Jim McLellan (.)

Jim McLellan: Michael Jordan and Your Shorts

You have company spending two weeks with you this summer. One week down, one week to go. You long for your privacy, your own routine. Who's house is this, anyway?

Your wife loves people and having "them" around. You, on the other hand, could be a hermit. Well, at least they are in town shopping and you have a rare opportunity to take that private shower, without little Billy knocking on the door.

You are in the hallway and you have just removed your shirt and pants and pitched them 10 feet into the hamper in the laundry room. What's that noise!!!

The back door just opened. Your (your wife's) company is back from town. Rats! You have to make a split second decision. No time to think it over. They will be around the corner in less than three seconds.

There are some people you would not mind seeing you naked but not this bunch. Why open yourself up to the brunt of dinner time jokes?

At super human speed, you balance yourself deftly on your right foot and yank your left sock off. You aim (under immense pressure) and throw your sock at the hamper. Bull's eye!

Switching to your left foot, you balance yourself so gracefully that a ballerina would be envious, reach down and rip your right sock from your sweaty foot, shoot once again for the hamper. Swish! Dead center. Now, the moment of truth.

You flash back to the final game of the Bulls and Jazz. You are Michael Jordan. You, on the other hand, have less than one second to get your shorts off, shoot for the hamper, spin around and duck into the bathroom.

Your mind's a blur. What if? No time to consider the consequences. Your left leg comes out, then your right, all too fast to see. You aim at the hamper and let 'er fly. Perfect arc, no rim, dead center. You twirl around and duck into the bathroom. You made it!!!!!

You and Michael have more in common than you think. You were both under extreme pressure. You both shot at your target and you both made it. But the story only begins there.

What were you and Mr. Michael Jordan thinking about when you made these great shots? Position of your legs? Knee bend? Left Arm straight? Shoulder rotation? Hip rotation? Right elbow? Left Elbow? Pivot? The Ball? Your Shorts?

You were "seeing" your shorts fly through the air and hit the hamper. Michael was "seeing" the ball go directly into the middle of the basket.

You both "trusted" your minds and bodies to come up with a plan (without you) that would be successful. Any thoughts about the mechanics of your shots would certainly result in failure.

Why then, do YOU think YOUR golf pro's advice about all the things you NEED to think about in your swing is going to help? The more you THINK, the worse you get.

The golf swing, throwing your shorts, and Michael's successful shooting are a result of communication between the motor skill part of the brain (called the cerebellum, if you didn't already know that) and your wonderful machinery called your body.

When you skip rocks on the lake what do you think about? The moment of release? Pivot? Knees?

Isn't it about time you realized what creates a good shot, a good basket, or a good skip? Ask Michael or order "The Swings The Thing" or get caught with your shorts down around your ankles.

January 7, 2000

To learn more about Jim McLellan's simple approach to learning your best golf swing in the shortest period of time, visit his site at www.mcgolf.com.