My research and study in the past has been focused primarily on the physical dynamics of the golf swing and in how to translate these actions and sensations into mental understandings that students can use in acquiring skills in golf. How the teacher chooses to teach and how the student chooses to learn has always been very subjective, resulting in a collision of minds rather than a learning of minds.

If the student is not getting it, the student doesn't need more information, the teacher does

Michael Hebron

Back in 2003, while I was teaching at Augusta Pines Golf Club, in Spring,Texas, I was introduced to Dr. Jay Hall, a club member. For several months, Dr. Hall had been observing my approach to instruction and success with the club membership and was interested in discussing our philosophies in teaching and student learning. Early on in our discussions, I began to realize meeting this gentlemen was about to change my course in research and study in golf instruction, forever. Dr. Hall and I recognized a void in current golf instruction and this inspired our research and study in search of the means of simplifying and structuring a cognitive process along with information that is consistent with how students successfully learn and perform in golf. Five years later, this field-tested research and study has resulted in a collaborative written curriculum-manuscript called, "Golfthink". This innovative manuscript provides the means of educating the students' minds in how to think about the golf swing correctly, so they can educate their bodies in how to perform the swing correctly, a process for students to achieve a conceptual and physical ownership of their golf swings.This research and field-tested manuscript will serve as a curriculum in how students can successfully learn, train, and perform in golf. Golf is such an awesome mental and physical study with very few, if any, ever achieving mastery, but, students of the game can achieve a level of mastery in how they learn. To quote Michael Hebron, PGA Master Professional "A master of anything was first a master learner."

Excerpt from Golfthink by Jay Hall and Danny Crowley © 2007

Golfthink is the result of a five year collaboration in research and field testing. The authors have developed a process for mind-side preparation for body-side execution. When this manuscript is published, it will serve as our curriculum in our learning programs.

Mind-Side Preparation for Body-Side Execution

GolfThink provides the mental means to achieving the physical motion of a proper golf swing. It is the first book in the world of golf to explain the swing in terms of its cognitive-behavioral dynamics-that is, how one thinks about the golf swing determines what one does.

I think the happiest moments for a golfer are those that he spends in study and experimentation

Bobby Jones

From its beginning, golfers and their teachers have tried to understand the golf swing by studying the golf club. They have studied positions, club shafts, the face of the club head, angles between club and the target line, ad nausea. These are all effects of physical movements. Few if any have addresses what causes the positions of the club shaft or club face or angles of the golf swing. Without an understanding of causes, a golfer cannot understand the effects obtained.

There is more to the golf swing than the golf club.

A New Perspective

Conventional instruction books have looked for answers in all the wrong places. They are based on what teacher and student alike can observe-the behavior of the golf club. GolfThink provides a different perspective.

In the golf swing, what you can see is caused by what you cannot see-the mind.

Golf is not a game of positions-it is a game of motion. Motion causes the club to go where it goes.

The mind cannot talk to the golf club, but it can and does talk to the golfer's body. In other words, the mind tells the body what motion to make to swing the golf club. Different messages, different golf swings.

For example, you may be able to see what a golfer is doing but you cannot see what the golfer intends to do. A preoccupation with what the golf club is doing-where it is,its weight, its tempo, and the like. These are all effects; a concern with effect distracts the typical golfer from what causes the golf club to do what it does. This is why so many golfers struggle with inconsistency, imbalance, and poor contact between golf club and ball. The cause lies not with club motion but with swing motion-the motion of the golfer's wrist, arms, and torso.

To understand the whole golf swing, you must think about both clubs motion and swing motion and the relationship of one with the other. How you think about the golf swing dictates how you will try to swing your golf club.

Many years ago, the legendary teacher Percy Boomer addressed the core issue in swing the golf club-either well or badly. "One's golf swing," he said "can be no better than one's concept of the golf swing. In other words, how golfers conceive and think about the golf swing is the key to a good golf swing. Good concepts produce good golf swings and faulty concepts produce faulty golf swings. To learn to swing your club properly requires that you learn to conceive the golf swing properly.

There are few if any golf books about conceiving the golf swing-the whole golf swing-and the cause-and-effect relationships between swing motion and club motion.

GolfThink fills the void left by a concentration on the golf club alone-it explains the missing half of the golf swing equation. It helps golfers think about, conceive, and develop a mental model of the whole golf swing-with particular emphasis on the dynamics of swing motion that cause the golf club to do what you want it to do.

Ben Hogan said that to develop a good golf swing, your thoughts must be on the right path.

GolfThink acknowledges this basic fact.

Your mind tells your body what to do-and your concept of the golf swing determines what your mind will tell your body.

Crowley Golf Training • 1001 East Memorial Loop Drive, Houston TX, 77007 • (281) 435-1325 • dannycrowley@pga.com