1 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:05,919 The first question I asked golfers is what makes your golf ball go? And 2 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:08,480 they're like, never thought about that, Well, I hit it, and 3 00:00:08,599 --> 00:00:14,080 my mind and swing momentum and my club head speed, and you know, 4 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:16,320 they say all these things. It's like yeah, yeah, yeah, but 5 00:00:17,039 --> 00:00:20,280 the real thing that makes your golf level is you, which is the ven 6 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,359 news and the bad news. And then the next question is who are you? 7 00:00:23,839 --> 00:00:27,399 But my answer out of your practical level is and who I am? 8 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:32,560 Who are? Is life energy in a body? Life energy key g kundalini 9 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:35,520 prana. We don't have words in English, but they do in the East. 10 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:38,560 This life energy, it comes into your body when you get bored, 11 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:42,479 when you die, it goes out of your body and the last breath, 12 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:47,039 that's where the breath comes in. Our breath kind of carries this animating life 13 00:00:47,039 --> 00:00:51,359 force and it has four faculties. They're called your mind, your body, 14 00:00:51,439 --> 00:00:56,159 or emotions in your spirit. Hi. This is Randy Erickson from Moraga, 15 00:00:56,200 --> 00:01:00,280 California, and I play at Moraga Country Club. This is golf number nine 16 00:01:00,359 --> 00:01:07,680 hundred and fourteen. Most golfers make centered contact on our random basis with our 17 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:15,040 golf sense A Jamie's Imron This is Golf Smarter, sharing stories, tips and 18 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:19,159 insights from great golf minds to help you lower your score and raise your golf 19 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:25,040 IQ. Here's your host, Fred Green. Welcome back to the Golf Smarter 20 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:27,480 Podcast. Jamie. Thank you, Fred. I'm always so happy to be 21 00:01:27,519 --> 00:01:32,719 here. I appreciate it. Great great having you back on. This is 22 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:37,439 your fifteenth appearance and Golf Smarter ever since two thousand and eight, you've been 23 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:40,040 coming on, but it's been a couple of years since you've been on, 24 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:44,280 so I'm really glad to get you back. You've been traveling a lot, 25 00:01:44,439 --> 00:01:48,040 we had COVID, so it's been tough for us to get together again. 26 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:57,200 But I'm really excited to get you on now because I'm so proud of you. 27 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:04,159 You are receiving an Excellence in Golf Award this coming week from the San 28 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:12,039 Francisco Pride Golf Tournament PGA Pride. The PGA Pride, please explain more to 29 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,159 me. I was reading the press release, but this is really a prestigious 30 00:02:15,199 --> 00:02:22,000 award and you should be so honored to be getting at what's going on with 31 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:24,800 this? Well, thank you. I really I'm honored, and more than 32 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:28,960 that, I'm excited about the tournament, the event, it's the fifth annual 33 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:35,960 PGA partnering. The PGA partnering with San Francisco Pride Committee, which is huge. 34 00:02:36,039 --> 00:02:38,639 You know how big that event is every year quarter million people at least 35 00:02:38,759 --> 00:02:44,080 and the San the Parade, right, Yeah, the San Francisco Pride Committee 36 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:50,120 does a lot of community organization support, so it's a fundraiser event. But 37 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:55,560 the PGA has been partnering now for five years with San Francisco Pride as part 38 00:02:55,560 --> 00:03:01,039 of their diversity and Inclusion initiative, which I want to thank Greg Fitzgerald. 39 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:05,800 He's a PGA pro in the South Bay and it was his brain child and 40 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:10,120 he's the for the PGA Northern California PGA. He's the director, i believe, 41 00:03:10,159 --> 00:03:15,120 of the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion. So it's a big event, 42 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:22,080 raises money, everybody's on board. The event. The night before as hosted 43 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:25,199 at the Fairmont Hotel and we play at Harding Park, which of course is 44 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:31,759 a US Open major venue. So there's a lot of support behind the LGBT 45 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:38,560 community and diversity in general and particularly for you know, the LGBTQ golfers and 46 00:03:38,719 --> 00:03:45,039 athletes. So you know, people playing are from a wide swath of the 47 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:47,520 community. You could say allies whatever, but you know, it's not like 48 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:52,520 to just gay people playing golf. But it's really something to be at the 49 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,000 tournament, to be at Harding Park and to see rainbow balloons, and you 50 00:03:55,039 --> 00:04:00,599 know, it's a very colorful event and at this US up in venue. 51 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,479 So it's really big steps forward. And it's the fifth annual and again I'm 52 00:04:03,599 --> 00:04:08,439 very honored to be to be the honorary this year. That's awesome. So 53 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:14,159 why you why did you get selected for this honor Do you know why? 54 00:04:14,879 --> 00:04:16,519 I mean, who do I have to get your brother on to have you 55 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:23,040 brag about it and brought you? Oh? Thank you. So I've been 56 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:27,560 playing golf since I was seven and I won my first tournament I ever played, 57 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,959 which happened to be the Wisconsin State Junior Championship. I grew up in 58 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:35,120 Milwaukee. I was barely thirteen years old. And today that sounds kind of 59 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:40,639 funny because we've got kids playing golf at unbelievable levels right at four or five, 60 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,399 six, seven years old. But back then that wasn't like that. 61 00:04:43,439 --> 00:04:46,120 We hardly had any junior programs. I think there was one of the girl 62 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,240 who played golf and where you know, where I came from, but we 63 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:51,839 did have, you know, a robust tournament and I beat the seventeen year 64 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:57,759 olds and then I won the junior title. I think three out of my 65 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,079 four times I tried, and I was ranked in the top ten nationally as 66 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:05,560 a junior player. I lost on a nineteenth hole and sun death right of 67 00:05:05,639 --> 00:05:11,399 the semi finals Girls Nationals at pine ER's Number two to Laura Law, who 68 00:05:11,439 --> 00:05:15,040 of course went on to play the LPGA tour. Amy Alcott and I became 69 00:05:15,079 --> 00:05:19,279 friends at that tournament. We both qualified shoot in seventy six and that's how 70 00:05:19,319 --> 00:05:23,639 we met. So you know, there were that was kind of my cohort 71 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:29,319 and then I actually went to Stanford, but I got there a couple of 72 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:34,319 years before title nine. I was probably your scholar athlete to you know whatever 73 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:39,279 classic one who would have been recruited except that there was nothing to recruit for 74 00:05:39,319 --> 00:05:44,920 because it didn't quite exist. But I have gone on to join the LPGA 75 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:48,240 a little bit later in my career, and so I've been class A pro 76 00:05:48,759 --> 00:05:54,959 teaching pro for twenty twenty five years. But in the interim I started practicing 77 00:05:55,000 --> 00:06:00,279 aikido, which is a Japanese martial Art of Peace. And I actually opened 78 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:02,399 my own dojo when I was twenty five. It was called the Women's Ikeedo 79 00:06:02,439 --> 00:06:06,279 School of San Francisco and I ran it for many many years, and i've 80 00:06:06,959 --> 00:06:11,279 I'm now a six degree black belt in ikedo and done a lot of things 81 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:15,560 in ikedo, So that's in another part of my I would say my athletic 82 00:06:15,639 --> 00:06:19,519 career. I helped introduce ike to the Soviet Union and a gorbachef years. 83 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:26,040 I've co founded a Middle East Ikedo piece project, help start ikedo and Palestine 84 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:30,680 and Ethiopia. I was just in Western Ukraine and Slovakia a few months ago. 85 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:33,000 I went to Poland. Since the war started, I've been doing ikedo 86 00:06:33,079 --> 00:06:39,600 based and ikedo teaching and trauma stress relief work, so you know, I 87 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:42,879 do a lot with that, but it's been over twenty years. And I 88 00:06:43,399 --> 00:06:46,240 also a psychologist and get to brag, so I'm like therapy, that's why 89 00:06:46,319 --> 00:06:53,399 you're here. Yeah, I have a master's agree in clinical psychology and I've 90 00:06:53,439 --> 00:06:57,160 worked, you know for many years doing doing therapy. And I also have 91 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,879 been doing a lot of corporate leadership consulting for the last teen years or so. 92 00:07:00,879 --> 00:07:03,720 So I've blended the principles of IQ too. What's your universal principles for 93 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:09,319 excellence? I call the mechanics for the Magic with golf and created KEII golf 94 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:14,560 centered golfing and so everything that I've been doing in my teaching and bringing these 95 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:19,240 principles to golf in particular and then also to peacemaking and leadership and excellence, 96 00:07:19,279 --> 00:07:25,120 I would say that's why I got chosen. Wow, that's so awesome, 97 00:07:26,079 --> 00:07:31,439 that's so great. Congratulations, that's wonderful. And what is where are we 98 00:07:31,439 --> 00:07:36,560 going to go with this? You know, the LPGA or the PGA itself 99 00:07:36,759 --> 00:07:46,560 seems to be a bit more inclusive to the LGBTQ plus community than other pro 100 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,839 sports. Is that a facade or from your perspective, is it real? 101 00:07:54,079 --> 00:07:59,600 I think it's a facade. I hate to say. I mean this is 102 00:07:59,639 --> 00:08:05,639 why PGA's initiative is so important. The LPGA actually is doing a lot of 103 00:08:05,639 --> 00:08:13,959 work around empowering young girls in golf. We we think we've hit our millionth 104 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:18,480 girl through our LPGA USG Girls Golf sites, which is fantastic. And the 105 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:24,560 LPGA is also doing a lot, particularly around racism and a more inclusivity so 106 00:08:24,639 --> 00:08:30,720 that it's not just sort of white men playing golf. The PGA is the 107 00:08:30,759 --> 00:08:37,039 first that I know of to actually have a major lpg LGBTQ initiative, and 108 00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:45,759 so, you know, honestly, I think in sport is probably the hardest 109 00:08:45,759 --> 00:08:50,720 place to come out. And I mean, if you really think about it, 110 00:08:52,159 --> 00:08:56,120 very very very very few pro athletes, whether it's the PGA, the 111 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:03,639 LPGA, the Major League Baseball all can you name out players the NFL, 112 00:09:03,799 --> 00:09:07,919 the NHL, the NBA. Very very few. It's difficult. And we 113 00:09:07,919 --> 00:09:13,159 can talk about why it's so difficult in sport in particular to come out, 114 00:09:13,919 --> 00:09:18,840 but is it easier to come out in sport that is not team sport like 115 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:26,960 tennis or golf versus a team sport like the Major League Baseball or the NBA, 116 00:09:26,159 --> 00:09:31,200 which you know, there've been players in the NBA that have come out, 117 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:37,559 but then they kind of got not blackballed, but isolated. Perhaps it's 118 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:41,279 the best better way to put it. Yeah, Well, the teams, 119 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:45,919 I'm not sure if if that's the differentiating thing. It might be part of 120 00:09:45,919 --> 00:09:50,919 it. But I think some of these sports that are like so manly, 121 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:56,080 right, it's the manly thing, and I have written some articles about this 122 00:09:56,120 --> 00:10:01,120 I can share with you and with the audience here. Please make sure I 123 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:05,200 get the links and we'll put them on our show notes for the article we'll 124 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:07,080 do. Okay, thank you. So one of them is called mixing up 125 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:13,799 manly with athletic and what I mean what I mean about with that, And 126 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:16,039 if you think about the NFL, which is or the NBA, you know, 127 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:22,840 it's kind of like hyper hyper masculinity, right, and plus the team 128 00:10:22,879 --> 00:10:28,039 sport thing in the locker room and all this homophobia and da makes it really 129 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,120 hard. It's like, is if we can't put our minds around the fact 130 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:37,840 that you could be a gay man and be such a man you know, 131 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:41,679 I mean a football player, right, we don't. We just kind of 132 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:43,679 don't equate those two things. It's like you're either not really a man if 133 00:10:43,679 --> 00:10:46,519 you're gay, or if you're gay, you know, you're not athletic, 134 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:52,159 or you're a designer. All the stuff that people have. It's these gender 135 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:58,120 stereotypes that we're really dealing with. Okay. And in tennis, we've of 136 00:10:58,159 --> 00:11:03,519 course had Billy Jean King and Martina Navratilova who were huge in the game and 137 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:07,440 have made a big difference, But you can't think of a lot more sort 138 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:15,039 of out lesbians, much less gay men in tennis, So think about that. 139 00:11:15,399 --> 00:11:20,200 And in golf, quite honestly, there's only one pro name as tad 140 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:24,480 Fujikawa, and he played on the on tour. I don't know if he 141 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:28,879 still has his card. He was our Honorie a couple of years ago at 142 00:11:28,879 --> 00:11:33,679 this one. So but and he came out, But I don't know if 143 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:39,240 you can challenge you to think of PGA Tour players who you know who are 144 00:11:39,279 --> 00:11:45,679 saying, hey, I'm gay. And on the LPGA tour we had Muffin 145 00:11:45,759 --> 00:11:48,639 Spencer Devlin came out in the nineties. She was kind of in my cohort 146 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:52,600 and she was on the cover Sports Illustrated, and you think that would have 147 00:11:52,639 --> 00:11:56,639 opened the door, but it really hasn't. A Couple of years ago, 148 00:11:56,720 --> 00:12:01,039 Mel Reid, who's currently on tour and she's doing well, she came out, 149 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:07,000 but that's officially out there, so people know, there aren't very many 150 00:12:07,399 --> 00:12:11,399 who are really out there and talking about it. So even though we know, 151 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:18,159 for example, that in the LPGA it's actually very diverse in terms of 152 00:12:18,519 --> 00:12:22,879 you know, straight women, gay women, etc. But you don't know 153 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:28,320 about that very much. We're mostly excited about all of the tour players who 154 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:33,679 are becoming moms right or they're getting married, they're getting married to men and 155 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:39,720 they're becoming moms. It'll be interesting if we have a tour player who is 156 00:12:39,759 --> 00:12:41,759 married to her wife and becomes a mom, if that's going to be it 157 00:12:43,159 --> 00:12:46,840 publicized, or if people are going to rejoice as much for them as they 158 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:52,759 would for any other woman who has a baby right on tourtout these things because 159 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:58,559 gender stereotyping. Yeah, go to Team Sport Brittany Grenier, who had headlines 160 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:05,559 for all the wrong reasons. She's pretty open, she's pretty she was out 161 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:09,039 there about this and very clear and you know, her wife, it was 162 00:13:09,159 --> 00:13:15,080 they didn't shy away from that, which I think was really quite awesome, 163 00:13:15,559 --> 00:13:18,600 very very awesome. It's pretty unusual, actually, but I think that that's 164 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:22,799 a step forward. And it's only happening now twenty twenty two, twenty three, 165 00:13:24,519 --> 00:13:28,320 that's taken till now, But that is a great thing. On that 166 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:31,720 note, if we think about her, why did she go to Russia in 167 00:13:31,759 --> 00:13:35,559 the first place, And most of the women who have gone to Russia, 168 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:41,279 and particularly they pay you could they can make a million dollars playing basketball in 169 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:48,440 Russia. Where here the top w NBA players, And these are statistics as 170 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:52,240 of I believe to twenty one, maybe into twenty two. But we're making 171 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:56,440 literally up for action of what the male players make. And I'll give you 172 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:58,600 a few numbers on that. As of a couple of years ago, the 173 00:13:58,639 --> 00:14:07,480 top w NBA players women's basketball players were making. They got salary raises up 174 00:14:07,519 --> 00:14:09,639 to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the year, so a quarter million 175 00:14:09,639 --> 00:14:13,799 dollars. A rookie in the NBA who hasn't even made a name for himself 176 00:14:13,879 --> 00:14:20,080 yet starts at seven eight million dollars. You're kind of average, pretty good 177 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:24,919 male players making fifteen twenty million something like that. The very top, like 178 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:28,120 Steph Curry was fantastic, but you know, he's a think he's in the 179 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:33,720 forty forty five million dollars or something. He arranged making twenty forty thirty forty 180 00:14:33,759 --> 00:14:39,840 million dollars. Nobody, relatively speaking, are making at least eight ten fifteen 181 00:14:39,879 --> 00:14:45,399 million dollars. The tip top w NBA players are making like a quarter of 182 00:14:45,399 --> 00:14:48,559 a million. So to put that in perspective, I call it and I 183 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:52,120 have an article on the pay chasm and gender pay chasm in golf. So 184 00:14:52,159 --> 00:14:56,879 we talk about a gender pay gap that women on average makes seventy seventy five 185 00:14:56,960 --> 00:15:03,000 maybe eighty percent of what men make for the comp world jobs eighty percent. 186 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:07,559 I mean, if you took that Britney grinder would be making you know, 187 00:15:07,799 --> 00:15:11,000 ten mill or I don't know many, you'd be making millions. The top 188 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:16,519 players and they're making like in the hundreds of thousands of dollars have to go 189 00:15:16,559 --> 00:15:20,240 to Russia to give a million dollars to do what they do, which is 190 00:15:20,279 --> 00:15:24,720 just played back what they do. So I don't think these are things people 191 00:15:24,799 --> 00:15:31,679 think about or are very aware of in golf. Which is better And the 192 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:37,960 LPGA is one of the longest, if not the top, in longevity and 193 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:43,919 prominence as a women's sports organization. Even so, we're finally getting some pay 194 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:48,480 bumps. But the total purse up until two years ago, the total person 195 00:15:48,559 --> 00:15:56,159 an LPGA event was what the winner of a PGA event would make, you 196 00:15:56,200 --> 00:16:02,320 know, And then the winner of an LPGA event would make fifteen percent maybe 197 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:07,679 it's up to twenty or twenty five percent of what a PGA winner makes. 198 00:16:07,399 --> 00:16:11,960 Tour winner makes and again, and then compare that to seventy five or eighty 199 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:17,080 percent of what women make, which is already still not okay and it's actually 200 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:22,200 illegal. President Kennedy mandated equal pay sixty years ago. Seventy years ago, 201 00:16:22,279 --> 00:16:27,240 we're still not there. And think about those percentages in sport, and we 202 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:34,200 think that, wow, professional women tennis players or basketball players or golfers are 203 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:37,559 doing so much better than you know. They can make hundreds of thousands and 204 00:16:37,639 --> 00:16:41,879 millions. But if you take it as a percentage of what the men are 205 00:16:41,919 --> 00:16:48,440 making, it's way way less. It's a pay chasm according gender. Yeah, 206 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:55,000 amazing. Yeah. I didn't usually would have taken a commercial break five 207 00:16:55,039 --> 00:16:59,840 or six minutes ago, but I just didn't feel right interrupting this conversation with 208 00:17:00,159 --> 00:17:03,559 that. But I do have to go away for a moment. We'll take 209 00:17:03,559 --> 00:17:12,680 a break. We'll be back right after this. You had said that you 210 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:15,559 wrote an article about this, but I'd really like to dig it a little 211 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:22,960 bit deeper about the article you wrote called mixing up Manly with Athletic. Well, 212 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:26,319 it's actually part of a series that I wrote about hetero slash sexism and 213 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:30,279 golf and PJA pride is an opportunity to talk about these things, So thank 214 00:17:30,319 --> 00:17:33,880 you, and I'll give you the links to this. It's a four series 215 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:41,200 articles. So you know, I was a great little athlete when I was 216 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:45,680 young. I just kind of came out very athletic, love playing baseball, 217 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:48,920 and I ended up not being able to play baseball because I was a girl, 218 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:52,519 and like, they just wouldn't let me play. They mean, even 219 00:17:52,559 --> 00:17:56,039 my parents, the adults. I just you know, threw the ball against 220 00:17:56,079 --> 00:18:00,599 my garage door and played catch with myself or you know, hit a dance 221 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,880 the garage door. That's pretty much where I ended up. I couldn't play, 222 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:07,920 and girls couldn't play Little League. Yet I was a great golfer and 223 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:12,599 that was kind of allowed, you know, and my mom was a good 224 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:15,480 golfer, so well that was cool. I got to play golf, but 225 00:18:17,519 --> 00:18:22,079 yeah, I really wasn't allowed to play most things. And I was called 226 00:18:22,079 --> 00:18:25,839 a tom boy, so there was it's like it's if you were athletic, 227 00:18:26,079 --> 00:18:29,359 yeah, to kind of be a boy, right, Like why's that? 228 00:18:29,599 --> 00:18:33,519 Why couldn't I just be an athletic girl, a talented athlete as a girl. 229 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:37,519 That was kind of an anomaly. And guess what it probably man I 230 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:41,000 was gay, you know, but in my case it turned out. But 231 00:18:41,039 --> 00:18:45,480 it's not necessarily true at all. You can be athletic and be a girl, 232 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:51,839 right and you can also be athletic and be a gay boy, which 233 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:56,119 people still have a hard time wrapping their heads around. Michael Sam was the 234 00:18:56,839 --> 00:19:00,599 first really out football player, I don't know, six years ago, something 235 00:19:00,599 --> 00:19:03,519 like that. He lasted in the NFL only a year or two. He 236 00:19:03,559 --> 00:19:07,480 was bullied so badly and nobody could wrap their heads around it. So and 237 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:11,640 that if you're a boy, maybe you're not interested in sports. I mean, 238 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:15,759 there's a spectrum of these things in our interests, and they're really not 239 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:18,160 about being a boy or a girl and being blue and pink and all this 240 00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:22,559 stuff. They're just about who you are and what your likes and interests and 241 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:26,119 talents are. That should be available to everybody. And it shouldn't be that. 242 00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:29,880 It shouldn't have been that I had to be a tom boy who's maybe 243 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:33,279 not really a girl because I'm athletic, Like, what's that all about? 244 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:37,680 And so these are the things that I think we need to be questioning, 245 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:41,960 and we are. We're making progress. I will say that we're making progress, 246 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:48,039 But even in the twenty twenties, it's not easy for a gay athlete 247 00:19:48,039 --> 00:19:52,599 to come out put it that way. No, And it's hard to paraphrase 248 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:56,480 doctor King, you know, talking about not the color of the skin. 249 00:19:56,599 --> 00:20:00,119 But we can't talk about the quality of character. I mean, isn't that 250 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:03,880 should be the judge the way we judge. It's just the quality of character. 251 00:20:04,319 --> 00:20:07,759 Everything else is superfluous. If you know, if they can beat you 252 00:20:07,799 --> 00:20:11,000 at that sport doesn't matter, does it right? If they can beat you, 253 00:20:11,039 --> 00:20:14,039 they can beat you, you're gonna have to work a little bit harder. 254 00:20:14,599 --> 00:20:17,960 Yeah, well, we just really need to kind of uncouple these sort 255 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:23,759 of basically sexist, hetero sexist, genderized notions of who's athletic and who's not 256 00:20:25,039 --> 00:20:27,799 or whatever it is that we're interested in, or who's artistic or you know, 257 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,960 I mean, anybody could be any who's a leader, who's a politician, 258 00:20:33,039 --> 00:20:37,960 who doesn't matter? That should really be available to across, you know, 259 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:45,880 humanity, Hu womanity. My niece in Israel, she knows some English, 260 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:49,240 and she goes, why isn't human Why aren't you a hu woman? 261 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:59,720 Horrible? I have two grandchildren and a girl and a boy, and the 262 00:20:59,759 --> 00:21:08,759 girl girl has no interest in playing any ball type games. She doesn't seem 263 00:21:08,839 --> 00:21:14,240 to have any athletic tendency at all, which is fine. We don't care. 264 00:21:14,319 --> 00:21:17,319 I mean, if she want to dress as a princess and play with 265 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:22,799 those you know, those kind of toys, great, no one's gonna say 266 00:21:22,839 --> 00:21:26,960 that's wrong. And the little boy, who's just two and a half, 267 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:32,319 just love having a ball in his hand. It's crazy. I mean, 268 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:36,559 it's not like we've assigned anything to him. He just loves having a ball 269 00:21:36,599 --> 00:21:38,400 in his hand. He loves hitting, you know, hitting a ball with 270 00:21:38,519 --> 00:21:44,559 a bat. And they have my son has a putting green in his front 271 00:21:44,559 --> 00:21:47,519 and he likes to go out and roll roll the ball. He doesn't know 272 00:21:47,559 --> 00:21:49,359 how to hold the club yet, but he likes to have being out there 273 00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:56,799 with the ball. So it's not like we're forcing it. You know that 274 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:03,359 some people are forcing those things on kids. It's weird how it's just kind 275 00:22:03,359 --> 00:22:07,400 of you know, you really kind of you kind of never know. I 276 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:11,039 had you really don't, you really don't. I had some friends in Israel. 277 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:12,559 They have a little boy who he's like five, and he's just like 278 00:22:12,599 --> 00:22:17,640 this little come up bio and he's just a little you know, it looks 279 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:22,200 like a little wrestler. And I invited them to the Pride Parade and they 280 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:26,799 came and he dressed up as a princess. I was I myself, couldn't 281 00:22:26,839 --> 00:22:29,160 believe it. And they said, yeah, that's what he wanted to wear. 282 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:32,440 So that was cool. And that I was with a friend of mine 283 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:36,720 who's a top martial artist in Canada and her daughter has a baby, so 284 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:40,359 I was, you know, we just kind of went chopping after martial arts 285 00:22:41,079 --> 00:22:45,119 event that I taught, and it's got instructure and the baby had on one 286 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:48,200 blue sock and one pink sock. Baby in a crib, you know, 287 00:22:48,519 --> 00:22:52,079 And I said, I said to her mom, I go, well, 288 00:22:52,079 --> 00:22:53,799 that's really interesting. That's pretty cool. I've never seen that. And she 289 00:22:53,839 --> 00:23:00,400 goes, I know my baby is bisexual. Bisexual. Oh my god, 290 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:06,359 that's so good. Okay, we'll steal that one. We'll see where and 291 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:08,119 she goes, I don't know where. She's a baby. I don't know 292 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:11,680 where she's going to go, but we'll see. That is so good. 293 00:23:11,759 --> 00:23:15,640 I even wrote that down. We're going to use that one, all right, 294 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:21,519 Look, can we get to golf? Can we talk about to talk 295 00:23:21,559 --> 00:23:27,200 about golf. Okay, good, good, And it's interesting. The iketo 296 00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:36,480 part we've talked about many times, and breathing and being centered. But aketo 297 00:23:36,559 --> 00:23:42,759 is a sword practice, not a sport obviously, or can you is it 298 00:23:42,759 --> 00:23:47,640 called a sport or is it a practice. It's a martial art, and 299 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:52,680 it's a martial art, Okay, I'll tell what I tell about ike is 300 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:56,359 it isn't martial arts, so it's got self defense and empowerment, and all 301 00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:00,000 martial arts, frankly, are helping to deal with stress. If you think 302 00:24:00,039 --> 00:24:04,240 about it, they are a stress practice management practice because we're under stressed when 303 00:24:04,279 --> 00:24:08,079 you're getting attacked, right, strike, sponges, et cetera. All that 304 00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:12,039 goes on. So it really teaches us to be more masterful in the face 305 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:17,160 of a threat, things to cause our fight flight responses, all of that. 306 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:22,680 But ikeito is also very athletic. I mean you start rolling around and 307 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:25,680 doing it, you're sweating and huffing and puffing. So there's a lot of 308 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:32,480 athleticism to it. And it's also a spiritual philosophy. And it's also Yeah, 309 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:36,559 there's a very famous book by teachers since gone, but I got to 310 00:24:36,559 --> 00:24:40,480 train with him. He was the first American who trained with the original founder 311 00:24:40,519 --> 00:24:44,319 of iketo back in the late fifties, around nineteen sixty, but he wrote 312 00:24:44,319 --> 00:24:48,839 a book called It's a Lot like Dancing, And the reason for that is 313 00:24:48,279 --> 00:24:52,279 that it works on a principle of harmony and flow. You don't go against 314 00:24:52,279 --> 00:24:56,200 and try to overpower. You are centered, you're working with energy, you 315 00:24:56,279 --> 00:25:00,039 move with, go with the flow, and then you join with and so 316 00:25:00,799 --> 00:25:06,599 ido to the eye, the untrained eye just looks like it almost looks like 317 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:11,200 ballet. It's so beautiful, this quality of blending and moving together. So 318 00:25:11,319 --> 00:25:15,880 for me, it's a beautiful combination of all of those things. And then 319 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:19,640 very applicable to golf. You know, yeah, we it's not only a 320 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:22,720 sword practice, but we do. We use our arms kind of like swords, 321 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:26,680 and ike too on the samurai sword. And I realize one day that 322 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:32,039 I've been like holding a sword a golf club since i was seven years old, 323 00:25:32,279 --> 00:25:36,599 getting my energy from my body, threw my arms into this club to 324 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:38,839 hit the ball, get my energy out to the tip of the face of 325 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:41,599 the club, the tip of the sword the face of the club to make 326 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:47,480 contact. And they're two interesting things because in ikeo we throw people like a 327 00:25:47,519 --> 00:25:49,039 big body, how do I throw? I can throw two hundred and fifty 328 00:25:49,039 --> 00:25:52,599 bound men boom like that. And in golf we have we have to get 329 00:25:52,599 --> 00:25:56,039 our energy down to the you know, the like the smallest ball in sports 330 00:25:56,039 --> 00:26:00,160 and get all of that energy into a tiny little all compared to a great, 331 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:06,400 big person. But it takes, frankly, it takes the same universal 332 00:26:06,599 --> 00:26:11,319 principles and qualities to be able to do those things. Well, oh fascinating. 333 00:26:11,319 --> 00:26:12,279 All right, we're gonna take another time out. We're gonna come back 334 00:26:12,279 --> 00:26:22,799 and talk more golf right after this. Okay, let's talk about some golf 335 00:26:22,839 --> 00:26:26,680 stuff. And one of the things that there are a couple of the things 336 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:29,880 that you've always impressed upon me and all the times you've been on the show 337 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:37,359 is being centered and breathing. And we've had Jane's story on numerous times and 338 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:41,480 just you know, talking about connected golf connected, breath connected, putting her 339 00:26:41,559 --> 00:26:48,160 latest and she's all about it's all about the breath too, and her martial 340 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:55,519 arts practice as well. So let's talk about both of those things, being 341 00:26:55,599 --> 00:27:03,599 centered and breathing and how they impact your performance in golf. Well, if 342 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:07,720 the first question I ask golfers is what makes your golf ball go? And 343 00:27:07,759 --> 00:27:11,079 they're like, I never thought about that, and then well I hit it, 344 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:17,599 and my mind and swing momentum and my club head speed and you know 345 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:18,839 they say all these things. It's like yeah, yeah, yeah, but 346 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:23,079 the real thing that makes your golf ball go. And I'm giving you a 347 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:27,519 very short course here we go into a much more what makes your golf buggle 348 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:32,279 is you, which is the good news and the bad news. Right, 349 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:34,960 and then the next question is who are you? So we get pretty deep 350 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:38,559 pretty fast, right, the age old question who are you? But my 351 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:41,920 answer at a very practical level is that who I am, who you are 352 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:48,839 is life energy in a body. Life energy key g Kundalini Prana. We 353 00:27:48,839 --> 00:27:51,599 don't have words in English, but you know they do in the East. 354 00:27:52,039 --> 00:27:56,000 So it's this life energy. It's what it comes into your body when you 355 00:27:56,039 --> 00:27:59,640 get bored, when you die, it goes out of your body and the 356 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:03,200 last breath, so that's where the breath comes in. Our breath kind of 357 00:28:03,279 --> 00:28:08,200 carries this animating life force and it has four faculties. Again, I'm giving 358 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:11,799 you a crash course. I go into this and my golf mastery schools and 359 00:28:11,839 --> 00:28:18,519 whenever and my mastery trainings, leadership trains. But our life energy is experience 360 00:28:18,599 --> 00:28:25,200 and express through four universal faculties, human faculties, and they don't know gender 361 00:28:25,279 --> 00:28:29,200 or race, or age or country or anything religion. They're called your mind, 362 00:28:29,279 --> 00:28:32,359 your body, or emotions, and your spirit. And that's not New 363 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:36,200 Age stuff. Okay. So that's where we get our mental game, our 364 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:40,759 thoughts, our physical our health, our being, our technique, our clubs, 365 00:28:41,119 --> 00:28:45,559 emotions. It was golf an emotional game like duh, yeah yeah, 366 00:28:47,359 --> 00:28:49,799 and then our spirit, which I take to be our motivation and our passion 367 00:28:49,839 --> 00:28:53,960 and our target and goal orientation. Okay, so, and those things have 368 00:28:55,039 --> 00:29:00,079 to work together. Connection is what I key means. I actually ai and 369 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:04,160 ikido. It's Japanese Chinese. It actually means love, but love is taken 370 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:11,799 as connection, joining, blending oneness. Ikey is about connecting your energy, 371 00:29:11,119 --> 00:29:15,880 getting your mind, body, motion, spirit, all working together in harmony 372 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:22,880 and then delivering to whatever your target goal is. And it's our breath. 373 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:26,200 It carries our life energy. And when we relax and we're not tense and 374 00:29:26,839 --> 00:29:32,200 we're unified, we're integrated. It turns out that we can use our energy 375 00:29:32,599 --> 00:29:37,920 in a much more effective way. So that's kind of the theory. And 376 00:29:37,759 --> 00:29:41,440 I'm going to tell you right now, I'll share with everybody my theory of 377 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:48,039 better golf. Okay, and so I'll tell you briefly. Here's the equation, 378 00:29:48,119 --> 00:29:53,119 and then i'll explain it. The equation is centered plus centered equals centered. 379 00:29:55,640 --> 00:30:02,279 Okay. Yeah, centered plus centered equals centered. Okay. So let 380 00:30:02,279 --> 00:30:04,440 me Okay, so I brought my centered putter. I mean, this is 381 00:30:04,519 --> 00:30:10,799 all ball. As we say, here's for those of you who are listening 382 00:30:10,839 --> 00:30:15,920 on the podcast. The putter that she's holding up right now is a block. 383 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:19,559 I mean, the putter face itself is no wider than a golf ball. 384 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:26,279 It's exactly there's specifications and so it's exactly the width of a golf ball. 385 00:30:26,359 --> 00:30:30,039 Here's another very centered golf ball. All these new ones are showing us 386 00:30:30,079 --> 00:30:33,319 the center more than ever lines up with the little line. Most putters have 387 00:30:33,359 --> 00:30:37,279 a line. They'll have a little black area that have something the two ball 388 00:30:37,319 --> 00:30:41,680 putter. They're exactly the width of a putter, and so center putter. 389 00:30:42,119 --> 00:30:45,599 Who makes that putter, that's the who we're just getting that made anymore. 390 00:30:45,599 --> 00:30:48,759 It's called the stubby. You might find one on eBay, I got it 391 00:30:49,039 --> 00:30:52,519 fifteen twenty years ago. But it's all ball, as we say, and 392 00:30:52,599 --> 00:30:56,319 you can see here that if you hit it off the heel or the toe 393 00:30:56,440 --> 00:31:00,880 or this is turning or spin and you're not going to get all your energy 394 00:31:00,359 --> 00:31:06,480 solidly into the golf ball so that it will launch online and with proper distance, 395 00:31:06,759 --> 00:31:10,519 all your energy will go in the golf ball. When your energy doesn't 396 00:31:10,599 --> 00:31:12,680 and you miss the center, it reverbs back, it hurts your hand, 397 00:31:12,839 --> 00:31:18,920 the ball spins offline, it doesn't have the enough momentum that you intended. 398 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:22,880 So those are all the problems with not making centered contact. When we make 399 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:26,759 centered contact, all our energy goes in the golf ball. Again, we 400 00:31:26,839 --> 00:31:32,279 get accuracy, distance, consistency, all those things are right. So centered 401 00:31:32,319 --> 00:31:36,839 contact is what we call hitting the sweet spot right all right, and we 402 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:38,480 all know about that. Those are the shots that look good, sound good, 403 00:31:38,519 --> 00:31:44,640 feel good. Then they keep us coming back. So this is one 404 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:48,799 of the things that happens in golf. Probably every listener you and I can 405 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:59,200 identify most golfers make centered contact on a random basis out right, sometimes once 406 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:04,440 in a while two yes, three no, four yes no, right, 407 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:08,400 So it's kind of a random basis, and I'm just talking about when you 408 00:32:08,519 --> 00:32:13,200 talking about centered contact, we're not just talking about a putter. Oh no, 409 00:32:13,039 --> 00:32:15,960 no, we're talking about you know, facing the club. I got 410 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:19,240 a club over here. But yeah, and that sweet spot it's an engineered 411 00:32:19,279 --> 00:32:23,720 area between two vibrational notes on a golf club. And when you hit that 412 00:32:23,759 --> 00:32:28,759 spot, it's like hitting a harmonic on a guitar. It's like crystalline and 413 00:32:28,839 --> 00:32:31,920 it's like ping. Yeah. Great name for a golf company. Yeah. 414 00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:37,799 And Carson Solheim who who was the founder of Ping Golf and a solhanm cuff 415 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:43,200 his family on the LPGA tour. But so he was. He was not 416 00:32:43,359 --> 00:32:45,640 a good putter. He was an engineer and he was playing around with putters. 417 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:49,480 This is back in the sixties in his garage and then all of a 418 00:32:49,519 --> 00:32:52,400 sudden he what he did was play around with a sweet spot. He expanded 419 00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:55,599 it, and then he came running in one day to tell his wife he 420 00:32:55,960 --> 00:33:00,400 had the answer. He went, it's like a tuning fork pitting all the 421 00:33:00,599 --> 00:33:07,000 energy vibrates perfectly, boom into the golf ball. And his answer, putter, 422 00:33:07,319 --> 00:33:09,000 it was a n SCR. There wasn't room for the w on the 423 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:15,759 Putter, it was, but that putter is iconic and golf and it's the 424 00:33:15,799 --> 00:33:20,839 winningness puttering golfs to date, excuse me to date. But so what he 425 00:33:20,839 --> 00:33:24,640 did was to make it easier to make centered contact and keep the ball rolling 426 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:30,359 online. Okay, so let me go back to centered plus centered equals centered. 427 00:33:30,559 --> 00:33:32,759 In martial arts and in KEYI golf, we learned to be centered in 428 00:33:32,799 --> 00:33:37,519 our own body and we turn we're centered, we make centered, contacted impact, 429 00:33:37,759 --> 00:33:42,720 we finish up standing nice and balance. So balance is about being centered 430 00:33:43,079 --> 00:33:46,119 and your balance throughout your swing. Now, when you sway, when you 431 00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:51,680 lift, when you do all these things that golfers do, or your hands 432 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:54,960 turn right off the bat, or they get in a funky's position, they 433 00:33:55,000 --> 00:34:00,400 take the club face off center, make it harder to make centered contact. 434 00:34:00,759 --> 00:34:06,440 So you go off centered, you're gonna have a harder time making centered contact 435 00:34:06,599 --> 00:34:09,840 or making it on a consistent basis. If you could, if every golfer 436 00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:19,119 could raise their percentage of centered shots from random to consistent thirty fifty, sixty 437 00:34:19,199 --> 00:34:22,400 seventy percent, we may not get to one hundred percent. We don't have 438 00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:27,079 to do nobody's perfect, but we get those percentages higher higher and higher. 439 00:34:27,519 --> 00:34:30,280 That means we're going to be hitting the ball where we intend down the fairway, 440 00:34:30,559 --> 00:34:35,840 onto the green, rolling online to the whole, even into the hole 441 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:40,199 more often. And that's about us learning to be centered, solid base balance 442 00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:45,320 and then moving making our weight transfers and a centered, balanced way instead of 443 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:50,960 all this other stuff. So when you're centered, you move in a centered 444 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:55,800 way, you're going to make more consistent centered contact. Centered plus centered equals 445 00:34:55,800 --> 00:35:00,760 centered and golf. If you can ask any PGA or l PEGA professional and 446 00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:07,760 teaching professional, good golf is about making centered contact on a consistent basis. 447 00:35:08,239 --> 00:35:16,199 WHOA I need to figure out how I'm going to phrase the next question, 448 00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:19,760 and I'm going to do it after this break and we're let's hear what's going 449 00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:22,800 on in golf smart Mulligans this week. This week is part two of our 450 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:28,400 conversation with Jeff Ritter, and we're going to discuss what you, as a 451 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:32,480 golf student need to understand where you are now, where you're trying to go, 452 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:37,360 and why you're trying to get there, then decide if you're doing the 453 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:42,719 right amount to reach your goals. Here's a taste on what you need to 454 00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:45,920 know about a golf club. So every golf club has three basic design features. 455 00:35:46,119 --> 00:35:50,199 Number one, the club leans on an angle to the inside of the 456 00:35:50,199 --> 00:35:52,079 target line. Well, guess what, that's the angle you should swing it 457 00:35:52,119 --> 00:35:55,320 on. Number two, the club is built so that when it strikes the 458 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:59,159 bullet and lean towards the target. Well, when you do that, it 459 00:35:59,199 --> 00:36:01,880 creates maximum fresh from golf ball. The golf ball squeezes down to a portion 460 00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:05,960 of its normal size, and when it expands, it shoots like a bullet 461 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:08,199 off the face. What's the third thing? If you swing it on its 462 00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:13,199 angle, then the club face tends to rotate in accordance with that angle, 463 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:16,440 what we call swing plane. So you're telling me that the entire secret for 464 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:20,760 how to hit a golf ball is presented in the way they designed my golf 465 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:23,960 club. Yes, So why is it that people grab these clubs and instead 466 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:27,400 of swinging them on a tilt, they swing them straight up and down on 467 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:30,960 straight line. Why is it that instead of delivering a forward landing shaft, 468 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:34,400 they deliver a backward leaning shaft. And why is it instead of having the 469 00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:37,519 face rotate with the plane, it usually rotates somewhere else Because they have no 470 00:36:37,559 --> 00:36:40,760 idea what they're trying to do. That's episode two hundred and thirty called Getting 471 00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:46,199 Into Your Coach's Mind featuring Jeff Ritter. It's part two and was originally a 472 00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:52,079 member's only episode, so this is the first time it's ever been released publicly. 473 00:36:52,559 --> 00:36:54,840 So even if you've been listening to Golf Smarter for more than a decade, 474 00:36:54,920 --> 00:37:00,679 it's probably the first time you'll hear this. That's golf Smarter Malls being 475 00:37:00,719 --> 00:37:06,159 released this Friday morning, Originally published in February of twenty twelve as a members 476 00:37:06,199 --> 00:37:09,360 only episode. If you're a fan of golf Smarter's content, then don't miss 477 00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:15,280 your chance to get two episodes every week. That's golf Smarter, golf's longest 478 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:21,039 running podcast, and golf Smarter Mulligans, episodes from our archives that revisit the 479 00:37:21,199 --> 00:37:25,880 best of golf Smarter. They're both available for free from wherever you're listening right 480 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:35,840 now. Okay, so when we're out there and things aren't going exactly right, 481 00:37:36,239 --> 00:37:39,400 we tend to tinker, and we tinker with our hands, we tinker 482 00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:47,400 with our turn all these is it as simple as we're just not making centered 483 00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:55,119 contact, it is, and all that tinkering and tweaking I call it. 484 00:37:55,119 --> 00:37:59,760 It's the tweak method. Tweak this, tweak that. First of all, 485 00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:02,119 you're mind is out at the periphery, it's at your hands, it's over 486 00:38:02,199 --> 00:38:06,679 here, it's doing this, it's it's out there doing something. Your mind 487 00:38:06,760 --> 00:38:09,679 needs to come back into your body, down your center column, into your 488 00:38:09,719 --> 00:38:14,920 lower belly, your Buddha belly, your lower belly. And by the way, 489 00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:20,000 this is where we have non stress breathing. Okay, we calm on 490 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:22,199 a nervous system in our belly, and then that connects your belly. Your 491 00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:25,320 center's in your belly, in your hips, which is over your legs and 492 00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:31,119 feet. That's your base, your foundation for balance and centeredness. Okay, 493 00:38:31,280 --> 00:38:36,119 So when you bring your mind back into your body and into your belly and 494 00:38:36,199 --> 00:38:38,800 down into your feet, and I teach you, Jack Nicholas said, golf's 495 00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:43,719 played between the arches of your feet. If you're thinking that, it's all 496 00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:47,199 in between your ears. You're up here, and up is fear and stress 497 00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:52,400 and all of that. If you're thinking about what you're tweaking, you're out 498 00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:54,079 there. Should I be doing this? Should be doing that? Oh, 499 00:38:54,159 --> 00:39:00,239 and you're also in emotions that are kind of freaked out. Okay, not 500 00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:04,920 balancing center, and it just kind of tends to make it worse. The 501 00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:08,480 tweak method, So learning to just bring your mind and your back into your 502 00:39:08,480 --> 00:39:13,719 belly and you your base. That's number one. And I teach you what 503 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:15,599 I call swing patterning. But how do you start your swing? Just get 504 00:39:15,639 --> 00:39:21,039 your swing going properly from and stuff be your right foot down swing and stuff 505 00:39:21,039 --> 00:39:24,239 of your right foot you or your back foot be left foot if you're lefty. 506 00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:29,079 But that's how quarterback throws, you know, fifty sixty yards on feel. 507 00:39:29,320 --> 00:39:34,119 That's how a baseball hitter, it's a home run or a picture throws 508 00:39:34,159 --> 00:39:37,880 at ninety hundred miles an hour. You launch off that back foot and most 509 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:40,719 of us are up here and we're thinking, it's just like, that's not 510 00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:45,400 going to get you very far. And if it does, it will once 511 00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:50,480 in a while, but again kind of randomly, and it doesn't really in 512 00:39:50,599 --> 00:39:54,880 any consistent way solve the issues that golfers have, which are to be more 513 00:39:54,880 --> 00:40:00,679 balanced, stay centered center plus center. It's going to equal center. That's 514 00:40:00,719 --> 00:40:04,320 going to take you much further. And those are things that are so in 515 00:40:04,360 --> 00:40:07,719 our control. We are in control of our body and our mind and our 516 00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:12,280 breath. That's all you really have. And when you're out on the golf 517 00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:14,679 course, it's really all your have. You have your body, your mind, 518 00:40:14,679 --> 00:40:16,519 and your golf club. That's it. You know, you can't you 519 00:40:16,559 --> 00:40:20,519 can't look at your ab, you can't call your coach, you can't put 520 00:40:20,559 --> 00:40:22,719 your swing jacket out, you can't do any of that stuff. So it's 521 00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:28,480 really a very natural thing. And this is where what I call my golf 522 00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:32,679 teaching is about a mastery school self mastery, And it's not really that hard 523 00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:38,639 to get centered and relax and connect it and move in a proper sequence. 524 00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:44,960 Sequencing gives us natural temple. Sequencing starts from our lower body, and from 525 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:49,880 being centered and keeping that centeredness, then we have tempo comes out in a 526 00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:52,840 really natural way. So these are the real keys to better golf, not 527 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:58,639 all this other stuff. And people have been chasing all that other stuff since 528 00:40:58,679 --> 00:41:01,000 I was a little girl, and I think before then, because my dad 529 00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:06,119 every one week he had the new solution, the new thing, this was 530 00:41:06,159 --> 00:41:07,400 it, that was it, that was it, and never did him any 531 00:41:07,440 --> 00:41:10,519 good. And he was speaking to my father, who I dearly loved. 532 00:41:10,599 --> 00:41:14,840 He was never a really good golfer. Once in a while broke a hundred. 533 00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:17,199 I came out with Kia Golf when he was eighty years old, and 534 00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:22,400 for ten years he just improved and improved and improved. He used to sell 535 00:41:22,519 --> 00:41:28,280 my he used to sell my DVDs and my old series with his Companion manuals. 536 00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:30,679 He kept him in his trunk. People would say, how old are 537 00:41:30,679 --> 00:41:32,400 you? He has his full swing. He was lefty, and he was 538 00:41:32,760 --> 00:41:37,239 he was like shooting in the nineties and he was getting into the eighties and 539 00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:39,199 he was in his eighties. Yeah, I mean it was. And he 540 00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:45,079 never improved until I started. He became my best, most devoted student. 541 00:41:45,119 --> 00:41:47,239 And he would always say, it's not because she's my daughter, and it's 542 00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:51,760 because she's a no p J pro and she's a great teacher, and I'm 543 00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:54,880 finally improving. That's what he would say, and then he's selling myself. 544 00:41:55,239 --> 00:41:59,000 Was his trunk, like no kidding. He carried him around with him. 545 00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:00,519 That was in the days when he was still had like a physical DVD and 546 00:42:00,559 --> 00:42:05,800 stuff. But for real, he improved, and he never improved. He 547 00:42:05,920 --> 00:42:10,639 was tweaking forever all the time. And that's pretty much what golfers have been 548 00:42:10,639 --> 00:42:15,920 doing as long as I've ever been alive and even from before I was, 549 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:22,719 and I see it and I see it through till today and did age you 550 00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:24,360 know what, he didn't. He was eighty nine and he was out righting 551 00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:28,719 his bicycle and he tried to talk on a cell phone. He felt and 552 00:42:28,800 --> 00:42:32,960 he broke his hip. I'm sorry potting in his nineties, but you know, 553 00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:36,679 it was kind of tough after that. Although I helped him rehab. 554 00:42:36,679 --> 00:42:39,000 I must say my fitness helped him rehab, and we did get a back 555 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:43,639 out on the short game and all. But he was he I played with 556 00:42:43,719 --> 00:42:45,800 him two days before he broke his ship, and he shot in the nineties 557 00:42:45,840 --> 00:42:50,280 and he was eighty nine, so he was pretty good, pretty clear for 558 00:42:50,280 --> 00:42:52,440 a guy he didn't break a hundred up until he was eighty. That's pretty 559 00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:59,440 good. That's amazing. That is amazing, And I'm hoping people are hearing 560 00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:02,280 that and go and yes, it is possible. It is possible to play 561 00:43:02,480 --> 00:43:07,679 the best golf of your life late in life. Well, you can be 562 00:43:07,719 --> 00:43:10,960 more down the metal and more accurate and more consistent, and those are really 563 00:43:12,039 --> 00:43:16,719 the keys. Yeah. Is there a lot of similarity between the sword work 564 00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:24,199 from a keto to swinging a golf club there is if you'll permit me for 565 00:43:24,280 --> 00:43:30,280 minutes, since you asked, well, I do have I have six iron 566 00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:34,679 hares and I whatever be there. But if you can see, so here's 567 00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:37,760 a golf club, and I have a Samurai sword. Here Samurai sword. 568 00:43:37,840 --> 00:43:42,199 You just happen to have the Samurai sword because I practice. It's called the 569 00:43:42,239 --> 00:43:46,400 ido. But I hope people can see there's probably nothing more similar than an 570 00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:52,000 iron and a golf and and a sword. Okay's called their swords irons, 571 00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:57,320 which is really interesting. And the way you hold a sword is like this, 572 00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:00,360 which is the exact way you hold a golf club, except through your 573 00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:04,280 hands are actually overlapping or interlocking. So we just have a little space. 574 00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:10,760 But that V is the same in the V between your forefinger. Yeah, 575 00:44:10,559 --> 00:44:15,400 we have to get our energy through the the you know, the blade of 576 00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:19,920 the sword, which is like the shaft of the golf club, right to 577 00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:22,559 the face of the club. To make impact martial arts is speak to tip 578 00:44:22,599 --> 00:44:28,320 of the sword. But and what's interesting is that this is ninety degrees. 579 00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:31,239 It's completely like this. A golf club has some loft, so it's hard 580 00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:36,599 for us to sometimes to see when the face of the club is actually square. 581 00:44:36,960 --> 00:44:38,840 With this, you really can see. So the backswing, this should 582 00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:43,079 be straight out, and we want to hinge our risks to keep this, 583 00:44:43,719 --> 00:44:47,159 you know, square. I saw a beautiful blimp picture of Michelle we years 584 00:44:47,159 --> 00:44:50,880 ago, right from on top and at the top of her back swing, 585 00:44:51,119 --> 00:44:54,920 this was exactly parallel to the target line on the ground. Okay, it 586 00:44:55,079 --> 00:45:00,559 wasn't all. Trust it's out here. And when we make impact right here, 587 00:45:00,599 --> 00:45:04,880 at the point of impact, you can really see that this needs to 588 00:45:04,920 --> 00:45:07,840 be square. If it isn't, we will slice making it up, or 589 00:45:07,880 --> 00:45:12,559 we will cut across the ball. We have the same words in golf, 590 00:45:12,599 --> 00:45:15,719 which is really interesting. So we need to see that this needs to get 591 00:45:15,840 --> 00:45:21,159 exactly square an impact, it'll keep traveling through. And then we have what 592 00:45:21,199 --> 00:45:24,480 we called you know, the belt buckle should be facing the target, and 593 00:45:24,519 --> 00:45:28,199 I call this a sword cut down the line. This is when your center 594 00:45:28,599 --> 00:45:30,239 is facing the target. I see a lot of people lay en up their 595 00:45:30,239 --> 00:45:35,639 swings. Their neck is twisted or their shoulders aren't quite around or whatever. 596 00:45:35,960 --> 00:45:38,000 And you know, the ball goes over to the right like no, you 597 00:45:38,039 --> 00:45:42,280 know, no wonder And when you finish, you turn your foot and you 598 00:45:42,320 --> 00:45:45,519 get here your hips turn. This is I say, a straight cut. 599 00:45:45,800 --> 00:45:52,280 So I kind of see every every drive would be a sword cut down the 600 00:45:52,320 --> 00:45:57,119 center of the fairway. Every shot to the green is like a sword cut 601 00:45:57,199 --> 00:46:00,239 to the green. Right, we're on target, and we put is rolling 602 00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:05,880 straight to the hole. Sorry, just a little bit limited on space here. 603 00:46:05,920 --> 00:46:08,960 I hope that's people can still understand that. But it's when we have 604 00:46:09,159 --> 00:46:15,559 that very sort of samurai samurai like sharpness, a sword sharpness in our mind, 605 00:46:15,679 --> 00:46:20,760 in our integration, the integration of our left and right sides are lower 606 00:46:20,800 --> 00:46:25,159 and upper body, our mind and our body and everything's working together. That's 607 00:46:25,199 --> 00:46:30,480 the integration, the connection, the key I, the I key. Then 608 00:46:30,639 --> 00:46:35,360 we have our energy going center where we wanted to go, which would be 609 00:46:35,559 --> 00:46:37,400 ideally right down the center of the fairway and right on the green, into 610 00:46:37,400 --> 00:46:42,360 the pin and into the hole. You know, it's it's tough to do 611 00:46:42,519 --> 00:46:45,719 in golf. We got three hundred degrees around or we you know, we 612 00:46:45,760 --> 00:46:51,840 got a lot of and at this one degree and one moment in time that's 613 00:46:51,880 --> 00:46:54,880 coming, you know, so fast on say a drive eighty nine hundred miles 614 00:46:54,920 --> 00:46:58,480 per hour. But even when it's slow on a put, you know, 615 00:46:58,840 --> 00:47:00,639 like to control all of our muscles and all of our thoughts and all of 616 00:47:00,719 --> 00:47:06,679 our emotions and to get this calm, centered online, on balance and to 617 00:47:06,760 --> 00:47:10,159 be right there at the moment of impact and then to continue down the line. 618 00:47:10,400 --> 00:47:14,480 That's what we need to do in golf. And so again I'd come 619 00:47:14,519 --> 00:47:17,159 back to centered, centered, centered, centered, and all this stuff about 620 00:47:17,320 --> 00:47:22,039 even when a putty, when we peek with our eyes, it's subtle, 621 00:47:22,159 --> 00:47:24,760 but that little peeking pulls us a little bit off. It'll put your hands 622 00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:28,079 a little off, It'll just make that little difference, and all of a 623 00:47:28,159 --> 00:47:32,920 sudden, your putter isn't making that square contact much less when we're like moving 624 00:47:34,039 --> 00:47:37,320 or swaying or shifting or moving around. Yeah, so this is why it's 625 00:47:37,360 --> 00:47:42,480 so important to be centered and moving a centered, balanced way. For me, 626 00:47:42,599 --> 00:47:47,599 the biggest difference between professionals and amateurs is balance. You never see a 627 00:47:47,639 --> 00:47:52,119 tour player falling off or kicking back, or you know, like and you 628 00:47:52,239 --> 00:47:57,639 see a lot of amateurs falling off the ball, or you know they'll they'll 629 00:47:57,880 --> 00:48:00,880 use their upper body so much like we am in said, well if all 630 00:48:00,920 --> 00:48:04,159 bad, actually they're going I wonder what happened, Like, how can it 631 00:48:04,239 --> 00:48:07,920 happened. It's like no mystery. Yeah, I went through a lot of 632 00:48:07,960 --> 00:48:12,559 that. Luckily I'm a little bit better at it than I used to be. 633 00:48:12,719 --> 00:48:15,920 So anyway, how do people? How do people get in touch with 634 00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:21,079 you if they want to learn more from you? And we'll also include links 635 00:48:21,119 --> 00:48:22,800 to those articles that you wrote. I'm really excited to be able to do 636 00:48:22,840 --> 00:48:30,239 that. But to find you online and have you speak to them or teach 637 00:48:30,320 --> 00:48:32,719 them, please share with us. Yeah, they can find me at the 638 00:48:34,400 --> 00:48:40,599 Centeredway dot com, center centered ed, the Centeredway dot com, Jamie at 639 00:48:40,599 --> 00:48:45,559 the Centeredway dot com. If they for an email, they go to my 640 00:48:45,639 --> 00:48:51,840 website. I think it pops up to sign up for my newsletter. Be 641 00:48:51,920 --> 00:48:53,360 in touch with me, send me a message. It's another good way. 642 00:48:53,920 --> 00:48:59,519 I actually like to talk to people, So I'm a talker. Yeah, 643 00:48:59,519 --> 00:49:06,239 speaker seven six zero four nine two four six five three at seven six zero 644 00:49:06,360 --> 00:49:10,639 four nine two golf leaving a message, Try reaching me. Find me on 645 00:49:10,679 --> 00:49:16,760 Facebook Jamie Leno zim Run or on LinkedIn Jamie Leno zim Run. And I 646 00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:22,159 also teach virtual lessons through the pandemic. I got really good at zoom. 647 00:49:22,199 --> 00:49:25,400 I've done golf mastery schools, on zoom, I have a golf Mastery school 648 00:49:25,400 --> 00:49:31,719 coming up in Sacramento on October eighth. I believe, and yeah, and 649 00:49:32,239 --> 00:49:36,719 you know, I get around and I'm happy to travel. You know how 650 00:49:36,800 --> 00:49:39,039 students will travel. And I do a lot of speaking and teaching in different 651 00:49:39,079 --> 00:49:44,280 places, so possible to organize, you know, some special events. Golf 652 00:49:44,280 --> 00:49:46,239 Mastery schools are absolutely life change. They can be one day, two, 653 00:49:46,360 --> 00:49:52,679 three days, whatever, but they include all of these principles. And I've 654 00:49:52,719 --> 00:49:58,679 designed golf fitness exercises, swing patterning exercises, some great on course stuff, 655 00:49:59,639 --> 00:50:01,880 and work with trouble shots, how to stay centered and trouble shots, you 656 00:50:01,880 --> 00:50:06,440 know, all these things. So all of that goes into golf Mastery schools. 657 00:50:06,480 --> 00:50:08,119 And also, you know, it's very possible on zoom, I can 658 00:50:08,119 --> 00:50:10,559 see your swing, give me. Aren't just swings. I know exactly what's 659 00:50:10,599 --> 00:50:14,199 going on, can work with you. And again, I have all kinds 660 00:50:14,239 --> 00:50:17,480 of exercises that I've designed. And I should say my book is coming out. 661 00:50:19,000 --> 00:50:21,920 It's in the funny editing process. It will yes, it should have 662 00:50:21,920 --> 00:50:25,599 been out this year, but it's coming soon. It's called The Centered Way, 663 00:50:25,800 --> 00:50:30,480 and it incorporates all these principles. Lots of practices, a lot of 664 00:50:30,559 --> 00:50:37,880 different stories that illustrate these principles. And there's a whole big chapter on Golf 665 00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:42,199 Call, which is a case study, so applying everything in a detailed way 666 00:50:42,239 --> 00:50:46,119 to golf as well as golf peace making, all of those. It's a 667 00:50:46,159 --> 00:50:50,880 lifetime book that is coming out. When the book comes out, please let 668 00:50:50,880 --> 00:50:52,679 me know and I'll let everyone know and put out the link to it. 669 00:50:53,599 --> 00:51:00,519 Even though we don't have you would have been awarded an Excellence in Golf Instruction 670 00:51:00,599 --> 00:51:04,880 Award from Golf Smarter. I think it's much greater that you've got the Excellence 671 00:51:04,920 --> 00:51:10,559 and Golf Award from the LPGA, the PGA SF Pride Golf Tournament. Congratulations, 672 00:51:10,639 --> 00:51:14,840 Jamie. Great to talk to you again. Yeah, wonderful to talk 673 00:51:14,880 --> 00:51:20,480 Thank you very much. Well, first and foremost, I need to apologize 674 00:51:20,480 --> 00:51:23,760 to all of you for a glitch that prevented us all of us from listening 675 00:51:23,760 --> 00:51:28,920 to last week's episode. Hopefully, by now you've realized that the problem has 676 00:51:29,000 --> 00:51:35,880 been fixed and episode nine hundred and thirteen, featuring a conversation with former NORACALPGA 677 00:51:36,039 --> 00:51:39,760 Teacher of the Year Ben Alexander, is available to listen to. Thanks for 678 00:51:39,840 --> 00:51:44,639 your patients and for all of you who wrote in. I truly appreciate your 679 00:51:44,719 --> 00:51:51,079 concern and again from earlier in our conversation with Jamie, I'll leave links to 680 00:51:51,119 --> 00:51:54,079 her articles that she told us about in today's show notes and the blog post. 681 00:51:54,840 --> 00:51:59,199 I was in Portland, Oregon last week, which is part of the 682 00:51:59,239 --> 00:52:01,880 reason why it's so long to correct the episode air. But while I was 683 00:52:01,920 --> 00:52:06,239 there, I got a chance to play at the Oregon Golf Club in West 684 00:52:06,400 --> 00:52:12,079 Lynn. It's a private course, beautiful course, yet very challenging, with 685 00:52:12,199 --> 00:52:16,639 incredible views of Mount Hood and the Willamette River. Thanks Steven Daniels invited me 686 00:52:16,679 --> 00:52:21,920 to join him for a great round. I do want to welcome this week's 687 00:52:21,960 --> 00:52:27,039 Golf Smarter Ambassador, Randy Ericsson from Oraga, California. Now, Randy was 688 00:52:27,239 --> 00:52:31,840 actually my son's soccer coach back in the late nineteen eighties. We haven't seen 689 00:52:31,880 --> 00:52:36,320 each other in decades, but I'm really hoping that we can get out and 690 00:52:36,400 --> 00:52:40,079 play together sometime and reconnect. Thanks so much for your support, Randy. 691 00:52:40,280 --> 00:52:45,159 Randy chose Tony Manzoni's video of the Lost Fundamental as his gift for participating. 692 00:52:45,519 --> 00:52:51,280 I invite you to join our global team of Golf Smarter Ambassadors by calling our 693 00:52:51,360 --> 00:52:54,920 toll free Golf Smarter listener line so that you two can be on the podcast 694 00:52:54,960 --> 00:53:00,719 and receive a free gift of your choice gifts and food, Tony Manzoni's video 695 00:53:00,719 --> 00:53:05,679 of the Lost Fundamental or a box of Oden next one balls with a golf 696 00:53:05,679 --> 00:53:09,480 Smarter logo, or you can get a glove and glove storage compartment from Red 697 00:53:09,559 --> 00:53:14,599 Rooster golf dot com. I'll leave a link in the show notes and today's 698 00:53:14,599 --> 00:53:16,880 blog post, so please write to me and I'll get back to you with 699 00:53:17,000 --> 00:53:21,599 some instructions of what to do and what to say. Also, if you 700 00:53:21,599 --> 00:53:25,599 have any questions, comments, or suggestions for upcoming episodes, dm me on 701 00:53:25,639 --> 00:53:30,559 social media or right to golf Smarter podcast at gmail dot com. And the 702 00:53:30,679 --> 00:53:36,920 other choice is click on the Hey Fred button when you visit golf Smarter dot com