By John Furgurson
I started fiddling around with my golf swing the other day. It’s a rite of spring actually… almost as predictable as the azalias blooming at Augusta. I get all fired up to play, but my game isn’t what it was last October.
The drives aren’t predictable. The irons, not sharp. The putting, pitiful. So in an attempt to find that elusive something that’s missing, I start fiddling around on the driving range…
Hit a ball. Watch the ball flight. Hit the next one with a minor correction. Watch what happens to that. Repeat until the bucket’s empty.
Sound familiar?
It’s nothing but experimentation and compensation. It’s not fun, and it never produces noticeable improvement. It does, however, introduce new problem shots that I’ve never seen before.
“Wow, where’d that come from?”
It’s frustrating to feel like you’re starting over every spring. But there’s a flip side to that: There’s nothing better than the feeling of overwhelming relief I get from spending 10 minutes with my coach. That’s usually all it takes to get me back on track.
“Oh yeah, I remember now. I really do have a natural golf swing that works when I’m not messing around with it, second guessing myself.”
Andy’s very good at reminding me of that. He’s a master of subtraction… For him, effective teaching isn’t about adding things to do. It’s about subtracting bad habits. Reducing complexity. Limiting swing thoughts. And just plain simplifying everything.
Unfortunately, it’s human nature to add complexity, not subtract it. We scoff at solutions that are too easy and we resist the path that doesn’t involve a lot of hard work and self flagellation.
Maybe that’s why so many of you choose the do-it-yourself approach to begin with. You have a good, old American work ethic, and you like the pain. Besides, most of you don’t have a go-to guy, like Andy. All you have is the The Golf Channel, the internet, and the monthly magazines chalk full of tips that may or may not apply to you.
But one thing’s for sure: Knowledge doesn’t always translate to performance. It’s like me, trying to figure things out on my own. I can apply all sorts of drills and theories, but I don’t really know which ones will help, and which ones will hurt. It just feeds the cycle of experimentation and frustration.
So forget about it. If you’re falling into that same old pattern of over-analysis, stop it. Do something different. Anything but beating balls!
Play an entire round with just your 8 iron. Get a lesson. Go to a chip & putt course. Forget all the nuances of the swing, and just start the season by having fun out there.
Next thing you know, you’ll be right back to where you left off last year. You might even start subtracting strokes from your handicap.
04/23/2009 at 3:30 am
in Japan with the limited space, practicing your golf swing can be tricky
http://japansugoi.com/wordpress/where-you-live-in-japan-affects-your-golf-game/
03/27/2010 at 9:40 am
I’ve only read a couple of chapters but from that sample the book is very good. The book is an easy read- informative without being technical and the right amount of anecdote is mixed in. The only negative I can find so far is the actual writing style. After hearing him talk & realizing his age at the time of publication the words don’t seem to be his voice. It seems that editors style is most prevalent. It’s not a problem once you get used to it though it was a disappointment at first.
Jeffrey L. Levitsky