Typical and Atypical situations with respect to the MGSS
All ‘typical’ MGSS shots (ie full-swing, pitch/bunker, chip and putt shots) are designed to give a golfer an inside path and wide arc (of both the lead as well as trail arms) during the backswing. Both inside path and width during backswing are concepts based on my years of research which have proved scientifically that these two aspects are important.
So, when a narrower arc is required, in order for the club to arrive steeply at the ball and thus ‘pinch’ the ball, a few minor adjustments must be made.
These are described in the video MGS from Awkward/Unusual Lies in the ‘golf videos’ section of this blog.
The bunker/pitch shot used by the MGSS provides a soft-landing, high shot without significant narrowing of the backswing arc. It may therefore be considered a ‘typical’ MGSS shot. It remains basically the same movement as the full-swing, except that it has reduced distance by cutting out the full-swing downswing body-rotation. It is able to achieve that by having the golfer stand closer to the ball.
With typical MGSS movements and not being required to ‘finish’ (stand-up-and-turn-to-face-target through impact), the chances of hitting a ‘fat’ or ‘skulled’ shot are fairly non-existent.
A video for this has also been posted in the ‘golf videos’ section.
Finally, as of November 2012 you can get an on-line video analysis to see how your MGSS is progressing, PLUS new information, not available in the ebook or website or blog. Email for details/suggestions/questions.
Great additions Karin. The short videos are excellent. This games has become so much easier. The less we have to think about during this game the better we play.
Hey Mike, what if you could learn how to think of NOTHING golf related during your swing…..How good you think you could play then? 😉
Although I have read a lot about motor learning and control and just this summer a bit about clearkey, I feel if a movement is more ‘natural’ based on one’s early experiences, it’d be easier to do unconsciously. I don’t know enough to be sure, but feel that at least the set-up of the MGSS must be done deliberately and consciously (which does not matter, as it is not a crucial phase for ‘quiet mind’), and then the swing could be just a ‘feel’ rather than actual words. I often will have only a vague feel of my right side being still, and make any old backswing until some part of my left upper-arm touches some part of my face. Of course different people have different ‘feels’ to make the same thing happen, they’re best off finding the feel that gives them the look of what we wish to see them do.
“Think” of it this way. Nothing we do with unthinking involvement was ever “natural”. My little 6 month old Jeffrey is just now reaching for and slapping at things with very erratic and spastic movements of the arms. He can barely control them. But each day the motor neural pathways get a little more refined and developed until eventually he is able to completely control his arms.
Now, he uses those unconsciously controlled pathways to build other pathways that he desires – how to hold a fork, tie his shoes, and yes swing a golf club! As he learns each of these tasks, he again goes through the jerky unfamiliar process of acquiring skill and the dexterity to do the task – his first successful shoe tie is loosely formed, and barely recognizable as a “successful” knot – except of course by his proud parents!
We accomplish myriad tasks daily that we do with unthinking involvement, never even giving them a second thought, heck not even a first thought. We take all these “for granted” not realizing ( now that the work is done ), how much work went into to getting us to the point that we don’t even think about them as we do them. Driving is a good example – remember when we first learned? Pretty awkward right?
Now we jump in, turn the key, buckle our seat beat, adjust the mirrors, turn the radio on, put it into reverse as we are hitting the garage remote – all while we are talking on the cell to confirm our first appointment later that day. We continue the conversation while we drive down the road. We don’t give the driving any conscious thought. Other tasks are the same – brushing our teeth, drying our hair, chopping garlic for that recipe that we also throw together ( from memory ) in 1/4 the time compared to our first go at it – all done with effortless unthinking involvement.
Now most of us come to golf as adults, and we attempt to learn it through the medium of language – verbal and written instruction. And we determine to apply this instruction using our active memories and conscious direction. This is sad, because the learning is greatly hindered, and not in keeping with the learning model God intended for the acquisition of motor skills. (Thank God there isn’t a book written on how to ride a bike!) We adults put so much stock and trust in the medium of language that we forget that the LEARNING ONLY HAPPENS BY DOING. Which by the way is the reason adults have a more difficult time learning new motor skills than kids do – adults “think it” too much.
The memories for all motor activity are stored in the area of the brain that has no use for verbal instruction – either written or spoken. “Thoughts” there process at a rate 100,000 times faster than those that occur in our conscious minds and memories. The seat of all motor activity is the subconscious. And it has been shown that if we consciously think about a task that has already been learned to the degree that it can execute with unthinking involvement, the performance of that task is ALWAYS diminished.
I have a simple way that I demonstrate this to my students. First, I make sure they have a good understanding of what a clearkey is and how it is used. Then I have them make some swings using whatever kind of swing keys or thoughts they feel would best help them make their best swings, and they measure their swing speed. Then I have them make some swings using their clearkey. The swings on clearkey are always faster, usually by about 5 mph.
The only use for verbal instruction in golf is to “get us started” in the right direction. Over time with enough repetition, we will develop our golf action to the point that we can execute it without having to think about it. The rub with this, is that often times the “right direction” is complicated, even wrong, and difficult to master. And then when we try to use conscious direction execute, we never quite “get it”, because our conscious mind can never fully wrap itself around all these instructions.
MGS’s great hope, as Mike has said, and as many others are finding out as well, is that it is indeed very simple to execute. That is because it uses motor neural pathways and patterns that are already developed, and the MGS swing just “layers” on top of those, so there is not a whole lot of “new” to be acquired. In fact the new could be condensed into making a proper MGS set, and then learning to allow the lead arm to function as the radius and moving of the swing, while keeping the MGS set. This is in my opinion most people who try MGS see IMMEDIATE IMPROVEMENT.
So having said all that to say this. We come full circle to what Mike and you and all MGS advocates already know and have validated – MGS is simple, easy, and effective. And, if we allow our subconscious to learn the MGS swing, and then allow it to execute the swing – like we allow it to execute other tasks – it becomes utterly effortless and amazing. MGS is so effective that we can “get away” with using conscious direction to execute shots. But MGS is absolutely AMAZING when we release control of our execution to our subconscious, by not thinking about that action at all.
We as players owe it to ourselves to learn to play without thinking about mechanics. And we as teachers owe it to our students to give them the best possible chance to play effective shots. Those shots dwell deep inside our golfing self waiting to bubble up to the surface of our action. They are executed having been activated by allowing our subconscious to access the simple and effortless mechanics of a golf action know as MGS.
When Carey Mumford first learned of MGS he made a very profound yet simple statement about it. He said “MGS is to golf swing mechanics, what Clearkey is the golf’s mental game.” MGS is all about letting things happen, and this goes very well with the Clearkey approach to the mental game.
Kevin
This entire thread reminds me of something from 9th grade basketball camp — about 45 years ago! The special guest that week was Curly Neal from the Harlem Globetrotters. Curly told us that he did not “shoot” the ball, he simply “threw” it. His technique was so ingrained that he had no thought except looking over the rim and releasing the ball — with all kinds of shooting motions, mostly unconventional. He was pretty amazing.
Many pro golfers must have this same kind of ability. See the shot, swing the club, ball near hole. I’ve had a few rounds like that in over 20 years in golf, and they are a lot of fun. Would love to have that feeling everyday.
Kim – it’s closer than you think. Get Carey Mumford’s book “The Double Connexion” – not only do you get the book, you also get a player profile done that helps you learn more about your golfing self so you play true to your own game.