Play better golf!

Your    swing    is    the     key......

That might sound obvious, but it wasn't always true. In the "old days" of golf, before most of us were born---before WW II---equipment was the biggest equalizer between players. Then, clubs were literally "bought out of a barrel." For example, you might be having trouble with your mashie niblick, so you go to the barrel of niblicks in the pro shop, pick one out, wiggle it and swing it a couple of times. But it's too short, or too light in the head. So you try another, until one feels "sort of right." Then you get permission to "test it on the course." If you like it, you buy it. Otherwise, you put it back in the barrel and try another. Matching up clubs this way would go on your entire golfing career. It seemed impossible to get all the clubs exactly right.

   Now those days are over. We have sets of clubs with matched lengths, grips, shafts, heads, swing-weights and moments of inertia. So all we have to do is find one set that is "right," and the rest will follow. Try this test with clubs you like: close your eyes and have someone hand you one of your clubs. Swing it without grounding it. Then, still with your eyes closed, swing another club. Can you tell any difference, or even which club you are swinging? You probably will not. The swing weights are all matched.

   Sure, new clubs are introduced every year that are advertised as breakthroughs in the game. But these changes are small compared to the huge improvements after the war, and scores on the pro-tour bear this out. Constant sub-par rounds over the last fifty years, at least until Jack and Tiger showed up. They play a game I am not familiar with and are in a league of their own. So, let's talk about the rest of us, and what makes us different from Jack and Tiger: the swing.

   Not much has changed in the golf swing over the past three hundred years. For the vast majority of people (say 99% of all the 100 million players in the world), the golf swing is not a natural thing. You would think that if you could throw a baseball or shoot a basketball, you could hit a golf ball. And for the most part, you CAN hit the ball. It doesn't move. It just sits there. Pull back and whack! But did you hit it the way the club is designed to hit it? If you have a chance to watch the celebrity golf tournaments, take a look at Charles Barkley's golf swing. One of the best on the basketball court, but oh my goodness, "That guy needs lessons," you say, and you're right. And there are lots of Sir Charles's on the golf course these days. Each with their own way of interpreting the golf swing.

   What if you are in the 90% who have semi-passable swings that are pretty grooved? If you want to get to another next level (say 20% better, or a 10 hdcp to a 8, or a 20 to a 16), you need tweaking to improve that swing. Not overhauls, but some help in select areas. And the only way I know how to do that is through lessons: real-time, hands-on observation and direct feedback. Trying to fix something that is not broken is worse then not doing anything at all. But you want to get better. Where do you start? Putt more? Practice the short game? Work on straighter drives? Yes, practice makes you more consistent. But how do you know what to practice, what to fix, and how to fix it?

   Books, like Pinnock and Ledbetter, are fine as help especially the illustrations. But one key element is missing in this type of self-diagnosis: knowing what you are doing---both right and wrong---in the first place. That takes an expert, observing your swing. Not your well-meaning wife, golfing buddy, best friend or neighbor down the street, but an expert: a golf instructor that knows what to look for and how to suggest fixes.

   Everyone wants to get better. I don't know of anyone who is ever happy just being where they are. It's a natural thing to always want to "fix" things. Therefore, you do one of the following:

                1) Do it yourself at home in hopes that the bad stuff goes away and you practice the good stuff.
                2) Just practice the current swing and get more consistent with it; or
                3) Go see a swing doctor.

   Doing the first option is the most popular choice. It is the most rewarding if successful, but the most damaging if diagnosed, practiced and grooved incorrectly. You possibly create more problems then you had before. If successful, you feel better because you did it yourself and that has its rewards -- no cost to you, and the feeling that you can handle the next problem with the same results. Congratulate yourself and feel lucky because you beat the 1 in 20 odds. For every successful self-fixer, you will see 19 ugly swings that worked that day only. Believe me, those successes on the range that day will all go away, only to see another ugly fix to fix the previous fix. The feeling is frustration and doubt. Anger in yourself AND the problem and those do not make a good mix. Frantic lashes at solutions can destroy any of the good basics that might have existed before.

   The second option is a better choice. If you don't try to fix anything you will live with your grooved swing. It might be a bad habit, or a quirk, but it is your quirk and you can play more consistently with a grooved quirk then someone who is constantly fixing their swing all the time. You accept your faults and live with the decision. You will be a happier player in the long run. The difference between the first and second option is that you will win more often. Your handicap may be a little higher then someone else with a better looking swing, but that is the beauty of the handicap system. Every swing is unequal in the eyes of consistency. The better player is one who can play their game more consistently.

   The third option is the correct way to fix that ailment. The only problem is that you may not like the answers that the pro suggests, or resist the change at first. This is a new "feeling" swing, or grip or position and you will say, "That doesn't feel right". That's true, it doesn't. But, it "looks" right and that is what you were missing from this self-fixing process. You were keyed on how something should feel, that you got yourself into bad physical positions that the golf swing was not designed for. So the pro will change that feeling to you. You need to be open for these changes. You know that it is correct because it will work right away. You may not do it every time or without thinking about it, but you will see the results and that will build faith which grows as you get better.

   Be realistic after a lesson. Not every fix will lower your score right away. Changes to any part of your swing will take you out of your previous easily repeatable swing. You will not play as consistently, but you should hit the shot better, longer, and straighter then before. And that should be the reward. The more you play and the more you grove the correct swing, the more consistent you will be.

   Good scores are not always a direct result to a better swing. You can have a beautiful swing and still score like crap on any given day. Golf is a wonderful walk in a littered minefield of disaster. Walk lightly and carry a really small ego.

   So in keeping that small ego in check, take lessons from time to time. I suggest at least 2 a year - one in the beginning of the year and another in the middle. Taking lessons one week after another is only recommended if you can practice 4 times (1 hour each) between each lesson. Otherwise, you are paying the pro to watch you practice which is a waste of your money. So it depends on your ability to practice.

   Take a look at my tips. Treat them like I was there saying the words like in a lesson. Print them out and take them to the range. These are created from the lessons I give at the golf schools and private lessons.

   Good luck and enjoy this game. There are 100 million of us who wish we had what it took to be the rare 1000 that can do it for money. We are not, so treat the game as a game and not a job.

   Take a look at these lessons from actual drills and advice that I give to my students from private and the golf school. Print them out and take to the driving range. Follow the steps and keep them in your bag as reference.