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What Happened to the Revolution in Golf? by Taylor Spalding A revolution in golf? Could there be such a thing? For the first year, the front-page of goldengolf.com has been sporting a golf ball spinning among the stars. It spun for most of the first year, then it sat motionless for a while. The ball was labeled with a number "1" and read "Revolution in Golf." It sat there for more than one earthly revolution and it is now distinctly out of fashion. For a revolution to be defined, it must depend on the displacement of one ideal for that of another. This site isn't really about that. This site is about realizing the possibility of art in golf. This guru that guru; all the pundits claim their method is revolutionary. But there is no revolution in golf. Why? Because the "it" in pure golf can never be defined past the moment of its inspiration. For that matter it cannot be defined at all. The game is a koan. It is a mystery which deepens with time and a riddle which can only be solved by not solving it. This great game we play is the game of a lifetime, and wholly deserved of that reputation. It is a teacher for a lifetime. There is no revolution! But there is gloss, promise, and idealism. This metal fused with that metal . . . "tri" this and "ti" that and other so-called breakthrough technologies ... and so many new golf balls! Soon the marketeers will be advertising that they have added celestial spheres to the golf ball and that these ethereal auras will improve accuracy and distance. New Age golf! Bah! There is no revolution! A testament to this fact is the Natural Golf school of thinking. Except for certain aspects of the palm grip, this aesthetically diseased form of golf is a step backward for anyone wishing to enjoy the more refining aspects of the game. Though the PGA has made concessions to it by using phrases like "barrel chested," the form appeals to those with explosive temperaments, and people who want to hit things with violence, and people who want to wring blood from turnips, and desperados in search of the grail, and to all who favor the destruction of the art for the sake of the hollow score. Yes, there is more than one way to hit a golf ball. And I believe that every human interested in attempting to do so should find his or her own unique and comfortable way of doing it. If you want to be a golf ball whacker go to Natural Golf and the blessed contortions it has contrived. If you want to cultivate swinging in balance and the aesthetic enhancements impressed by such a motion, then you may want to continue here. Bobby Jones would be proud. Even though my method seems conservative compared to Natural Golf, don't mistake me for a traditionalist. Nearly any method is conservative next to Natural Golf ;~] This site is a professional flipside. It's a place where motion creates form, where forgetfulness of correctness makes correct, and where students of the game become teachers of themselves . . . a twilight zone. TS |
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