| I'm glad to be back talking about analysis paralysis | | | | to play professional golf in the 1940s before |
| and unconscious golf. These are two of my | | | | becoming a successful club professional. The |
| favorite golf psychology topics. | | | | article went on to say that he had completely lost |
| Concentrating on how you swing will often | | | | his game after taking a couple of months off in |
| prevent you from playing your best and most | | | | 1939 to work on his book "Groove Your Golf." He |
| natural game of golf. You probably recall similar | | | | started to struggle after that and never won |
| messages from me that tie into the concept that | | | | again after 1940. Paul Runyan, twice US PGA |
| there's a place for thinking consciously on the golf | | | | Champion, said of him, "It's the most ridiculous |
| course. That's thinking about where you want the | | | | thing, really. He went from being temporarily the |
| ball to go and how you want it to get there. | | | | absolute best player in the world to one who |
| There's also a place for trusting your unconscious | | | | couldn't play at all." |
| mind to put your best swing on the ball, without | | | | So what happened? Well according to his wife, he |
| any interference from the conscious mind. | | | | went into such detail analyzing his swing, in order |
| I've heard over the years and read in some of | | | | to write the book, that he could never play his |
| the older golf books in my library about Ralph | | | | natural game again. Others spoke of him practicing |
| Guldahl a really great golfer from the 1930s. After | | | | shots in front of a mirror, so that he could |
| a relatively slow start as a professional golfer, he | | | | describe his exact movement in the book. |
| ended up winning 16 PGA Tour events in a | | | | It certainly seems to me that, up to the time he |
| nine-year period. He peaked with three Major wins | | | | was commissioned to write the book, Ralph |
| towards the end of the 30s, but never won again | | | | Guldahl played with a natural free-flowing swing |
| after 1940. His Major wins were at the US Open | | | | that he had learned unconsciously. Other articles |
| at Oakland Hills in 1937, the US Open again at | | | | I've read suggest that he was very relaxed on |
| Cherry Hills the next year and finally the Masters | | | | the golf course and just took a few moments to |
| in 1939. What's always seemed odd to me is that | | | | plan his shot before hitting the ball. Until he started |
| until recently, I've never come across anything | | | | analyzing his swing for the book, he probably had |
| about his record after that time. I guess that I | | | | never even consciously thought about how he |
| thought he had died or been injured in the Second | | | | swung the club while he was on the course. In |
| World War. Or perhaps, in a similar way to many | | | | fact, it seems that everybody described him as a |
| great British golfers of the late 1930s, he never | | | | natural gifted golfer. |
| got back into winning again when professional golf | | | | So if you want to play your best golf on the |
| competitions started up again after the war | | | | course, leave your swing thoughts on the practice |
| years. | | | | ground, use your conscious mind to assess the |
| So imagine my surprise when I came across an | | | | shot and then trust your unconscious free-flowing |
| old news article that confirmed he had continued | | | | swing to hit the ball. |