114 Things to Think About in Your Golf Swing
I consider myself one of the top golf teachers in the world. Golf is a very precise game and I use slow motion video extensively to show the student their swing and what they have to do to make better contact. The golf swing is a very complicated motion with many variables and components. However that being said it is also a motor skill similar to walking. The end result is not to think about how we hit the ball, it is just to trust yourself and your training and let it go.
I’ll keep using the analogy of walking. When we were young and crawling around we decided, “Hey, I think I will start walking†and up we got, however the initial attempt probably ended up in falling down and going “Boom-boom†(I wonder if Freddy Couples got his name from this). Many more attempts were taken before we took our first step and many more before we could go without falling. Our parents just let us try and applauded our effort. They didn’t say oh you fell, try throwing your arms out to balance or once we started to walk, they didn’t say okay put right arm forward and swing your left arm back while putting your right foot forward, now swing your right arm back and bring your left arm forward etc.
One of the problems in golf is we swing and we miss and after a couple of attempts we start to analyze it to try and figure out what went wrong or someone else close by offers their advice, usually someone we know. “You swung to fast†or “Your head came up†or what ever else this well qualified golf expert guesses at why you were not successful. So taking the advice, we meet will success and hit the ball so we think that’s it, we must keep our head down. A couple of shots later, disaster again and our trusted golf guru suggest that our arm wasn’t straight so we try it and voila! It works. So now my beautiful swing is good as lond as I keep my head down and arm straight. All this has happened in a few shots. As I said earlier golf is very precise so the ball can go flying off in much different directions with just the littlest bit of difference.. After completing the course the golfer has determined that he meets with success if he keeps his head down, arm straight, a slow backswing, follows through, keeps his forearms close, tilts his head, bends his knees, does something with his pinky finger, pulls his right foot backs, and swings slow and easy. Next round he starts out trying to remember everything.
As you can see where this would lead, just swing and have fun. I am not saying that you do not need to take lessons to improve your golf from a qualified teacher to understand your motion and practice to make it more precise but when you are playing, trust your swing and have fun. Don’t analyze every swing. Relax and swing. Most of my time is spent getting rid of thoughts and ideas than giving them. I think we are fortunate that many of us learn to walk before we can communicate or think about it, otherwise there would be walking schools and thousands of books written on the mechanics and secrets of walking!
