"Just a song before I go..."
From our boys at Crosby, Stills and Nash (CSN - well before acronyms pretended to rule the communication world...). Simple times. And a simple task, for you: click on the map above, turn the volume up a bit, close your eyes, and listen. Then venture back this way for some ideas on how the lyrics from this tune might help you sail into more productive waters on the golf course, and in your daily doings...
"Just a song before I go,
To whom it may concern
Traveling twice the speed of sound
It's easy to get burned"
You traveling - in your mind & body- at hyper-speed trying to integrate new golfy habits? Swing, stroke or behavioral patterns? I understand - but it doesn't work that way, boys & girls. Although there are ways of expediting things (Train2Trust, please), one constant remains:
Learning takes time.
Quality time. Presence and awareness with your precious practice time. Accurate and useful feedback in your time spent in the process. Otherwise, you too will get burned, thinking you are navigating the seas of progress and change, when you might very well be drowning..
After all, if you don't have time to do it right, when are you going time to do it over? . breath
And your mind: busting the sound barrier at every given opportunity? Breaking velocity records in the past, and speeding around in the fantasmical future? I understand. Yet you can come back to the here and now in the blink of an eye, by simply paying attention to a constant, faithful and everlasting companion, your breath.
Like a time-hardened swing thought, it's always there for you, with reminders:
- Of how truly fortunate you are to be alive, and able to play the ball & stick game.
- Of the powerful goddess that is the present moment; the realm where your breath resides.
- Of how by 'adjusting' your breathing - just like making adjustments on the golf course - you can immediately alter your mind and body states.
"To whom it may concern"
Amen, my brothers from CSN - only wish you were there to play 'gatekeepers' on the Interwebs of golf instruction...
- Credibility checks on our supposed experts who fling information at millions of impressionable linksters at the touch of a button.
- CustomZ officers at the borders of all that comes across our blue-lit screens, verifying scientific and experiential claims.
- Coast guards of iffy info, data and findings being offered by the pirates of the Ether world, looking to bolster bank accounts as opposed to creating smoother golfing seas.
That Graham Nash wrote this song on a bet? David Crosby explained in the liner notes to their 1991 boxed set: "Graham was a home in Hawaii, about to go off on tour. The guy who was going to take him to the airport said, 'We've got 15 minutes, I'll bet you can't write a song in that amount of time.' Well you don't smart off to Nash like that, he'll do it. This is the result."
Going to the airport and his day of travel were on Nash's mind, so that's what he wrote about: "driving me to the airport and to the friendly skies." The "song before I go" was for his friend who made him the bet.
Questions, fellow travelers on the planet earth (the basis for all human progress):
1. Other than my adopted twin sister JH, who of you know specifically the identity of the individual that gave Nash a lift to the airport? Sure, go ahead and consult "Dr. Google," probably you're only hope...
2. Bet me I can't construct a missive on a topic, theme or concept of your choice. Ah-ha! No "Doc G" available for this one, eh? Yes, instead, you must search within yourself for the answer - the question that is -just as you must often do when looking for a solution that 'vibrates' with your own personal model of learning & doing in golf swing.
A message that will help guide you, and other linksters, to calmer and more productive golf, and life, waters. The wager? If you leave me dead in the water, I'll spend an hour with you in lesson land live, or from afar; should I come up with something fruitful, you owe me (we can discuss payment - although your treasures of gold, silver and jewels won't get you very far with me...). Deal? Bring it!
Just a song before I go
"A lesson to be learned:"
What? You can't tell where I'm going from the two maps to the north of these letters and words (and perhaps - you don't really care...)? What's wrong with you?
Kinda like my colleagues who can't help themselves (their attention-craving egos, actually) in posting & plastering indecipherable pieces on golf swing, on our social-retarded media channels. X, Y & Z axes in the motion. Vectors and ground (wonder how those work on water...???) reaction forces. Variable trace patterns. You know the fancy schmancy lingo, often meant to impress you - yet leaving you lost at sea...
But alas, I've discovered that chasing the almighty $, like running head on to those fire-breathing dragons on the high seas (as well as on terra firma),
"It's easy to get burned"
Sorry, no CS posts boasting magnificent sceneries, luscious meals or beautiful companions on my upcoming voyage. The homeless & hungry of our world are neither interested, nor impressed - even though the marketing 'whizzes' out there tell me I'd grow my audience and hence my pocket book if I 'breathed more daily fire' on the unsuspecting surfing and trolling masses.
Coaching & Guidance
You getting torched trying to improve your action in the golf park? I understand. Here to help...
Individual and small groups at Eugene Country Club, or at a facility near you.
Christopher@ChristopherSmithGolf.com
CSmith@EugeneCountryClub.com
"Not All Who Wander Are Lost”
-- J.R.R. Tolkien
Best,
~ CS ~
