Improve your golf skills
 

Welcome to our golf Archive. Have fun browsing!

 

Article #261: Your golf swing is good enough

(Browse for more articles)

 
If you watch the Golf Channel or read any spent. This would primarily be in the
of the magazines and books on golf, it area of the short game and the mental
will be very hard for you to miss the game.
basic theme that "There is a perfect This is absolutely true for the average
swing and you will do the most for your golfer but it may be true for all golfers
game by trying to get it". Even when you as well. There is loads of evidence on
watch a tournament on TV, you see the the pro tours that the ones making the
commentators participate in this money are those best at chipping and
conspiracy by showing us frame-by-frame putting. The golf research guru himself,
analysis of the pro and critiquing his Dave Pelz, actually followed tour players
her every move. Now, maybe we can give around for years taking detailed
the TV guys a break because they are just statistics and he proved it (see his
trying for some entertainment value and book, My Short Game Bible). In addition
let's face it, most of us are interested to that, there are too many pros to list
in the details of the swing because we've that admit that their swing is not
been brainwashed by years of this theme. "technically correct" or maybe not even
For many years, I too was a "swing very good...BUT THEY WIN TOURNAMENTS!
zombie" in my quest to improve my golf Look at Jim Furyk, 2003 U.S. Open winner.
game. I even participated with a group of He actually has a big loop in his
golfers that all had our swings backswing. Lee Trevino always told people
videotaped and then we critiqued each that they should not copy his swing. Even
other in a classroom setting. The Jack Nicklaus says in his books that he
feedback I received from all of us wasn't a very good ball striker. Bruce
watching my swing ran from "very smooth" Lietzke has won tournaments on the PGA
to "way off-kilter". Everybody had a and Senior tours playing his
differing opinion of many of the swings left-to-right shot his whole career - And
that we watched and at least for me, it he says he rarely practices! On top of
only confused me more. that, the tours are littered with past
In my younger years, I had a typical champions that totally lost their game
amateur slice swing that obviously came AFTER they tried to change it for the
out of my years of playing baseball and better. And now they are begging their
softball. In those days, I would just aim sports psychologist to help them "find"
for the left edge of any fairway and I their old swing.
could count on the ball moving left to I have talked to PGA golf instructors
right, at worst ending up in the right that say it's their clients that want the
rough but usually hitting the fairway. I swing advice (just like I did) even when
enjoyed playing golf those days but I they recommend working some other part of
always felt that something was missing. their game first. So maybe it's our own
So when I could finally afford it,I fault for the most part in creating the
decided to take a set of lessons from a current situation where average scores of
pro. Of course I told him that I wanted amateurs has not dropped one stroke in
to get rid of my slice swing and he asked the last 50 years despite the advances in
me back "are you sure?". This answer kind equipment technology. Now don't get me
of shocked me but he was a very good wrong, if you are a true beginner, you
instructor and by the end of the lessons, really should start out with learning the
I was able to hit the ball out of bounds basics of the golf swing. But if you're
both ways, left and right. I figured that hitting it solid most of the time and
it would just be a matter of time until I finding the fairway half the time, you
"dialed" in to hitting it straight. To are good to go for a real scoring quest
make the story short, 5 years later and I as more swing advice is not the quickest
was still "dialing" and getting wrong way for you to drop your score. There is
numbers (ob, jail, water,no score just so much more that you can do, on and
improvement, etc.). off the course, that will pay you back in
Looking back, I honestly believe now that saved strokes for far less time spent
if I had stuck with my old left to right than changing your swing. Most of us have
swing and just used the rest of what I precious little free time that we can
learned from the pro, that I would have work to improve our games so why not work
improved significantly. Why? Because I on that which will give us the greatest
was a typical golfer and not a 15 bang for our (time) buck?
handicapper trying to become a And so, let me be the first to make a
single-digiter. Studies have shown that pledge to the golf spirit inside me (I
the overwhelming majority of amateur always thought that golf is like
golfers shoot in the 90's or above for religion):
men and it's over 100 for women. If you I for one, do solemnly swear that I will
are in that group, then you really should not pay attention to any swing advice of
be working on parts of your game that any sort until I can score in the 70's
will give you far more efficient score consistently with the swing I have (and
improvement for the time and effort maybe not even then).






1- A- B- C- D- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9- 10- 11- 12- 13- 14- 15- 16- 17- 18- 19- 20- 21- 22- 23- 24- 25- 26- 27- 28- 29- 30- 31- 32- 33- 34- 35- 36- 37- 38- 39- 40- 41- 42- 43- 44- 45- 46- 47-