Talk about being in the moment: my extraordinary lesson in "awareness"

This is Part II of my "origin story" in writing my new book

Legendary golf coach Fred Shoemaker, founder of Extraordinary Golf

Almost every golfer I’ve ever met wants to get better.

In my last blog about writing my new book, I related how I—like many golf nerds— was a seeker, forever searching for information that I hoped would improve my golf swing.

But like most golfers, I didn’t improve.

Eventually, I became convinced my salvation lay in learning about the “mental game.”

In Part II of what influenced me in writing Getting Unstuck: Seven Transformational Practices for Golf Nerds, I describe how I began to realize that it wasn’t my golf swing that kept me stuck; it was my behaviours.

Eventually, my yearning to learn more about the mental side of golf led me to Extraordinary Golf, written by Fred Shoemaker. It was unlike any golf book I ever read. It straddled the chasm between instruction about the “mental game” and the physical act of hitting a golf ball.

Interestingly, Fred didn’t offer tips and techniques on either part of the game to “get better.” Instead, he talked about extensively about “awareness” as the key to “mastery.”

For example, he said most golfers are unaware of what they actually do when they swing. It’s like we’re over the ball thinking furiously about moving our body parts, there’s a mysterious flurry of activity, and suddenly we’re watching the ball and judging the shot as “good” or more likely “bad.”

Why are we so disconnected? According to Fred, we’re stuck in our heads … thinking, thinking, thinking. (Fred has a wonderful bit in which he says, imagine that you’re on a horse and you ride up to someone and say, “Have you seen my horse?”)

All this thinking disconnects us not only from our bodies but also the golf club. It also disconnects us from our own innate talent, which is the product of millions of years of evolution.

I became a Fred Shoemaker acolyte. I started to develop a relationship with Fred and members of his Extraordinary Golf community. It turned out that Fred enjoyed my Moe Norman book, and we had some nice chats on the phone.

Fred came to Ontario to deliver workshops three years in a row, from 2011 to 2013. I went to all three.

During a break in the May 2013 workshop, Fred and I caught up. I told him that I was working hard in putting Extraordinary Golf skills into practice, but I felt stuck around an eight handicap.

Fred said simply, “Would you consider that you’re an eight-handicap in terms of your awareness?”

My face went hot. It was like I was stunned, paralyzed. I realized that this was a moment.

I eked out, “Ouch. Thank you … I think.” I muttered something about having to go somewhere. I fled. I went into my car and wrote pages of notes, although I didn’t fully comprehend what Fred meant.

Over time, I started to better understand this “awareness” thing, namely that I was rarely aware of what was happening within me when I hit a golf shot. When I played it was like I was in a trance, before, during and after a shot. I was trying all kinds of things, but I wasn’t conscious of what I actually did, felt or thought.

That season, I committed to swinging with freedom. Or, as my father suggested, to use my “don’t-give-a-shit swing.” Rather than trying to swing correctly, I would just swing and do my best to observe and feel my swing. I also began to witness my thoughts and feelings. Golf became a giant experiment in awareness.

I started to meditate and learn what “being present” meant. Of course, I dove into books on mindfulness, Buddhism, the brain, psychology, and Timothy Gallwey’s Inner Game books.

The difference was dramatic. Golf became easier and more fun. I was doing far less but getting far more out of golf. All parts of my game improved. My scores got lower and lower.

From June to August, my index dropped from 9 to 6, an historic low. It was a pace of improvement that I’d never enjoyed. In three months, I went usually shooting in the low-to-mid 80s to regularly scoring in the high 70s.

I was starting to understand how this awareness thing related to golf, as well as to other parts of my life.

To be continued …

Along with Getting Unstuck, I’m also the author of The Feeling of Greatness: The Moe Norman Story, and co-host of the Swing Thoughts podcast. 

If you’re interested in golf coaching—including on the mental part of your game—please send an email to tim@oconnorgolf.ca. I invite you to check out www.oconnorgolf.ca.

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