Golf Is A Game

If I could clone you and you played a match against your clone and I caddied for your clone, we would beat you every time! Why is that?

Golf is a game. Games are played using plans, strategy and tactics. Influencing these factors are your physical abilities and limitations. Decisions are therefore made taking into account all these components. Unfortunately, a player’s pride clouds his judgment and causes him to make poor decisions.

Almost all amateurs under-club on their approach shots.

Almost all amateurs under-read break on their putts.

It may be “Drive for show and putt for Dough” but if you don’t drive the ball well, you can’t putt for birdies!

Recognizing How Each Student Learns

There is a lot of talk recently about method swings and method instructors. I shy away from these instructions and instructors. Some examples of a method swing are “One Plane”, “Stack and Tilt” and “Natural Golf”.

I believe that we are all made slightly different physically. It is these differences that cause us to move, walk, run, throw and swing differently than anyone else. When we perform any of these motions we use the areas of our bodies where we are strong and protect or guard areas where we are weak. For example, a person with a short, round build cannot and should not try to swing the club like someone who is tall and thin. It is therefore the instructor’s responsibility to recognize these differences and find what the student can and cannot do repeatedly and build a swing from the building blocks laid before him by each student.

An instructor must listen to his student and ask about their physical, emotional and psychological background as this will lead to finding the correct swing for that individual. For example, a person who has a history of back problems cannot swing like a younger person with no back problems.

A good instructor will recognize early in the lesson, how each student “learns”. That is, some students learn quicker with creative queues based on feel and timing and imagery, some may need to see their swing on video to understand. Other students may learn better allowing the club to move through a string of positions. It is the instructor’s job to find what clicks with each student and develop the lesson plan accordingly.

Practice Makes Permanent

We have all heard “Practice makes perfect”. In golf, practice doesn’t make perfect, practice makes permanent. If we continually practice old (bad) habits and poor technique we are just fortifying a bad swing.

While you want to use the same swing with every club in the bag (except the putter!), you should still practice with every club.

When you practice, you should practice with a plan or purpose, otherwise you are just exercising.

If given the option of practicing bad habits or not practicing, it is much better not to practice!

While practicing the short game is boring to some, it is one of the best ways to lower your score.

Positive Mindset

On given the option of a positive mindset or “beating balls”, the positive mindset is exponentially better than just practice.
A positive mindset will win out over talent in the long run.
The key to great performance is being comfortable in the situation. The key to developing that ease is in narrowing your focus and building and following a routine.