Do you realize that your mishits are fractions of an inch off of a perfect swing? The pros hire a team to find their weaknesses and to get themselves back on the road to success. Recreational golfers can take lessons and prey for success but I so often hear that a lesson has destroyed a friend’s golf game. So what should you be doing to take corrective action to become a WINNER?
The problem with the game of golf is that the slightest change in your emotions or your swing or the ground that you are standing on can destroy your next shot. A gust of wind can make you tighten up or swing faster. A slight slope on the ground can throw your ball left or right or create fat shots. A simple practice swing at your planned speed for your next shot can tell you a lot about your potential success. You need to find the keys for perfection in your drives, fairway shots, chipping and putting.
You need perfection in every swing with every club before you try to play a course like this. Dream on!
Every golfer has different strength and swing imperfections. What works for one person may not work for you but you need to sort out the simple tricks that will work for your swing.
Why Not Try the Success Found by other Golfers
1/ Longer Drives: Wilco Nienaber, one of the longest drivers on the PGA Tour, recently revealed his secret to hitting the ball 400+ yards. He changed to a 3/4 inch longer shaft and slowed down his backswing. He has a very straight arm in his backswing where his driver never reaches horizontal. Why fight a high speed backswing when you really want a high speed downswing.
2/ Sink More Putts: My wife was frustrated with her recent streak of poor putts. I told her that she must be putting down into the ball as her ball is bouncing off the ground at the point of impact. She ignored my suggestion (for about a year) to move the ball forward when putting until yesterday. She played 9 holes with the girls and shot a 40 with 6 pars. She was excited to tell me that she had moved her ball forward to a point off her leading heel. “You’re welcome.”
3/ Eliminate Slices: Take a wide backswing like Rory McIlroy and shallow your downswing so that your trailing elbow nearly grazes your rib cage. It will help you drive your shots straight up your target line.
4/ Consistent Hits: Eliminate extra angles by keeping your leading wrist flat in your straight arm backswing and your downswing.
5/ Stop Swinging for the Moon: Swing with a commitment to finish in balance. That will slow down your swing and improve your percentage of fairways and greens hit. Be happy with a 200+ yard drives and chose less lofted clubs with a lower swing speed to hit your target landing area.
6/ Matt Wolff has a pre-shot swing routine and a swing that just does not stand up to consistency. Don’t try it.
7/ Ben Hogan saw a unique move in one of Bobby Jones’ training films. He said that Bobby “shortened his left thumb to keep the club under control for repeatability during his backswing. He found that it works.” But not for me!
Practice your swing with every club for simplicity and excellence. Eliminate angles to take control of a golf swing that suits your mind and body. GOLFSTR+ is a great starting point to train your mind to minimize angles in your swing. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com
Golf Truism #67: There are 2 things you can learn by stopping your backswing at the top and checking the position of your hands: how many hands you have and which one is wearing the glove.