Hi guys,
I think you are really asking the wrong question here. It is not so much about whether you are able to unlearn something, as opposed to are you able to learn something new. I strike this situation in my bodywork clinic all the time with people when rehabbing different chronic issues. A lot of the time, in those situations there is an underlying movement pattern that is aggravating their issue. If I can get someone to put in a small amount of time to learn a new option of movement and apply it in their day to day life, there is often a dramatic change in their issue.
Attitude plays a big part in this adaptation, with the biggest hurdle being the recognition that there is always more than one way to go about doing something and the way you currently do something is not the most efficient or least stressful on your body. From this prospective there is the opportunity to playfully explore new ways of getting the job done. Some of those options will work better and others will not.
Lets take this idea away from golf for a minute and look at a baseball pitcher. Are we going to say that in order for them to learn how to throw a "fast ball" they first need to unlearn a "curve ball" as they are both full wind-up throws and you can only have one way of doing that. No, that would be a totally unreasonable proposition. Yet, when players are faced with learning a new release pattern in golf, this is exactly what they can start to say. I am sure if we asked Brian, he can still handle drag a 5 iron and hit a good shot and with the next ball use the free wheeling release and hit another good shot. He will probably prefer one over the other, but the point is he can do both.
There are no right or wrong ways of swinging a golf club, there are just options. Some of those options are used to learn a flop, pitch, chip, punch and so on, but what I have observed on the forums and at my club is a lot of golfers stop really wanting to learn options once they have achieved a certain level of competency. They talk about their way of swinging as too grooved to learn something completely new because they have been playing like that for the last 15 or 20 years. What really works for them though is a tweak here and a tweak there. This is a load of rubbish as integrating a tweak is the same process as an overhaul, it just lacks the magnitude of change. What they want is an excuse for not really trying something significant. Once you have learned a new swing, and not before the pattern has solidified, it then becomes an option when you are out on the course, hopefully lowering your overall score.
The research in neuroplasticity of recent years shows it is never too late to teach an old dog new tricks. Everyone has the capacity to learn new things at any age and it is more about focusing on, and overcoming the hard stuff in learning a new pattern while not opting for the old way because it is easier at the moment. Eventually the execution of the new pattern will be as consistent as the old one if you dedicate the time to learn it. And as a side benefit in this process you will decrease the deterioration in your brain function as you age.
Christopher
