What do golf, billiards (pool) and racquetball all have in common?

1. They all involve use of a small ball to play the game
2. The use of a stick or racquet is used to hit the ball
3. They all involve the understanding of angles and spin to really excel!

Teaching golf to students with varied athletic backgrounds made me approach every student differently. The more I could relate a sport to them they already knew, or some analogy they could understand, the easier they would apply the lesson.

In doing more motivational mind power speaking these days, my approach is similar. Most people learn faster and more efficiently when there is a relationship of relativity that is applied. For this article I am using the three sports of Golf, Billiards, and Racquetball to relate the concepts of angles and spin. You may even get an “aha” of your own game from reading this!

Learning racquetball at a young age helped me understand other sports much easier. Being literally in a box with four walls, a floor and ceiling, meant having to understand angles. The more I understood angles and spin and how the ball was effected, the better I became. Here are some shots I mastered with this understanding:

1. Ceiling shot (Spin was based on which wall the ball hits first)
   1. Ceiling then Front wall: creates top spin, releases towards back wall
   2. Front wall then Ceiling: creates back spin, and stops before back wall

2. Pinch shot (An angle and spin shot)
   1. Ball is hit into a front corner: it always comes back to center
   2. Splat shot: an advanced shot hit back or at center court where the ball is hit hard into mid court side wall, then catches front wall, then spins into side wall and either dies or shoots into center court usually rolling out. (I loved that shot!)

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Billiards is a bit closer to golf. It’s all about angles and knowing how to control the cue ball with spin. You must create a plan in your mind (mind power) before executing each shot. The present shot you are hitting must have a plan of where to leave the cue ball for the next shot.

If you hit the cue ball into another ball haphazardly, you may leave yourself blocked out for the next shot. Watch a master billiard players eyes. The eyes tell the story of a plan about to take place. Here are a two shots to understand how to control the cue ball:

1. Punch stroke: Line up a shot straight in the side pocket. The cue ball should be a couple of feet away. Deliver a “pop” sound with one sixteenth below center. The cue ball should stop dead in its tracks.

2. Follow stroke: Line up a shot straight in the side pocket with the cue ball a couple of feet from the object ball. Place your cue tip one-sixteenth below center. Deliver a follow stroke and make the cue ball follow the object ball.

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Watch the eyes of the master golfer, like Tiger Woods. His eyes tell a story. Everything is being played out like a movie on a screen. Golf is a game of angles and spin. When you understand their basic principles, you can then visualize what you want to happen and execute the shot with precision. Let’s look at a few scenarios:

1. Angles - Your first hole is a dogleg right (meaning the fairway starts straight out and then bends to the right towards the green). Create a plan.

• Question your self: “Where do I want to hit my next shot from?” The answer should be, “from the wide part of the dogleg.” Most people make the mistake of “biting off more than they can chew”, meaning cutting off too much of the corner of the dogleg, thus leaving the player blocked out of a next shot to hit. Courses are set up to be played a certain way. When you learn to play the course properly, it’s not only more fun, but you will score better…period!

2. Spin - You are 10 yards off the green. Spin will vary based on the green being uphill or downhill from your shot.

• To an uphill green – the ball will hit, have back spin and stop - Use a club with less loft and more roll (9-iron or PW instead of SW)
  

• To a downhill green – the ball will hit, have top spin and roll forward – Use a club with more loft and less roll (SW or LW instead of pw)

Next time you are going to play golf, create a plan in advance. Remember, the law of attraction is about creating what happens through your thoughts and feelings. Your mind power begins with thinking before acting. While on the golf course, think about your plan, stick with it, and allow your game to happen. Play the golf course the way it’s meant to be played… in the fairway and on the green. When you find you are out of position, make sure you get back to the mind set of playing “your game”. When you have a plan, and are prepared to use it, your thoughts become actions, and ultimately create your “Mind Power”!

“In body, mind power and spirit”
Randy

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