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(07/10/02)Entry
No.3- "The Language of Golf"
"The game of golf is too complex to be difficult!" Dad expained
what he meant. There are too many variables which affect a golf shot and to expect that by taking stock of them in order to
analyze and decide how best to proceed would produce the perfect golf shot is tantamount to beleiving that we could ever have
Heaven on Earth! well neigh impossible. In fact, downright Quixotic. Every player will have his/her share of good shots, and
even some wonderful shots but also, and as surely as the sun rises every morning, he/she should be prepared for a share of
bad, ugly and even some terrible shots. If we see this and accept it, then we can enjoy our game and expect to learn to play
it to the best of our ability! However, golf is indeed a complex game and the intellect must necessarily be involved
if we are to succeed in our quest. Particularly, I am concerned with that point in time when we are ready to execute a golf
shot. After having analyzed the situation and decided on the best club to use as well as the type of shot to be played etc..,our
intellect must then relay the message to our bodies for execution. It is at this juncture where the most damage is done.
Take
a child, give him/her a club and let him swing at a ball and you will surely witness a natural swing...unhesitating,smooth
and rhytmic. Now, give a club to an adult and ask him/her to do the same. Most likely before proceeding, questions will
first be asked then finally the stout hearted will venture to take a swing. Note that but for a very few exceptions, you will
witness a stiff, unsychronized,jerky swing... The sign of a body drowning in an ocean of orders from an adult intellect which
in this case has not been schooled in the language of golf. In order for the intellect to gainfully participate in the execution
of a golf shot it should revert back to childhood, summon the child which is within us and use baby language when communicating
with our bodies. The language of golf, baby language is simple, loaded with graphics while low on text and acutely tuned to
the sense of feel!
(08/07/02)Entry No.4-
"The Music of Golf"
There we were, an impatient group of youngsters waiting to learn the steps
to a dance number (ballroom Cha Cha Cha) which we had been requested to perform during a big family celebration. Well, our
instructors, Pancho Magalona and his wife Tita Duran, Idols and first couple of Phillipine movie musicals during the 50's
refused to give in to our impatience and instead had us all seated in a row chanting the Cha Cha beat...DoomDoom...Pak,Doomdoom...Pak...!
When the whole group was chanting in unison, the Cha Cha music was turned on and there now, we had the chant and the music.
Then we were told to internalize the chant, feel the beat and listen to the music. Finally and What I most vividly remember is
how that beat became firmly planted in my subconscious and how with such ease and fluidity learning and actually doing the
mechanics of the dance... the steps, the gestures etc...felt so comfortable and so natural. Further in fact, I found I
could
synchronize that beat with almost any other ...so there I'd be smoothly doing the cha cha while Rock'n Roll or a Waltz or
even a minuet was playing!
I could probably use the Cha Cha beat in my golf swing but since I never intended to dance the
Cha Cha while swinging a golf club, I opted not to. Instead, I revised it to conform to the phases (upswing, downswing and
follow through) or as it were, the steps in the "dance of golf". When little Ian swings his club, I can sense his little body
pulsating to the rhythem of his golf dance as he verbalizes the simple little beat I thought him..."Put.and..Hit!" Oh and
how rapidly he follows with another..."Put.and..Hit!" When he misses the first time or when he fails to get the ball
close to his intended target!
For every golfer, there is a degree of uniqueness in his/her swing, due mainly to differences
in bodily structure and emotional temperament. Therefore each golfer should strive to develop a beat that is most suited to
the steps in his/her "Dance of Golf"! Make your own music and flow with
it!
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