Swing-Sayings This article is from New Horizons Pocket Coach Volume 11- Wedge Play written and copyrighted by Ed Tischler: As you read through this pocket coach notice how I use swing-sayings to describe the focus for your actions and your training. Using swing-sayings is a great way of integrating the intentions of the mind with the actions of the body.  The key to a performance-oriented saying is that it captures the essence of what the swing is intending to accomplish.   For example, in the short game I focus on tossing the ball with the golf club. Since my intention is to toss the ball to the hole I say, “toss-hole.”  I say “toss” during the backswing and “hole” during the follow-thru.   The neat thing about the swing-saying is that I believe tossing is the best way for me to play those short game shots, and the saying captures the intent of my performance, so my thinking mind is satisfied that the saying will carry the intellectual content of my intention throughout the performance.   You might say the saying occupies the mind with a productive belief, and as long as the thinking mind believes in the importance of the sayings content, it will attend to the saying without letting other thought visitors interrupt the process.  You might say the swing-saying occupies the thinking mind so it stays out of the way of the intention to perform the action. There are many sayings you can use.  I use “roll-hole” in putting, “toss-hole,” “clip-hole,” “cut-under,” and many other sayings in my short game. I use “one-two” for timing in my control swings, and “1001-1002” in my full swings for rhythm and timing.  Any saying is fine as long as it interests you and captures your attention for the duration of the swing.   Swing-sayings allow you to be more reactive than swing-thoughts.  You simply say it and react in the moment.  I became aware of how effective this process can be while being coached by Fred Shoemaker (author of Extraordinary Golf ).   Fred would have me swing to the top of the backswing and listen for him to say either “draw,” or “fade.”   If I heard “draw” I was suppose to react with a forward swing action that would perform a draw.  If I heard “fade” I was suppose to react with a forward swing action that would perform a fade. With regular training I realized how reactive I had become.  It seemed to me this was a great way to play athletic golf.  Therefore I thought to myself, “If Fred could say a saying and I could react, I can say one to myself and react.”  So I did, and I found it truly did encourage me to play my shots in a more reactive and athletic manner.   I already believed that tossing was the best way to play the standard short-game shot, therefore “toss-toss” become my basic short game saying.  With continued experimentation I realized that many sayings worked well.  Toss-hole, small-toss, mid-toss, large-toss, soft-toss, firm-toss, high-toss, role-toss, and many others became a part of the arsenal.   I also found that experimenting with swing-sayings was much easier than experimenting with swing techniques.  If a saying did not encourage me to perform an effective action, I simply put it aside and tried another.  The most effective sayings will encourage you to perform the action regularly.  For example, it just doesn’t seem right to perform a large toss if you are saying tiny-toss.  Nor does it seem right to perform a tiny toss if you are saying large-toss. When you first use swing-sayings, they may be distracting.  Eventually they’ll feel comfortable and you’ll become reactive.  Remember, swing-thoughts use the conscious mind to think about what to do, and thinking often paralyzes the athletic action.  The athlete needs to learn to shot off the conscious mind while allowing the subconscious to direct the actions.  Swing-sayings allow you to do so in a reactive and athletic manner.  So I encourage you to use them regularly.

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

If you take the time to study this website in detail, you will find out that the swing sequence shown above is representative of what the New Horizons Golf Approach identifies as a center anchor golf swing.  Note how the weight distribution looks very 50-50 as the swing begins (top left picture in the sequence).  Also note how the golfer's head remains very centered throughout the swing.  His head simply rotates in place until the full extension.  At which point his whole body releases up to the full finish.  This golfer's swing is very rotary as well.  In the bottom-center picture of this sequence notice how his whole torso is turning to face the target.   His lower back is still flat at this point, and the rotation has carry his extension up and around to this point.   This is representative of a very good rotary style or body style of golf swing.