Brain-Body Intelligence™ for all swing models & instruction.
My name is Alison Thietje. My career began in 1996, twenty-seven years ago, when I founded
Total Approach Golf. A personal training company traveling with the PGA Tour.
[Check out my vintage CLIENT TESTIMONIALS below.]
My introduction to the golf swing was an up close and personal view of the best golfers in the world, week after week, for years! My virgin eyes had never seen an amateur golfer swing. My brain's entry-level understanding of the swing
was based on the best golf swings in the world.
[The advantages of a rookie, right? A true story of ignorance is bliss.]
Many golfer's beliefs about the swing were and still are, by definition, religious and mystical.
As a rookie to golf, I hadn't heard the cacophony of "swing mechanic" theories and contradictions yet.
Using the club path and ball flight (reactions) as the focal point for interpreting the swing (the action)
was outside of my wheelhouse but was the primary method of understanding the golf swing back then.
Still is for many people and instructors.
Knowing what I know now, it's the proverbial looking for a needle in a haystack or climbing a ladder only to reach the top and realize it was leaning against the wrong wall.
Let me explain.
In my world, all teachers taught the same fundamentals, just like Math, English, or music teachers.
We had a set-in-stone foundation. A corporate understanding. We never thought to ask ourselves questions like:
"What do I interpret this to mean?" anymore than we would ask the question, "What does 2+2=4 mean to me?"
or "What does the alphabet mean to me?" [It would be insanity to ask a question like that.]
BECAUSE those things were already established for us and based on universal principles versus
individual preferences or opinions, we didn't have to ask questions like that. In contrast, when something has yet to be defined and firmly established by universal principles/laws, our only option is to consult with ourselves.
This is where the golf swing currently resides. [But not for long.]
From the glorious mindset of working only with facts based on universal rules/principles, the golf swings I observed on the
PGA Tour from 1996-2001 was based on simple, set-in-stone "objective" body movements. Indisputable, just like math, English, and music. I would never question my math, English, or music teacher on the rules that govern those subjects. Nor did I ever question what we universally know to be fact regarding body movement.
Swinging a golf club doesn't magically make those rules/laws obsolete.
In my world, interpreting the golf swing, hierarchically speaking, put the study of body movement
and skeletal alignment first. It is, by definition, primary for accurately interpreting the golf swing and leaving my opinion out of it.
[FYI, I'm not referring to"biomechanics" or motion capture-type knowledge. I'm speaking of something a little deeper than that. You'll see. ]
Studying club paths, clubface, and even body positions at different points of the swing could never give me the answers to what creates a good golf swing. I needed to know the "origin" of each body movement,
which would inform me of the direction of force being created. The action.
Facts about the club's or body's mere "positions" tell me the reaction of the force of movement. I won't tell me anything about the "action" or the "origin" of the movement/force.
According to Newton's laws of "motion" (not Newton's laws of body positions of Tour Pros),
body movement is clearly the action, and everything the club does is a secondary reaction that was created by the force of movement. One step further down the hierarchy chain of command was ball flight.
Where did the movement come from? What was "it" moving? When did "it" move? In what direction was "it" moving?
THAT'S what I needed to know. What is "it'? The "origin" of the movement! The key word is "origin". Can you see how that works?
Those answers were already determined for me by things that were above my influence, like the laws of gravity, our bones, joints, muscles, organs, etc. We, as humans, are mere recipients of these things. We have no say in the matter, like the laws of gravity.
We may not believe in gravity, but if we step off a building, were not going up.
Case in point: Our beliefs don't determine reality.
Although still a new revelation for today, back then, this reality-fact-based understanding of the swing was thought insane.
"Golf is not a physical game; it's a mental game," I repeatedly heard," and "It doesn't matter how far you hit the ball; this is not a game of power." When I listened to this, I thought they were insane.
[I named my podcast "The Insanity of Golf". GREAT name, isn't it?]
Thus, a 25-year gridlock for interpreting the golf swing with objective body movements.
[This experience reminded me of two historical stories about the "powers that be" in the medical community that stifled the innovation of sanitizing operating utensils and hands. Women giving birth with midwives weren't dying. Only the women giving birth in hospitals. A research Dr. found remnants of cadavers in the birth canal of women who died after birth. He implemented the washing of hands at his clinic and reduced deaths by almost 80%.
He was ostracized by the medical community for doing it.
So was the gentleman who suggested they sanitize utensils to control gang green. Countless lives were lost for decades before the "powers that be" decided to give it a try. Read more
Top anatomists believed and taught that " air " ran through our veins during the Renaissance. Guess what happened to the guy who suggested it was blood? YEP. He got kicked to the curb too. Just like the two Doctors who discovered the need for hospital sanitation practices.] Read more
[Back to my story and your golf swing.]
At that point in history, all interpretations of the golf swing were subjective
opinions grounded by egotism, exhibitionism, and self-promotion.
In addition, the powers at be could control what the masses thought the golf swing was and who was qualified to tell them.
[Hmm. Sounds a little like what we're seeing in our country now. Speaking of censoring speech, I must warn you
that I will be talking about my biblical-based faith and referencing how the study of theology helped create the entire M2M Golf program. I realize this is supposed to be taboo in business, but I believe the opposite is true regarding sharing one's religious beliefs in business. Particularly my story, which cannot be told apart from my journey back to Christianity.
The casualties from the "good ole boys club" mentality in the golf industry are not just golfers and people like myself,
but dear to my heart, the "non-ego-based" teaching pro and the overworked and underpaid workers at the golf clubs.
[Note my preface on "non-ego-based". There are different rules for the opinion/ego-based instructor.]
I pray, by God's grace, that M2M Golf would be one of many catalysts advocating
for exposing and ridding the world of "the good ole boys club".
[Evil persists when good people do nothing.]
[Back to the story and your golf swing]
By 2016, I had been a personal trainer for 20+ years with over 40,000 hours of experience
and a Ph.D. in what NOT to do! I opted out of golf entirely until 2020.
It became abundantly clear that our corporate understanding and interpretation of the golf swing
needed a complete overhaul. Until that happened, I would continue to be on the outside, looking in, ostracized by the "good-ole-boys club" and self-promoting instructors who take my insights and kick me to the curb.
[I'm not having a pity party here. Trust me. You'll see.
All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28 -The Apostle Paul]
In 2022, after doing research on my M2M Golf program at a local high-end country club [the epicenter of the good ole boys club],
I once again experienced being taken advantage of, worse than ever before.
However, this time, as they say, "It's darkest before the dawn," It was and is the best thing that ever happened to me.
[DOH. Apparently, my past experiences of being ripped off weren't painful enough to humble me to the degree necessary.]
I had waited 27 years for this Come To Jesus moment, and this is what I now know:
Optimal injury prevention and athletic performance for all ages and activity levels are not possible via golf instruction, 3D motion capture, biomechanics research, my online M2M Golf program,
YouTube instruction, or even a private lesson with Tiger Woods.
But instead, FIRST, developing the golfer's entry-level brain-body intelligence/awareness and empowering them to rightly interpret the golf swing IS a rational approach and potential answer to the problem.
They'll never know how good of a golfer they can be until they fully develop their
brain-body intelligence/awareness skills.
[Hard telling how many great golfers lay hidden and buried under a lack of brain-body intelligence & awareness.]
The missing piece of the golf swing puzzle was, and is, the discovery of new hidden ground rules
for developing one's brain-body intelligence™ (BBI) & awareness.
The process of developing this is built on what I call the TG Body Movement Laws™. (TG Laws™ for short.)
The TG Laws™ silence the contradictions' cacophony while de-mystifying our understanding of the swing.
The "learning" and the "training" process for developing brain-body intelligence™ (BBI)
is firmly established and outlined in the TG Laws. The laws are pre-established parameters that existed long before you were born. Those parameters/laws become your focal point. Your anchor. Your fixed center.
The things that are beyond our control.
No opinions. No theories. No personal experiences.
Just non-negotiables. They are what they are. It is what it is.
You will be walked through a process.
Reasoning by facts.
Rightly interpreted.
A full & correct understanding of the swing.
Becomes a reality.
For you.
These newly discovered hidden ground rules reveal how to harness our brain's ability to control
our muscular and skeletal systems.
As a skill set, this maximizes healthy spine and joint alignment,
taking longevity, balance, safety, fitness & athletic performance to new heights.
[I wish I had known this 27 years ago when training PGA Tour Pros.]
Without this skill set, even under the tutelage of world-renowned instructors and coaches,
golfers will continue to struggle, never realizing their full potential due to a faulty interpretation of the golf swing.
According to the science of learning taxonomies, a rightly understood/interpretation is foundational for
learning, comprehension, and, most importantly, memorization. If we memorize the wrong movements
while believing it is correct, a mere optimistic illusion, our unmet expectations will kill all confidence.
Golf instructors understand what they want their students to do, but they find it challenging to get them to implement it.
We need a brain-body development program to empower golfers to successfully implement golf instruction.
Verbal cueing, teacher demonstration, video analysis, online instruction, and 3D motion capture aren't getting the job done.
Golfers must develop the skill set of golf-specific, brain-body intelligence/awareness before
fully benefiting long-term from any teaching methods.
In summary, It is abundantly clear that innovative programs for acquiring new levels of
Brain-Body intelligence (BBI), as a skill set, is paramount. Where "feel is real" and a corporate or universal vocabulary eliminate interpretive challenges
that make learning and comprehension difficult, if not impossible. The answer?
M2M Brain-Body Intelligence Program & Skill Development
[THIS is what I've spent the last 27 years developing.]
The NEW M2M Golf Brain-Body Intelligence™
Skill Development Webinars/Classes beginning March/April 2023.
And "The Insanity of Golf" Podcast! (coming April/May 2023)
FREE printable pdf workbooks and FREE webinars for M2MGolf members.
Register to become a member by
Clicking on the "Services" menu button above, then click on Mind2Motion Golf.
You can register for a FREE preview of my vintage M2M program or purchase the entire program.
Purchase M2M Golf in March and receive a FREE 1-hour online lesson with Alison. (A $150.00 value)
You'll receive email notices for the NEW education-based M2M webinars, classes, and courses beginning March 2023.
And remember to check out the vintage CLIENT TESTIMONIALS from Major Champions below.