“Stress” and It’s “Types” Are Fear-Based Definitions. Stress, eustress, distress, et.al. are all enabling shortcuts. Social psychologists slap inflammatory labels on simple conditions to patronize people. Clinical psychologists call “Stress”, “generalized disinhibition”. Stress and disinhibition are definitions separated by implications.

Embued with similar, negative, emotional components, “Stress” is synonymous with fear. We are allowed to rationalize our feelings without having to understand them. Simply by saying “I’m stressed”, we imply that we have no say over our condition. Hence, enabling definitions maintain our confusion.

You may have employed the motivational axiom, “Face your fears” without realizing “FYF” is an adversarial barb into our subconscious. “Fear” is promoted as our antagonist. “Face Your Fears” has supplanted humanity’s more inspirational, positive message, “Embrace the unknown”.

“Stress” also causes us to blame our system or situations implicitly for “stressing me out”, as if our situation has an intention. “Stress” describes an adversarial relationship between man and nature. For example, stress as enabling oppressor – e.g. an over-protective mother. In any case, blaming our feelings on a disembodied system is ludicrous. Therefore, we have to acknowledge that “Stress” is a term used by social psychologists and not by data-driven, clinical scientists.

Clinical Psychology’s “Disinhibition”, on the other hand, describes an openness to any potential outcome and requisite actions. Simply stated, we exhibit a ‘keeping-our-options-open’ condition. Our system is not central to our clinical condition, but rather a sounding board for internal dialogue.

Certainly, there are both material and immaterial uncertainties we turn into life and death scenarios. But, ours is an individual problem, not a systemic problem. Overcoming our fear-based, “Stressed” condition gets easier if we find ways to understand disinhibition as a completely natural openness to uncertain outcomes.

Changing our way of doing things, for instance, creates an opportunity for learning disinhibition as an empowering condition. It is a process, like anything else. We are conditioned from birth either to fear or embrace the unknown. We don’t have to worry about which conditioning we received. Just understand that embracing change or fearing change is, essentially, a choice.

I’d like to offer the Open Stance as a golf swing cure. However, initiating the process of adaptation necessitates disinhibition until you shed inefficient movement patterns. Obviously, I assume my audience is highly intelligent. Therefore, I’ll close by saying, be “Disinhibited” to the Open Stance’s curative unknown.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

Today, I’m writing my first interview with The Open Stance Academy’s Founder, John Wright. The questions revolve around issues that appear when adapting to an Open Stance. I opened by asking John one general question to open up our conversation. “What is the biggest problem with the Open Stance message?”

JW: Hi, Kendall. Yeah, good question. I like to think in terms of what is beneath the surface in most golfers. There is a psychological factor at work, which I believe is a basic fear of change. That’s the general problem. It is also the biggest illusion in golf.

K: What do you mean by illusion?

JW: It’s a mental trick we play on ourselves. Every time we go to the range or course we are adapting… changing, whether we know it or not. Less advanced players spend more time adapting than practicing. Constant, unintentional changes are occuring with these folks at all times, even though they rarely notice. It is like the frog-in-the-pot of water analogy.

K: Please explain that.

JW: Sure. A frog in a pot of water begins to boil on a stove. At first the frog is not uncomfortable. Soon, the water has heated up to the point of discomfort. But, the frog doesn’t interpret the discomfort as anything to worry about. He just keeps rationalizing his fate. By the time he has made the connection that he screwed himself by staying in a bad situation, he’s cooked.

K: Graphic.

JW: Ha. Yeah… a bit. But, it’s message is true. Too often, we fail to recognize the danger in things that we do involuntarily. We fail at intention, so we express no purpose – only comfortable discomfort. When you hear someone say, “I know my swing” or “That doesn’t work for me.”, it’s a pretty good bet they have comfortable discomfort. They are in the pot and the heat is on. It’s just too much effort for them to jump out and save themselves. I guess, maybe, apathy is the word for golfers.

K: Apathy? How can that be? They are playing golf? How can someone playing golf be apathetic about golf?

JW: It happens. Our problems can distract us from our purpose. Without purpose, life cannot have meaning. Making things meaningless makes it easier to believe in nothing. Golf is just a metaphor. Some people don’t want golf to mean enough to draw their passions away from other areas of life. Some wallow in self-pity and use their golf game as a celise. For others, golf is life. They pursue it to make it better every day.

K: And your followers… which are they?

JW: Well, obviously they are not interested in suffering, so naturally I think they are the pursuers. Well, let me modify that slightly – they are the pioneers. They are the people who know that a better way exists and are willing leave past swing problems and ideas behind to walk an Open Stance path.

K: It seems like you’re talking about a major commitment. Isn’t that the highest hurdle?

JW: What some call a major commitment, others call a goal. The only commitment is to the goal. It is the seed of intention. The process happens, whether we notice or not. The process is also incidental once the intention is planted. The Open Stance philosophy is the soil.

K: Is there any other obstacle golfers should beware of in making a change to an Open Stance?

JW: Nothing outside of themselves. Every person has the power to dictate change to the universe. We can dictate a passivity that allows change to occur without our consciousness. That’s an option. We can shut down our brains and just submit to fate. Unfortunately, it is not conducive to improvement, but rather, enslavement. Improvement dictates that we choose our path. As a result, we choose to be responsible for the consequences we experience on the way to our goal.

K: Kind of existential, isn’t it?

JW: We’ll see.

K: Thanks for talking this morning.

JW: Thank you, Kendall.

-The Open Stance Academy

The Open Stance is taking over the teaching industry. In 2014, John Wright posted the original explanation of an Open Stance, on YouTube. It stood alone as the only dedicated explanation of an Open Stance. Since then, hundreds of Open Stance videos have been posted by people bright enough to see the trend, which is becoming more obvious every day. They are helping John get his message out. His message is – the Open Stance helps swings he has never seen.

The hand-off of writing duties is a consequence of a growing following. As one of his earliest applicants, I told him it was just a matter of time. The amount of conversions is in a linear uptrend. We assume the number of applicants is exponentially higher, per Price’s Law. We estimate nearly half of the golfing population has, or is currently, experimenting with an Open Stance philosophy.

Conversions on the PGA and LPGA Tours are growing at the same rate. However, we know the pros adopt and maintain their set-up changes at the same rate as swing changes. There are a necessary number of active repetitions necessary to test any change. We estimate that number to be more than 25,000.

John’s original estimate was a per-day number because he believed people would immediately understand the cure when they read his work and heard his explanation. Obviously, he discovered that was not the case. So, John took to YouTube to reach a wider audience and began to address the simplicity the Open Stance. His message has always been, ‘Open your stance, and heal your own swing.’ However, due to the number of questions about how-to and what-to do to, he felt he should expand into other venues.

He wanted to deliver his true message by touching on the movement choices every OS golfer experiences. Because, he knows the Open Stance is the only set-up that promotes efficiency. John’s only motivation has been to empower golfers. He wants them to make instinctive swing choices from an Open Stance and to believe in their athletic perfection. His mission is to disrupt the existing school of thought related to the golf swing, so he is setting off an alarm bell.

In fact, his cornerstone belief is that every person has an innate ability to react uniquely and perfectly to any situation. John maintains that all he has done is explain the simplicity of an Open Stance in a complicated way. But, in the process of poking holes in his own knowledge, he realized an unexpected benefit. He increased it.

John is currently in talks with sponsors about developing his brand on a national level, so he asked me to fill in. I’ll be interviewing John and recording his thoughts for this blog. My name is Kendall.

The Open Stance Academy

I am a big fan of Jordan Spieth. How can you not like such a mature, excellent person. However, should Jordan Spieth give advice on hitting it straight and far? Golf Digest thinks so. But, let’s look at the numbers. Maybe there is a better voice. After all, he was 76th in total driving on the PGA Tour last year. My thought is that maybe there is someone in the top sixty we could ask, instead.

Keegan Bradley, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen, Daniel Berger, and Webb Simpson all represent the 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 top-ranked drivers on the PGA Tour in 2017. Additionally, there are ten more head of him in 2018. So, does Golf Digest not want us to hear from the best drivers about driving? If not, why not?

Jordan Spieth leads in other statistical categories, like proximity of approach from the fairway. He could have been consulted on iron play proximity from the fairway, which would be easier, because P.F.F. depends on other shots. But, driving? No. Driving is the only statistic not influenced by other swings on a hole. It is the beginning… the origin of things score-related.

I know Jordan Spieth sells Magazines, but Michael Breed is on the cover. So, what gives? Have they built in a plausible deniability by not highlighting and reinforcing the advice with Jordan’s cover photo? It would be so easy to fill pages of their magazine with valuable advice on the golf swing. Therefore, why fill it with more of the same-old, same-old? I’d rather hear about certain other topics real players use to build proficiency.

I hesitate to offer examples for fear of being usurped again. However, The Open Stance and Three Short Game Lessons covers all such pre-conditions. Get yourself a copy and watch as other publishers reach for content.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

Why “Hitting Down On The Ball” Is So Important

Every sport has a collection of fundamentals – things we must do to insure competence. For decades, fundamentals have been taught in the absence of specific intention. However, what has never been taught is that fundamentals are just an expression of specific intent. My research shows that focusing your intention will always bring about faster fundamental development in your golf swing. Therefore, an intention to “hit down on the ball” is important because it helps create fundamental coordination.

Steepening impact requires certain things. It requires a neutral torso position along the target line. The Open Stance goes a long way toward this goal for many golfers. However, we still have to express basic fundamentals to complete an efficient swing. Allow me to remind you of the must-dos that provide a swing’s platform.

Golfers have to stand beside the ball the same way every time with each club. We must hold onto our club in a way that does not impede efficiency. Golfers have to swing their club on an inclined plane. We also have to keep our eyes still while moving. And, we all have to maintain balance.

Once the platform fundamentals are in place, “Hitting down on the ball” refines you’re swing. For example, steepening impact requires a pause at the top. Pausing at the top requires a full turn. A full turn cannot return us to the golf ball without a weight shift. Additionally, a weight shift to the leading foot provides time to get other parts in order. Therefore, one intentional idea can improve your golf swing.

An Open Stance accommodates the most specific intention with your golf ball. “Hitting down on the ball” is one, general idea that creates fundamental expressions of efficiency. In summation, the flat swing from an Open Stance feeds fundamental development of swing skills and positions instinctively.

Thanks to my father for telling me to do that throughout my golfing youth.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

Today I’ll be discussing sidehill lies, because all lies have an appreciable affect on your impact. I am qualifying my remarks by assuming all set-up variables are equal. My current focus is terrain differences.

In my last post, I discussed how uphill and downhill lies affect impact. We know many factors influence a golf shot’s curvature and direction. But, each factor is knowable. Therefore, we can account for them when planning a golf-shot.

We tend to push or fade our ball off-target when the ball is below our feet. Our impact shallows due to one set of physical factors. Therefore, we are required to steepen impact just to optimize impact. I recommend adapting by opening your stance. Therefore, aligning your feet and body more into the slope creates desirable impact and allows for your lie and clubface to do the rest.

We tend to pull or draw our ball off-target whenever the ball is above our feet. Impact steepens due to another set of physical factors. Therefore, we are required to shallow impact just to optimize impact. I recommend adapting by closing your stance. Therefore, aligning your feet and body more into the slope creates desirable impact and allows for your lie and clubface to do the rest.

In both examples you’ll notice a similar sidehill lie remedy, which is aligning ourselves into the slope. I’ll focus on shoulder movement to answer any confusion you have. Our shoulders function to express our torso position at address. They rotate more horizontally through impact if we stand more upright. They rotate more vertically when we bend over more.

We know that our alignment allows our shoulders to open more or less along our target line by the time we make contact. Remember, all set-up variables in this discussion are “Equal”. Therefore, when we make an alignment change for a sidehill lie, we can still optimize impact by adapting to an optimal set-up.

There are adaptive options for sidehill lies with regard to clubface, torso tilt, ball position, etc. However, set-up variables require their own, individual discussion. Therefore, I’ll be covering set-up variables next. Best Wishes.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

The Open Stance featured heavily at the Masters. It’s a good thing, too. I was ready to write about the hassle and lowlights wrought in Augusta, on Friday, by tens of thousands of coiffed, tightly-wrapped, shaded, and social-butterfly attendees.

Weekend rains seemed to wash ANGC clean of all of its “special people”. An historical difference would take too much time to describe. Suffice it to say, I was hugely relieved that rain fell the last two days. As a result, true, well-mannered devotees remained to peacefully enjoy great golf at the greatest venue in golf. And, did I mention, the Open Stance made several appearances?

I could list all the golfers who instinctively know what I know. However, it would be easier to list the players who didn’t employ an Open Stance. Whether it was a chip shot or a full shot, there seemed to be a consensus about how to get around Augusta. In fact, seven of the top ten set up open… and I’m not sure about Smith and Leishman.

As a nutty aside, I watched Bubba putt his ball into the front bunker at #2! Dad and I looked at each other like, what just happened? However, it didn’t seem to bother Bubba in the least. He flopped out his bunker shot and made a one-footer for par like it was no big deal. Yes… I know he is good.

In the end, the rain was the biggest blessing ever. To me, this weekend was my greatest Masters experience yet because of it. I was able to enjoy the company of father and Uncle without undue distraction. And, at the same time, was able to watch my Open Stance boys tear it up.

Jordan, come see me soon, and I’ll put you in the fairway so you can shoot four rounds in the sixties…. I’m not joking.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

I love the line in Top Gun when Mav answers the incredulous ‘Charlie’ how, if he was above the MiG, could he see it? With forearms crossed in an X, he answered, “Because… we were inverted.” No one believed him. We heard, “Bull-+=t!” from Iceman. Apparently, Mav and Goose were not supposed to be able to pull off an Inverted, negative 4-g dive with a MiG-22. Not withstanding Hollywood effects, an inverted position must have been a daring move, at the least.

Inverted means upside-down, inside-out, or backward – no matter which way you spin it. It is a position that makes repeatability a very dicey proposition, whether in a jet or in a golf swing. It’s bad for your long-term health. But, it’s easier to understand the peril involved in taking a jet for a joy ride than your golf swing. But, let me explain the relative danger in the latter.

I coined the term, “Inversion” to describe the position of the torso in the damaging backswing. I used it in my 2010 manuscript for what would become The Open Stance and Three Short Game Lessons. And, judging by the absence of its use anywhere else, I am left to believe I am the only teacher thinking about the golf swing in original terms. However, I may be an idiot for worrying so much about so little. Nonetheless, if you have an inversion in your golf swing, your spine tilts toward the target at the top.

Creating power is difficult from an inverted position. Your brain employs the correct muscles to support your spine. However, those muscles are the wrong muscles to create power in your golf swing. Thus, you are putting your body in ‘recovery’ mode instead of ‘hammer’ mode as your downswing begins.

There are a number of sufficient indicators that help isolate this problem. A hip slide away from the target is a common culprit. A straightened trailing leg is also common. But, usually, we find it most common in golfers who want to stay connected and keep their head still, but do not, or cannot, turn their hips into their backswing.

A flattened swing plane created by an Open Stance disallows an inversion. Setting up open and maintaining an inversion would doubly-steepen impact, which is an unmistakable error. The need to shallow impact with an Open Stance dictates a flattening process. A neutral or positively-wound torso position at the top is the only way to flatten your swing with an understandable amount of arm run and connection.

Best Wishes for Your Best Golf.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

Every golfer has a path to walk in hopes of finding improvement. And, all teaching professionals have a vested interest in helping people find their way. My favorite axiom is “There is an ear for every voice”. Let’s face it, each voice represents a different path to improvement. However, not every one clears the surest path.

Golfers choose their experts based on ideals like passion, knowledge, creativity, and the like. There is an entertainment value in the teacher-student dynamic, which keeps things lively. Because we are all wired differently, what is engaging to one may bore another.

My research, for instance, has been focused upon disproving that the Open Stance is the path to successful ball-striking. And, in the process, I discovered that setting up open is the perfect expression of a specific intent. Furthermore, I discovered that an intentional, Open Stance set-up eliminates confusion during the adaptive journey.

Instructors as well as teachers make many assumptions when delivering their message. Some are wise and some are foolish. Your key to faster improvement is knowing the difference. Unspoken assumptions may create confusion in students while creating wiggle-room for instructors. Consequently, assumptions not spoken leave an “Out” for instructors.

For example, we know Jack Nicklaus set up open and hit a fade. As a result, people were led to believe that hitting a fade required an open set-up. Likewise, it implied that an open set-up created a fade. And, why not… every article you read about hitting a fade will recommend opening your stance. However, what you were not told actually makes the difference in knowledge-transfer.

The missing assumptions are 1) The target does not move, 2) The student’s Intent with their golf ball is precise, 3) The golfer does not change their movement in a new set up, 4) The clubface angle does change in a new set-up, and 5) Results are immediate.

In contrast, teachers communicate the following assumptions to their students…. 1) A specific Intent with a golf ball shapes the set-up relationship between the target, ball, club, and golfer, 2) Golfers adapt in movement to cooperate with a specific intent and set-up, and 3) Results take time

One path leads to relativism and confusion. The other path leads to simplicity and knowledge. The former is the way of instruction. The latter is the way of a teacher. Therefore, my friends, be cautious when vetting your experts.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

“You have to block the ball to hit a fade”. “Just hold off your release to hit a fade.” “Swing left (RH) of the target to hit a fade.” Have you ever heard any of these tips? Have you ever repeated any of them? What if I told you that all of them were wrong because they were movement-based and, therefore, incidental? Don’t worry. Because, ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to give you the one common swing link in every fade.

You have never heard this before, most likely. I’ve been absorbing swing knowledge since I was in college, and I’ve never heard this from anyone. But, just to be fair… if you have, share who it was. I want to talk to them. The link I share now, for free, will eventually show up on The Golf Channel or in a Golf Publication, as does all my intellectual property… so watch for it. Anyway, here it is.

“The leading arm stays against the body deeper into the downswing.” Copyright Mar. 17, 2018, John J. Wright Ent. There will always be instructors who repeat or craft a message that makes them seem clever. I’ve seen that. I say, spin it any way you want. Wrap it in a beautiful word-picture to distract your students if you must…. The underlying truth does not change.

There are several reasons for several reasons that this works without exception. But, I’m not going to give those to you. I’m tired of feeding the content generator for TV personalities. However, if you write in with the correct question, I’ll answer it for you. Otherwise, you’ll just have to have faith. I want to see TV heads wrap themselves around the axle trying to answer this one.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy