Having a lifetime of “doing athletic stuff” behind me, including many things where I have had to hit balls, I took up golf at age 51, expecting to become fairly proficient in a relatively short time. I was very disappointed.
I took group lessons, individual lessons, and internet instruction. I read books, magazines, and watched YouTube videos. I bought videos claiming to teach you magical systems or techniques that would make golf easy as pie. I bought training aids, special clubs, cheap clubs and expensive clubs. I practiced, and practiced, and practiced some more. In the winter I practiced at home in front of a mirror and then went to indoor driving ranges to keep myself at my best.
Ultimately, I learned some very frustrating things about golf that nobody will ever tell you. First, you will never develop a “perfect swing” because there is no such thing. Second, no matter how confident you are that you are doing the “right thing” when you are swinging the club, you are not, because YOU DO NOT LOOK LIKE YOU THINK YOU LOOK. That is, when you see yourself on a video playback, you don’t look anything like the mental picture you have of yourself swinging the club. It just doesn’t work that way. Finally, and most frustratingly, you will always be encountering golfers who do everything “wrong,” but are much, much better than you are.
Most golf practice is worse than worthless. I say this because unless you already have a “perfect swing” (which doesn’t exist), practice is simply repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Nobody improves through practice.
As proof, I point to the Senior PGA Tour. If practice makes perfect, then those golfers would be better than the PGA tour pro’s – especially with their putting. The distance they have lost through age – maybe 10-20 yards off the tee - is not enough to cost more than one or two strokes per round. But they are not better than the touring pro’s. They are no better, in fact, than they were when they were 21 years old. The only reason their scores are marginally better (for those whose scores ARE marginally better) is because they have played these same courses hundreds of times and know the fairways, hazards, and the greens. And the clubs and balls are better now. In fact, a lifetime of practice, and millions of repetitions later, they are no better now than they were when they first got their tour cards.
And not to pick on Tiger, but he is no better – despite at least three MAJOR swing changes over the years – than he was when he first got his tour card and won the Masters. Almost 30 years ago. The numbers don't lie.
So how do you get better at golf? Simple: you figure it out for yourself. You forget about the Perfect Swing, and try to find a swing technique that works for you, keeping in mind certain constant factors that can’t be gotten around. You can't move around while you are swinging, you have to position the ball correctly, and so on.
You try all of the techniques that are caroming around the Golf World, and see which ones work for you. Look at “Natural Golf.” Look at “Stack & Tilt.” Look at “Square to Square.” Look at A.J. Bonar’s videos. Look at all of them, and give each one of them a try. Chances are, you will find a tip that is helpful in each one of these sets of instruction. The ultimate goal is to develop a repeatable “swing” that works for you. And unfortunately you will have to do the same thing with chipping and putting, which are strokes that must be learned independently.
So before you go out and waste $20 hitting buckets of range balls, do some research, pick a technique that you think might work for you, and try hitting those balls using that technique, It probably won’t work, but there are at least a half dozen systems that are currently being used by top amateurs and pro’s. Check them all out and give them a try. That’s the only way you are going to get better. There is at least one thing that is worthwhile in all of them and you just have to figure out what it is, and take it for yourself.
And just for giggles I will reveal my latest “secret,” which is borrowed from the “Stack & Tilt” school. NO WEIGHT SHIFT. With S&T, you are advised to address the ball with most of your weight on your front foot, and keep in there throughout the swing. Don’t shift your weight back on the backswing. It sounds crazy, but it accomplishes one vital purpose: it keeps you completely steady during the entire swing, which near-guarantees that you will hit the ball perfectly every time – just as you aligned the ball at address. You would think that you would lose swing speed without a weight shift, but you don’t. It is amazing. That’s my one tip, and it ain’t even mine. I also recommend watching a few Square-to-Square videos, as they will help you avoid allowing your wrists to flop around during the swing.
I took group lessons, individual lessons, and internet instruction. I read books, magazines, and watched YouTube videos. I bought videos claiming to teach you magical systems or techniques that would make golf easy as pie. I bought training aids, special clubs, cheap clubs and expensive clubs. I practiced, and practiced, and practiced some more. In the winter I practiced at home in front of a mirror and then went to indoor driving ranges to keep myself at my best.
Ultimately, I learned some very frustrating things about golf that nobody will ever tell you. First, you will never develop a “perfect swing” because there is no such thing. Second, no matter how confident you are that you are doing the “right thing” when you are swinging the club, you are not, because YOU DO NOT LOOK LIKE YOU THINK YOU LOOK. That is, when you see yourself on a video playback, you don’t look anything like the mental picture you have of yourself swinging the club. It just doesn’t work that way. Finally, and most frustratingly, you will always be encountering golfers who do everything “wrong,” but are much, much better than you are.
Most golf practice is worse than worthless. I say this because unless you already have a “perfect swing” (which doesn’t exist), practice is simply repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Nobody improves through practice.
As proof, I point to the Senior PGA Tour. If practice makes perfect, then those golfers would be better than the PGA tour pro’s – especially with their putting. The distance they have lost through age – maybe 10-20 yards off the tee - is not enough to cost more than one or two strokes per round. But they are not better than the touring pro’s. They are no better, in fact, than they were when they were 21 years old. The only reason their scores are marginally better (for those whose scores ARE marginally better) is because they have played these same courses hundreds of times and know the fairways, hazards, and the greens. And the clubs and balls are better now. In fact, a lifetime of practice, and millions of repetitions later, they are no better now than they were when they first got their tour cards.
And not to pick on Tiger, but he is no better – despite at least three MAJOR swing changes over the years – than he was when he first got his tour card and won the Masters. Almost 30 years ago. The numbers don't lie.
So how do you get better at golf? Simple: you figure it out for yourself. You forget about the Perfect Swing, and try to find a swing technique that works for you, keeping in mind certain constant factors that can’t be gotten around. You can't move around while you are swinging, you have to position the ball correctly, and so on.
You try all of the techniques that are caroming around the Golf World, and see which ones work for you. Look at “Natural Golf.” Look at “Stack & Tilt.” Look at “Square to Square.” Look at A.J. Bonar’s videos. Look at all of them, and give each one of them a try. Chances are, you will find a tip that is helpful in each one of these sets of instruction. The ultimate goal is to develop a repeatable “swing” that works for you. And unfortunately you will have to do the same thing with chipping and putting, which are strokes that must be learned independently.
So before you go out and waste $20 hitting buckets of range balls, do some research, pick a technique that you think might work for you, and try hitting those balls using that technique, It probably won’t work, but there are at least a half dozen systems that are currently being used by top amateurs and pro’s. Check them all out and give them a try. That’s the only way you are going to get better. There is at least one thing that is worthwhile in all of them and you just have to figure out what it is, and take it for yourself.
And just for giggles I will reveal my latest “secret,” which is borrowed from the “Stack & Tilt” school. NO WEIGHT SHIFT. With S&T, you are advised to address the ball with most of your weight on your front foot, and keep in there throughout the swing. Don’t shift your weight back on the backswing. It sounds crazy, but it accomplishes one vital purpose: it keeps you completely steady during the entire swing, which near-guarantees that you will hit the ball perfectly every time – just as you aligned the ball at address. You would think that you would lose swing speed without a weight shift, but you don’t. It is amazing. That’s my one tip, and it ain’t even mine. I also recommend watching a few Square-to-Square videos, as they will help you avoid allowing your wrists to flop around during the swing.
