DGS49
Diamond Member
Golf is one of the most frustrating sports to play, and the game is never mastered. Even "good" golfers have occasional strokes that are terrible for no particular reason. You don't see that on television, but for actual golfers it is a reality of the game.
And there is a very good reason for it. Striking the ball "properly" is impossible, as a practical matter.
Think about it. The ball is just sitting on the ground, not moving at all, as in other sports where you have to strike a ball. But in order to hit the ball perfectly, the face of the club, which is following a circular path, must strike the ball at the INSTANT when the tangent of that circular path is facing forward toward the target, AND at the instant when it is at ground level, having traveled from a spot above the golfer's head down to the ground (and beyond, for iron play) where the ball sits. So you are working with two different radii, one going around the golfer's body, and one from high to low (and back up again after the ball is struck). And I hesitate to mention it, but there is a THIRD radius that must be dealt with and that is the radius of the 90-degree wrist turn that is executed as the club rotates back to the top of the swing...and must be rotated in reverse to perfect alignment before striking the ball. It is this last rotation, when it's not done fully, that causes most golfers to slice the ball with their tee shots. They didn't bring the face back into alignment with their wrists before striking the ball.
If you start golfing shortly after you leave the womb and you have the benefit of competent instruction, then you can embed a "perfect swing" into your muscle memory, and you don't have to think about striking the ball ever again. You can limit yourself to "shaping" the perfectly struck ball according to the strategic needs of the particular shot. For those of us who tried to learn the game as adults, that level of unconscious skill never occurs. You will go to your grave THINKING ABOUT how you are going to hit the ball properly, which is an impossible thing.
YouTube is loaded with golf gurus who all have a magical formula for achieving this perfect ball-striking, time after time. They have different approaches to the same task, and obviously all of them have successes with individual golfers, for whom their particular approach "works." The reason why they need these magic formulas is because lacking that childhood learning experience it simply will not do to tell everyone to just swing like Tiger Woods (or one of the other professionals with a "perfect" swing). It cannot be done.
Most famous of the gurus - for those who follow it closely - is/was a Canadian fellow called, Moe Norman. Moe was a self-taught golfer - never had formal instruction - who devised his own method of hitting a golf ball that met the "two-tangents" problem head on, and in the process broke every rule of ball striking in the process. Those who have never seen him hit the ball develop a giant question mark over their heads the first time they see him in action...What The ever-loving Fuck is he doing? And yet he is still known, many years after his demise, as one of the best "ball strikers" in the history of the game. Looking closely at his swing, it is obvious that he has perfected the task of forcing the club face into perfect alignment with the target line, not just on a tangential basis, but for a foot or more in the heart of his swing. But his swing is incompatible with everything that golf pro's tell their students, so trying to emulate his swing is an act of blind faith.
His graceful but unorthodox swing address the three rotations fully and drives the club face through the ball in a perfect plane for an incredible arc of the swing.
But my point is this. Learning how to golf is nothing more (or less) than figuring out a way to get the club face pointed in the right direction at the split second when it strikes the ball. Which is not possible.
And there is a very good reason for it. Striking the ball "properly" is impossible, as a practical matter.
Think about it. The ball is just sitting on the ground, not moving at all, as in other sports where you have to strike a ball. But in order to hit the ball perfectly, the face of the club, which is following a circular path, must strike the ball at the INSTANT when the tangent of that circular path is facing forward toward the target, AND at the instant when it is at ground level, having traveled from a spot above the golfer's head down to the ground (and beyond, for iron play) where the ball sits. So you are working with two different radii, one going around the golfer's body, and one from high to low (and back up again after the ball is struck). And I hesitate to mention it, but there is a THIRD radius that must be dealt with and that is the radius of the 90-degree wrist turn that is executed as the club rotates back to the top of the swing...and must be rotated in reverse to perfect alignment before striking the ball. It is this last rotation, when it's not done fully, that causes most golfers to slice the ball with their tee shots. They didn't bring the face back into alignment with their wrists before striking the ball.
If you start golfing shortly after you leave the womb and you have the benefit of competent instruction, then you can embed a "perfect swing" into your muscle memory, and you don't have to think about striking the ball ever again. You can limit yourself to "shaping" the perfectly struck ball according to the strategic needs of the particular shot. For those of us who tried to learn the game as adults, that level of unconscious skill never occurs. You will go to your grave THINKING ABOUT how you are going to hit the ball properly, which is an impossible thing.
YouTube is loaded with golf gurus who all have a magical formula for achieving this perfect ball-striking, time after time. They have different approaches to the same task, and obviously all of them have successes with individual golfers, for whom their particular approach "works." The reason why they need these magic formulas is because lacking that childhood learning experience it simply will not do to tell everyone to just swing like Tiger Woods (or one of the other professionals with a "perfect" swing). It cannot be done.
Most famous of the gurus - for those who follow it closely - is/was a Canadian fellow called, Moe Norman. Moe was a self-taught golfer - never had formal instruction - who devised his own method of hitting a golf ball that met the "two-tangents" problem head on, and in the process broke every rule of ball striking in the process. Those who have never seen him hit the ball develop a giant question mark over their heads the first time they see him in action...What The ever-loving Fuck is he doing? And yet he is still known, many years after his demise, as one of the best "ball strikers" in the history of the game. Looking closely at his swing, it is obvious that he has perfected the task of forcing the club face into perfect alignment with the target line, not just on a tangential basis, but for a foot or more in the heart of his swing. But his swing is incompatible with everything that golf pro's tell their students, so trying to emulate his swing is an act of blind faith.
His graceful but unorthodox swing address the three rotations fully and drives the club face through the ball in a perfect plane for an incredible arc of the swing.
But my point is this. Learning how to golf is nothing more (or less) than figuring out a way to get the club face pointed in the right direction at the split second when it strikes the ball. Which is not possible.
