The mind is always trying to be logical.  As adults, we have been trained to think logically.   Golf is an illogical game.  Good golfers embrace the illogical nature of golf.  My golf blog, “The Mental Game,” describes the illogical concepts of golf.  The most illogical concept in golf is that you are not trying to hit the ball.  Learning the golf swing is like learning how to dance.  Like dancing, golf is a series of motions that must be done in a rhythmic and precise manner.   Once the steps are learned, it is the ball that indicates whether or not the motion was performed in a rhythmic and precise manner.  If the ball does not travel straight and long, it means the motion or “steps” were not done in a rhythmic and precise manner.  Either the rhythm was too quick or one of the steps was not executed precisely.  That sounds illogical!

If I proposed the illogical concept that 1 + 1 = 3, most golfers will not accept this concept.  That is not logical.  But in order to play consistent golf, the mind must be able accept the illogical concept that 1 + 1 does equal 3.  That means that the mind must accept that the motion is the focus, not the ball.  This means that the golf swing will never be “natural” because what is natural is trying to hit the ball or help the ball into the air.  So, the main practice in golf is to train the mind to always focus on the motion that is happening on the right side of the body, not the golf ball that is in front of the body.  Easy to say, but hard to do.  1 + 1 = 3.

If you watch the swings of the greatest ball strikers, golfers like Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, Moe Norman, and Count Yogi, you will see them doing the SAME pre-shot routine and swing, exactly the same, every time!  A swing cannot be executed the same way every time unless the focus is on doing the same thing during the swing every time and the focus is NOT on hitting the ball!  They have accepted the illogical concept that they must focus on doing the same thing EVERY TIME.  Each of them may focus on their own peculiar things during the swing, but they make sure they do them.  The result of this illogical thinking is a very consistent golf swing.

My blog posts, “Feel an Efficient Swing,” “How to Use the Fingers.” “How to Feel Rhythm,” and “Patience In the Golf Swing” describes concepts that sound very illogical but must be done in order to develop a consistent golf swing.