary Golf”), myself with “Holographic Golf” & “Beyond Golf”, and other—is pushing ever
forward, and the evolution of golf instruction is accelerating. The movement is snowballing as
creative teachers with ideas once considered esoteric are coming forth with innovations that work.
With “The Way Of The Golfer”, Ed Tischler not only joins this vanguard, but he moves to the front
of the movement with a structured method of learning that combines the “best of the best”.
Ed’s book is a good example of the power of a new perspective. “The Way Of The Golfer”
proves that if you stay on path, you’ll find the way. His book is the best delineation of the most
effective path to better and enjoyable golf that I’ve seen.
Most books (on most any subject involving self-improvement) speak volumes on the desired end-
result. But they fall short when it comes down to the how of reaching that result.
The “Way Of The Golfer” is filled with innovative, creative methods which enable the average
golfer to experience the magnificence of well-executed golf shots, and it is filled with structured drills
which enhance the golfer’s ability to repeat those shots consistently.
Every golfer, from beginner to touring professional, can improve and develop as a golfer by
studiously committing to Ed’s methods. “The Way Of The Golfer” takes golf’s new instructional
direction to yet another level, and further contributes to the end of instructional stagnation.
- Larry Miller, P.G.A. member
Former PGA Tour Player, author of
“Holographic Golf” and “Beyond Golf”,
Member, Golf Writer Ass’n of America
New Horizons Golf Approach. My goal was to produce a sort of textbook that our students could use during their training. Thus, if they ever found themselves off track, they'd have some reference material to fall back on. I also wanted to introduce this material in such a way that anyone could benefit from reading it, even if they had never attended one of our training courses. My hope is that this book will help you develop a very productive approach to your game. For this to come true, I believe we must reach a meeting of our minds, a sort of intellectual contract, based on my commitment as a dedicated coach and yours as an honorable student. My commitments are to provide you with the necessary information to make your new approach productive in the areas of learning, enjoyment, and performance. Your commitments involve sticking with the program and dedicating the necessary time until you truly understand what it can do for you. The New Horizons Approach is much different from any traditional ones you might know. It focuses on awareness as the natural path to learning. It deals with your inner relations as well as your physical ones. So, you will get to know the inner you while developing your outer foundation. It involves the possibility that you already possess a truly magnificent game of golf. You simply need to express it. Along the way you will learn how to quiet your mind and relax your body. Like any athletic endeavor, you will establish the necessary physical skills, however, you will also come to understand the necessary inner skills. In short, you will find a true balance between mind and body. So, you will come to understand the workings of your inner golfer as well as your physical technique. Completing the New Horizons training is certain to provide you with the skills, understanding, and motivation to maintain your way. As you stick to The Way of the Golfer, you'll develop the trust and confidence you have always believed to be possible. You will acquire a new perspective, one that will allow you to use your imagination to play the game. Along the way, your imagination will become free to direct your desires, instead of just dream about them. Finally, you will develop such a thorough understanding of the game that you will be able to take your game to its next horizon. Staying on path as a New Horizons Golfer will take commitment and stick-to-it-tiveness. It will require regular practice, and continual recommitment. It will require that you condition yourself physically, mentally, and inwardly. To truly find out want this journey has to offer, you must make the commitment to give The Way of the Golfer an honest try. If you stick with the program continually, you will understand why your shots go where they go, and you'll understand how to target your play. You'll understand the game's true fundamentals, and the essence of how you play your shots. You'll truly know how to play the game, a game in which every shot is played as an expression of your inner desire. |
happiness. Once experienced, there inevitably begins a search for the secret of mastering its execution. Furthermore, each player soon realizes it is because of this mystical connexion that he's attracted to the game in the first place. This is evident as we commonly experience the one shot per round that keeps us coming back. As the player sets forth on this journey, there is always a question of where, and how, to begin. If you're one of the many who's searching for the answer to this question, then you need to understand how your approach to learning has a direct effect on your performance. In other words, you must become aware of your total approach to the game. Your total approach consists of learning, performing, and maintaining the necessary skills and habits. Your learning depends on your skills of attention, awareness, and understanding. The quality of your performance depends on your powers of imagery, commitment, and trust. Your maintenance program involves routines for physical, mental, and inner conditioning. To play consistently, you must stay committed to your approach. It's an ongoing process, no matter how long you continue to play. The success rate of the average golfer remains extremely low. For one thing, most golfers don't truly pay attention to what they are doing as they practice and play. Instead of paying attention, they think too much. The more they think, the more confused they become, and the harder it is to pay attention. The confusion lies in the fact that there are many different viable ways to play. That's because golfers come in many different shapes and sizes. So, you must develop an approach that accommodates your particular needs. You must find a way of performing the fundamentals naturally. Imagine this, as your body performs the fundamentals, it does so in your own unique way. As your body does so, your swing will take on a unique look. It will look unique because your body is not built like everybody else. Therefore, the way your body performs the fundamentals will have its own style. If your fundamentals are sound, then your technique will be sound. This is true no matter how unique your swing looks. To me, all swings on tour are unique. Even the players that have the same technical styles look uniquely different from each other. So, spend more time paying attention to your fundamentals than you do worrying about how your swing looks. Notice that I said, “ pay attention” to your fundamentals. This is because paying attention is more important than thinking. In many hours spent on the lesson tee, I've heard hundreds of students say, " I know what I am supposed to do, but I cannot do it." What they really mean is, they know the concept of what they want to do, but are not aware of how to do it. The theories of physics or mechanics tell us what needs to happen, but they don't tell us how to let it happen. Understanding the concept of what needs to happen involves thinking. Letting the action happen involves being aware. It involves paying attention to what is happening. When you think about it, all those “how to" books out there are really "what needs to happen" books. They assume we possess the basic skills necessary to perform the given tasks. For example, how to books on carpentry assume you know how to hammer, saw, or use any other tool you need to build something. They don’t teach you how to hammer a nail or drill a hole. They assume you’ve already learned the basic skills through trial and error. Finally, the essence of the game is simple, and the most simple view of the game is that you must become truly aware of your swing, the ball, and your target. If you do so, you will understand for yourself the best way of getting the ball in the hole. What I’m saying is that you learn through experience. And to learn through experience, you must pay attention to what you’re doing. The more you pay attention to what you’re doing, the more you’ll become aware of what works, and the more you’ll understand how to play great golf. Through this process of awareness you’ll become absorbed in the very lure that attracts you to the game. Fascinated with this entire process, you’ll find the courage to journey beyond the traditional barriers of the game, into a game with new horizons. |
| New Horizons Golf Approach I n n o v a t i v e C o a c h i n g F o r G o l f e r s |
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Copyright 2006 EA Tischler / New Horizons Golf Approach. All rights reserved.
- The three following excerpts express some of the fundamental issue of how we as golfers are being while
playing golf on the golf course. Much of the New Horizons Golf Approach deals with our state of being as
compared to how we are swinging.
- Why Do We Play Games?
- I often ask my students, “Why do you play golf?” The usual answer is, “Because it is fun.” Then I ask,
“What makes it fun?” I get a variety of answers at this point, because every golfer gets to decide for himself
the purpose of playing the game. However, what I really want to know is, “Why did they play golf in the first
place? What continues to attract them to the game? My experience has taught me that golfers continue to
play because something inspires them to play.
So, what inspires us to play, and what keeps us coming back? The game can be so frustrating that golfers
are continually compelled to quit the game. However, that same golfer will recommit to the journey even as
early as the next day. So what makes the game so attractive? What continues to inspire us to play?
I believe this inspiration comes from inside us. I believe that playing golf is a creative process, a form of art
you might say. Like all other games, I believe we play them because we feel something inside us that we want
to express outwardly. All athletes have inner desires. They imagine themselves performing these inner
desires. The athlete is no different from the artist. An artist captures some inspiration that he feels inside.
The artist imagines expressing this inspiration through his art. The golfer is no different.
I believe we play games to get in touch with our inner selves. Throughout our daily activities, we are usually
consumed with our work. We are absorbed in doing things that are only important to us because they put food
on the table. However, most people do not have a passion for their work. They are not artists at work.
Therefore, they seek out a form of artistry in their play. Sure, some people pick other hobbies as a means of
self-expression. But, the athlete expresses himself through sport.
I believe this is why people admire others who have a passion for their work. No matter what you do, your
work is an art form if you have a passion for it. If your work is an expression of your inner self, then your work
is a form of art. Whether farmer, caterer, banker, carpenter, or painter, you can be an artist as long as you
capture the inspiration that drives you to create your work. We all know people that make their work an artistic
endeavor, and we admire their passion. We admire how they can become totally absorbed in their work. And
we admire how they achieve satisfaction with their occupation.
So, I believe the reason we play golf is to express something that we are unable to express in the rest of our
life. I believe we play games to awaken the inner self that we keep locked up all day long. In many ways, the
inner us that imagined great things as a child has been locked up and hidden from our daily activities. Games
provide us the opportunity to open those locked doors, and to allow our inner self to come out and play. When
you think about it, isn’t it this inner you that you enjoy being around the most? If you disagree, then I want you
to ask yourself one question. “How do you act when nobody else is around?” Are you the same old proper
self? Or do you act with freedom? Do you allow your inner child to come out and be a part of what you are
doing? We’ve all been caught in the moment of allowing our inner child to play. Sure we might have been a
little embarrassed to be caught in the moment. However, the moments that led up to us being caught were
some of the most enjoyable moments of our day.
What most of us don’t realize is that we keep this inner child so locked up that it is dying to get out and
play. It is dying to express itself outwardly. Isn’t this one of the reasons why most people cannot wait for
retirement to come along? After we retire, we can once again reach for our dreams. We can play more often,
we can express ourselves through our hobbies more often, and we can get in touch with our inner child more
often. We honor the grandparents who seem to be living a second childhood.
The fact is, many people live their whole lives this way. They are always committed to expressing their inner
desires. They are always in touch with their inner self. Sure it takes a lot of commitment. Sure it is not always
looked on as being traditional, or proper. However, when you are playing a game, you should really play the
game. You should get in touch with your inner self, and you should allow your inner self to express itself
freely. Again, “How would you play if no one else was around?”
Anyone who has played golf for their whole life is certain to have gone out and played a round of golf by
himself, even if it was for only nine holes. When you played by yourself, did you care if anyone was watching?
Did you feel free to try shots that you would ordinarily not try? Did you allow your inner golfer to get into your
play? I’m sure you did all these things. The fact is, we all want to play with this freedom. We all want to be
able to express our inner desires.
- Analyst, Hoper, Or Golfer?
- Although we all want to play with the freedom expressed in the last section, how do most golfers go about
playing the game? I believe most golfers are either analysts or hopers on the golf course. I also believe they
want to be golfers. So what makes you an analyst golfer, and what makes someone else the hopeful golfer?
Lastly, what type of golfer do you want to be?
The analyst golfer is a problem solver. He wants to analyze what went wrong with every swing. The analyst
is not as concerned with playing good golf as he is with describing what goes wrong. The analyst is like the
television commentator that rewinds the video of the players swing and dissects it to show us what went wrong
or right. However, as the golfer swings, he does not think about the analysis. If he does, then he gets
“Paralysis by analysis.”
While the analyst goes about describing what’s wrong with the golfers play, the hoper realizes that he does
not know what to do, and therefore tries this and that in hopes that he will play good golf. The hoper feels like
he’s tried everything and is only left with the hope that he will one day find his inner game. The hoper believes
that the game has much more to offer, but finds no real purpose in the game. The hoper knows that the basic
goal is to score as low as you can, but does not understand the purpose of playing. Since the hoper has no
purpose to his play, he finds it hard to capture the inspiration that will afford him inspirational golf.
The golfer knows that the purpose of the game is to express your inner desires. The golfer knows that to
express your inner desires you must stay focused on the image of that desire. The golfer is therefore more
concerned with focusing in on what he wants out of his play. The analyst is more focused on what he does not
want out of his play, and the hoper, well, is just hopeful. So what do you want to do? Do you want to be an
analyst? Do you want a video cameraman to follow you around so that you can analyze everything that goes
wrong, or do you want to play golf? Do you want to stand up to each shot unsure of what you should focus
on? Do you want to address the ball, swing, and hope the shot goes where you want it to, or do you want to
play golf?
I believe everyone that likes to play golf wants to be a golfer. I believe they want to have some purpose to
their game beyond scoring well. Oh, they may not realize that they are in search of this purpose. But they are
instinctively in search of the purpose. Though there are many purposes the golfer can choose, I believe the
purpose that keeps you connected to the game is that of finding a way to express your inner desires. I believe
this is what playing golf is all about. So if you want to be a golfer, you should commit to the purpose of getting
in touch with your inner golfer. You should commit to being a golfer instead of an analyst or a hoper.
- The Purpose vs. The Goal
- We all know the basic goal of the game. The goal is to score as low as you can as you play golf. The goal
is set by the rules of the game. It is a part of the framework that defines the game. The purpose of the game
is a matter of choice, and each golfer chooses it for himself. Whenever I think of the purpose of playing, I am
always reminded of a quote by Marcus Aurelius. He said, “Of each particular thing, what is its nature, what
purpose does it serve.” So what is the nature of golf, and what purpose does it serve for you? As I’ve
expressed, I believe the nature of the game is to express your inner desires through sport. I believe that at its
very nature, golf is a creative process. And since it is a creative process, it involves expression, the expression
of your inner desires.
So as you play the game, your basic goal is to score as low as you can, while the nature of the game is to
express your inner desires. Beyond this, what purpose does the game hold for you? Does the game provide
you a vehicle for exercise? Does it provide you a way of meeting new people? Is it simply a way of getting to
know your friends better? Is it a way to express your competitive nature? Is it a means of conducting
business? Maybe the purpose changes from day-to-day. The question still remains, what purpose does the
game serve in your life?
You may wonder why I bring this up. Well, the only way you are going to reach your goals is to satisfy the
purpose of doing what you are doing. If you do not satisfy the purpose, then the results won’t follow. And if the
results don’t follow, then you will not achieve your goals. Remember, the purpose is the thing that inspires you
to play. It is also the thing that can inspire you to play well.
No matter what secondary purpose you choose, I want you to realize that the basic purpose of every
creative endeavor is to express your inner inspirations. The inspiration that compels you to play is the most
basic purpose that needs to be served. If you want to be a golfer, if you want to play golf, then become more
concerned with expressing the experiences that inspire you to play in the first place. Try to stay committed to
the purpose of being out there instead of falling prey to the analyst in your thinking mind. When you find
yourself caught in the mode of playing hopeful golf, try to create a new inspiration. Become creative with your
shots. Take a chance, express your creativity, and learn from the experience. I’m sure you will find that
playing creatively will give birth to inspirational experiences. In other words, find a purpose that inspires you
to be a golfer instead of an analyst or a hoper.
"The Way Of The Golfer - Searching For New Horizons"
This information on this webpage was published in
EA Tischler's self-published book "The Way Of The
Golfer - Searching For New Horizons." Copyright
1996, 2006 by EA Tischler. All rights reserved.
EA Tischler's self-published book "The Way Of The
Golfer - Searching For New Horizons." Copyright
1996, 2006 by EA Tischler. All rights reserved.
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