So I believe personally in this Idea brought forth as I read it by Robert Bly. Laws vs Legends. When I think "Laws " I think of the guy at the course all fired up about something learned on the Golf Channel that came from a different player. When I think Legends I see Seve learning how to hit balls on a beach. I saw John Mahaffey one time (in between cigs ) at Missoula Country Club. He needed about ten yards extra for a drive to get to a dogleg so before he hit his drive he bent the shaft of his driver over his knee. He fired a smooth little 62 and all it cost him was a bruise on his leg and 2 packs of cigarettes. Serious Legends.
I think it's natural for one to think that in the clinics I teach it will be all the Laws, and organized. What I actually teach are dozens of ways for any amateur to spark their own Legend and to regain some smoke in their own mind and intuition again with the game. I think most players think that the path from 86 to 75 will take ten years and slow painful progress working through tips on their swing. There is leap missing in this idea....the leap has to be considered at least a possibility. Some players just make that leap all at once without knowing how or why. Ever hit a almost thin wedge and in the air think "oh shiiiiit" and have stop on a dime 4 feet from the hole? The Legends are trying to teach you to hit your wedges lower ……are you listening?
Laws vs. Legends
Golf Digest (incremental change) vs. personal discovery (huge change)
Swing weight matching vs. Golf club willingness
Big heavy putter grips (trend) vs. the correct grips per your carrying angle
Not reading putts vs. Pelz
Pelz vs. finding chunks of straight putts
Learning straight putts from me vs. doing your own searching for straight putts
Your clubs are a "set" vs. fitting your clubs one at a time
"Someone else glued them up" vs. You spine and glue up your own sticks
Fear of bogey or double vs Hunting for birdies and getting tap in pars
Trying to hit it perfect vs. hitting it "dirty" but shaped correctly
Practice is "boring" vs. You understand "calibration" so you can't practice enough
Trying to hit, steer, control ball vs. Trusting preparation and letting it fly
Using a handicap vs. Playing the ENTIRE course straight up
Doing what your buddies do vs. Building your own yardage book and playing from that
Pouting, tantrums, explaining crap vs. Not taking up other people's space
Fair weather golf vs. Loving the wind and rain
Big fat bounce angles on wedges vs. Rusted ground wedges that work
230 and excuses (age, knees etc) vs. 270 cuz you are smart
Wishful thinking vs. Seeing things as they are
Specificity and fear vs. General flighting and degrees of freedom
Praising what is killing you vs. Not knowing…exploring…being stumped
There will be a lot of times in my blog where it sounds like I am hating on Golf Digest and the Golf Channel…..that is not the case….what I am worried about are players that get their information from only these two places. There is a serious lack of the wildness that goes into a good player in that program. It is Laws and Laws only.
Several years ago I remember playing In Web.com Monday qualifier….on the first tee I am introduced to this kid from Texas that looked rough…..I look into his bag and he had Pings that we're all victims of a grinder and smothered in lead tape…..I passed a " tisk tisk " judgement…..he hit this weird hooking runner on the first tee…..I thought "tisk tisk" again….he then hit this chin high wedge to 5 feet….I thought "lucky dude thinned a wedge and it worked out good."……I shot 68 hitting my pretty clubs high and got smoked by that kid (who has since won on the PGA tour). He shot 62….with the runner hook and chin high wedges ALL DAY. It was Legendary.
Let's bring it closer to St George. Let's say you take a clinic from me on short game. (Still borderline Laws…..) You learn that a big chunk of the green you are playing is nothing but straight putts . (Curiosity raising…) You learn that when chipping to this green that the trajectory of the chip or pitch is relative to where you are in relation to this chunk- and that it makes scoring crazy easier. As a bonus at the end of class you learn that the big chunk of bounce on the bottom of your wedges was designed to be grinded off and that doing so makes the club a billion times easier to hit and more consistent. (More energy but still Laws…)
Right? Still Laws? But......you go buy a vice and angle tester and start grinding your own wedges? LEGENDS. When you are grinding the golfing Gods will grab your file and refine into the Legends category. You will feel it. You are like a caveman that gets to leave the cave the next morning to hunt with this new thing called a "spear."