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  #1  
Old September 20, 2006, 02:07 PM
GordonJ's Avatar
GordonJ GordonJ is offline
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Location: West Palm Beach, FL
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Default It is STILL, HIT the BAll, although now it might be Hit the *&^% Ball.

Some of you know I'm bartering golf lessons for all kinds of things. And recently, when I instructed a new student to hit the ball...well, it brought back some memories.
Here is an post slightly edited, from Nov. 30, 2000 that is VERY relevant today:
START OLD POST
*************
The first lesson I teach in Golf...maybe you can relate.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've taught golf for a long time now. As you might imagine, I'm somewhat unusual, a little different than your average pro. I do things my way, like the first lesson I give.

Let me relate a true story, although not that unusual for me.

A lady came to take a series of lessons. She wanted to join her husband in their retirement and golf around the country. The first thing I did was toss a ball on the ground and hand her a club, a five iron. Then I told her:

"hit the ball"

She looked at me. Puzzled.

She smiled and replied, "I don't know how, that is what I'm paying you to teach me."

"OK", I said, "but first, hit the ball."

She stood over the ball like she had seen her husband do, and put the club behind the ball. Then she looked up and said;

"I don't know what to do."

I said in a firmer tone, "Hit the ball."

She looked back at the ball and she started trembling. Her hands had a death grip on the club. Her knees were buckling. She looked back at me and with a very pained look, with tears almost in her eyes she said,

"I can't. I don't know how."

I said, "You mean you won't. Just hit the ball."

After about 5 minutes of staring at the ball she took a mighty swipe at it, almost fell down, missed the ball by a mile, and threw the club down.

She YELLED at me, "See, I told you I couldn't do it."

I replied, "Hit the ball."

She picked up the club and for a moment, I thought she was going to hit me, she looked pretty confident about being able to do that. She took another mighty swipe and missed the ball by another mile.

I said, "That didn't work, hit the ball."

She tried again and again and again, her total frustration and her humiliation (or so she thought) soon gave way to laughter. It started as a giggle. Then as she kept swinging and swinging the club, it increased to an almost belly laugh.

Finally, she put the club about two inches behind the ball, and kind of rolled the club and hit the ball about 6 inches.

I applauded and said, "Finally you are willing to listen to me, there is hope for you yet. Now hit the ball AGAIN."

She grinned and hit another ball about six inches, and once again I was applauding her. Then I tossed a ball about 3 feet in front of her, and told her to hit the ball to the one I tossed. She did it the first try.

Then I increased the balls about one foot at a time. By the end of the first lesson, she was hitting a golf ball about 50 yards, straight as an arrow.

My only instruction to her was, "Hit the ball."

At the end of the lesson, I congratualted her, told her how proud I was of her, and told how close she came to being 'FIRED' as a student.

See, I explained to her I gave her a simple thing to do. Hit the ball.

It was what she brought with her that caused the consternation. Her frustration had nothing to do with me, I just wanted her to hit the ball.

I had no expectations. If it went one inch, that was great, she followed directions. But she thought something else, she had her own idea of what hitting the ball meant.

Within a month she was on the course playing golf with her husband, hitting straight, but not very far shots, but HITTING THE BALL every time she would swing the club.

Within a year she was playing the game almost as well as her husband.

I've had this scene repeated. I tell them to hit the ball, and I've heard it all.

I can't. I don't know how. That is what I'm paying you to teach me. HOW?

It is amazing to me that people require so much direction, because when I do this with a 2 or 3 year old, they don't ask any questions, they stand there and swing until they hit the ball.

If they can't do it with a big fast swing, they slow down, or they BEGIN with putting the little club right behind the ball and pushing it.

They FOLLOWED DIRECTIONS. I can get any 3 year old in the world to hit a golf ball. Something I couldn't get adults to do because of their own baggage.

This has to do with what Dien was talking about, getting STARTED. I know many people who have taken the game up with a STATICS professional, that is a pro who teaches the "statics" or basics..

The Grip.
The Stance (or Set-Up)
The Swing.

And people who begin golf with these basics can't play the game for 3-5 years if ever. Because they think there is a "proper" way to do it. I tell my students to HIT THE BALL. Do that and we'll go from there.

"What about my grip?" they ask. I respond, "Hold onto the club."

"What about my stance?" I say, "Don't fall down."

The swing?

"HIT THE BALL."

I know that it is far easier to adjust things than to get things PERFECT right from the start. I want my students to be hitting the ball. To understand the game is about hitting the ball, again, and again and again.

That NO one hits it perfect every time. That you have to make adjustments as you go along. That it is a game of imperfection, but the object is to always hit the ball. Once they KNOW that, we'll work on the details of how THEY can best accomplish their goals of hitting the ball a little bit less every time they play, until they plateau and can enjoy the game.

So, when someone engages me in a business activity or solicits my advice or even wants my opinion, I usually tell them,

hit the ball.

It doesn't always go down well. It sometimes produces frustration, and I hear all the same excuses.

I don't have the time.
I don't know how.
I don't know where to begin.
I'm too busy.
I'm too short.

Or whatever. And their answers tell me all I need to know, and whether or not they are teachable. So, if you ever take a golf lesson from me, be prepared, the first thing I'm going to tell you is HIT THE BALL.

And we'll make some adjustments from there. How is your project coming along? When are going to get started? And note that even before I tell my students to HIT THE BALL, I ask them why they want to hit it.

What is the purpose of hitting it, WHY do they want to learn the game?

Because that tells me how much effort they will make in hitting the golf ball.

Thanks for your time and attention.
END OF ORIGINAL POST
***********************

Now then.

I've taken The Beginner's Guide to Chatteling Course off the market.

It has been replaced with The Beginner's Guide to Chatteling Report.

The difference? Well the course was like me standing on the range and teaching you how to play golf. The report is like you buying one of my golf audio programs, perhaps, Think And Reach Par, and just listening to it.

And that explains why now I might be inclined to say, "Hit the %^#@ BALL"

Anyone who already has the Course, will be receiving the report too, automatically in the next few days.

The report is less than half the price of the Course, has mostly the same info in it, give you the same lessons, it just doesn't have ME present as the Course did. A golf lesson in person would allow me the nuances of you, however, listening to Think And Reach Par would give you the same, improve your game information as if you sat in one of my seminars.

So I'm revising things around and will introduce more GordonLESS products. Just information. It will be much better for all of us.

Gordon Jay (LESS) Alexander

PS. I WILL continue to support all those who have the COURSE, as I said I would when you acquired it. I didn't even put my email addy in the report.

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Beginners-Gu...QQcmdZViewItem
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  #2  
Old September 20, 2006, 06:30 PM
Phil
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: It is STILL, HIT the BAll, although now it might be Hit the *&^% Ball.

Gordon...

Caught this on TV recently...

Maybe something for you to Market or your own GJA Golf software and computer.

PGA players in radar love
Weather computer analyzes golfer's swing and ball distance
http://tinyurl.com/lpswd

Doppler radar is a key forecasting tool
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wdoppler.htm

Phil
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  #3  
Old September 21, 2006, 01:37 AM
Dien Rice Dien Rice is offline
Onwards and upwards!
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,358
Default Why are some people so petrified to take action? Is it because of school experiences?

Hi GJA,

That's a great story! WHY - when a 2 year old can do it - are some people "petrified" to simply "hit the ball"?

I think it may be partly due to our schooling system.

In school, everything is "right" or "wrong". If you give an answer, and it's "wrong" - you're told you're "wrong"... and you're "humiliated" in front of all your classmates.

Therefore - unless you know the answer is "right" - you learn to stop and do nothing rather than speak up and give a "wrong" answer. This lesson then translates to "inaction" unless you know what is the "right" thing to do...

Of course, in "real life" it's completely different. You're rewarded for "taking action" - not for "doing nothing"!

So, I think sometimes we have to "unlearn" a little of what we learned at school. We have to "learn" that often, there is no clear "right" way and "wrong" way to do things - there's just "action" and "inactivity". In "life" (unlike sometimes in school), you get rewarded for action, not inactivity!

Fascinating story, Gordon!

Now, I don't mean to put down schooling - after all, a lot of the stuff you learn in school is very useful (like the "3 R's" - reading, 'riting, and 'rithmatic!)

However, the "lesson" that you should "fear" getting the "wrong" answer is a bad one... Since it's often better to try - and learn that way - than to sit back and do nothing - and not learn at all...

(Oops! I almost slipped off my soapbox - you know, a box made out of soap is slippery! Better end there... )

- Dien

Last edited by Dien Rice : September 21, 2006 at 03:06 AM.
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  #4  
Old September 21, 2006, 09:48 AM
GordonJ's Avatar
GordonJ GordonJ is offline
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Location: West Palm Beach, FL
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Default Here's what's WRONG with society, thanks Phil and Dien, and why I quit golf...

Thanks Phil and Dien.

Phil, you have shown what is WRONG with society. Allow me to explain.

For some of the Newbies, I need to give a brief background. In 1992 I had the state-of-the-art golf facility in Hudson, OH. I used the same radar gun that was being used in baseball stadiums to track the speed of a pitch, to track club head speed. I had the Mitsubihi swing analyzer, a NEW computer program for analyzing a player's golf swing, a custom built computer and every gizmo and golf gadget you could think of.

And I made a ton of money selling custom fitted clubs. I had 5 PGA Professionals working for me and over 1200 students on the books ; members who routinely and regularly used the facility. Then I quit golf. Here's why:

Now this was the post Jack and pre Tiger days of golf. People weren't running to see Rod Funseth or Fred Funk play a tournament. So the USGA, in concert with the PGA and golf manufactures decided to "improve" the equipment...in my youth, a 300 yard drive was considered LONG. Today, you'll see 14 year old girls at the range smacking them that far.

And thus began the downfall of "play it as it lies" with equipment within the same standards for everyone.

Today there are clubs being used that are illegal, too much of a sweet spot, and unless you know what they are, your competitor is using a truly UNFAIR advantage, and that might be just fine for the "coywriting/marketing" crowd, but in golf, UNFAIR is, UNFAIR.

There have always been golf balls that were illegal, outside the acceptable performance levels of the USGA. Today, almost anything goes. Supposedly the COR (coefficient of restitution-or how much give, like a trampoline effect) is to be no greater than 8.30, although there are clubs on the market with an 8.60. And those who use the higher COR club, are in fact, CHEATERS.

But we've become a society of CHEATERS. Baseball records are being smashed by juiced up players. Track routinely tests, and track stars are constantly looking for ways to get around the rules.

And LAZY AZZES. My students started wanting to BUY a lower score, rather than WORK for it.

What makes Tiger Woods so great is that he was taught the game by an OLD fashioned golf purist (his dad) who made sure he understood how much PRACTICE was needed. And gave him the MENTAL skills too.

My opinion is that Phil Mickelson will NEVER win another major tournament, because he is a head case, in the league with Greg and Moe Norman. At least Moe had a mental illness. Greg was a head job, same as Mickelson is today.

Phil M. lacks the mental skills although he is one of the best players in the world.

OK. OK.

I'd bet that 99% of 2+ handicappers couldn't tell the difference in a tuned shaft, or even understand what tuning is and what "frequency matching" is all about. I think most pros on the PGA tour don't get it either, and would rather rush into the doppler equipped booth for a shaft change, rather than get up early and try to beat Tiger Woods onto the range. They are too LAZY and want to buy a better game.

Now that is GREAT for the Marketer. Much opportunity, you can sell millions of dollars of products telling wannabe golfers how a ONE legged golfer gets so much distance with a simple and easy ONE move system...

and make a ton of money doing it...

But, that isn't for me. I made golf clubs in my basement with my dad, we got supplies from Kosar Golf, and hey, a friend has an origianl Kosar set, if you've got a couple of thousand extra bux, he might be persuaded to part with it.

Anyhow. I quit golf because I couldn't stomach the people who were playing it, and many of my students were either Entrepreneurs or Old Money...and they felt offended that they had to WORK for a better golf game. Why? Why couldn't they just buy it?

Today they can. Kinda. Sort of. You can add an extra 50-100 yards onto your drives with equipment, but the amazing stat according to the National Gof Foundation is

"The average 18-hole score for the average golfer remains at about 100, as it has for decades," (full article here:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/24/news/golf25.php )

So a golfer can BUY more distance, more accuracy, more more more of just about everything...but a better game...that you get the old fashioned way, you EARN it on the practice range.

And Chatteling is NO DIFFERENT. You don't get great deals while watching TV, unlike the Internet, which allows you to make masses amount of money for doing nothing (and I can point you to 101 promotions that say so)...
you have to WORK for it.

That is, in MY opinion, what is wrong with our society today, too many people who are on the "entitlement" track...they should get things easier, faster than their parents or grandparents who understood what Tiger's father did...

there ain't NO free lunches, despite what the copywriting genius of the day tells you. But what encourages me is to see those high school golfers up at the break of dawn (cause I am too) hitting shots into the fog covered grass and dreaming of beating Tiger...

And those emails that tell me about a good Chattel deal they got from DOING something. But the encouragement is in very small doses, sadly.

Gordon Jay Alexander

PS. A few Beginner's Guide to Chatteling Reports are still available. But not for long.

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Beginners-Gu...QQcmdZViewItem
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  #5  
Old September 21, 2006, 11:32 AM
Garth
 
Posts: n/a
Default The Do VS The Do What?

Gordon, I sitill think the Do What is more important than the Do. After all everyone is doing something doing something everyday.

I just read an amazing story of a Do What'r and like they say in the movies, "this is the feel good story of the year", I think this one fits that category for me and I think it would for you especially it's a golf story.

But before I go there let me just say there are plenty of known Doer's out there. Why look at George "Dubya" Bush he's a doer. It's what he's doing that many say is pointless. Take Hugo "Little Castro" Chavez, he's a doer, but what's he doing going to the UN to call Bush literally a Fart Face. That stinks doesn't it? BTW, he really did do this. (Catch his speech in spanish or the English translation but not on main stream media as most of them did not mention those particular antics).

But back to my story. Here's a doer with positive PMA who went all out to earn a buck.He jumped at the chance to make is dream a reality.

Is This guy a doer or a doer AND A dummy? Read the story and you'll see what I mean.

But then we come to the piece de resistance. It's the Seventeen Million to One shot that happened twice.

Check out the story by Steve Rushin called Seventeen Million to One printed on (yes) Sept 11th by the Sports Illustrated magazine. If you don't have the subscription you can't read the article and I have to assume most here don't get it cus' I can't believe no one has mentioned it.

So this is the short version but I suggest you go old school an actually read the hardcopy one.

Here it is.

Superstar jock has three kids. Two of them go on to be superstar jocks as well. The other child born with a terribly disfiguring disease.Yet he becomes a holder for the placekicker on his high school football team. Later on he develops brain cancer. Later his mother has breast cancer. Even later he does the utterly unbelievable then watches his dad to the same thing on the same day within minutes of each other.

The Do pLUS The Do What equals the DREAM!
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