Instruction
Answers to the 6 hottest debates in golf instruction
Social media outlets such as Twitter provide an entire new channel to absorb a wide range of golf information, and offers a convenient place for teachers and golfers to argue, too.
As an active Twitter user, I try to read as much as I can regarding the trends and ideas teachers are touting on social media. Some deal with how to swing, others deal with swing positions that are better than others, and my favorite is the debate about technology from old-school and new-school teachers.
Covered in this article are a few of the most debated topics on social media, and my thoughts on the subjects (which are more than 140 characters).
Fitness or Not?
Do swing models work?
One of the biggest arguments between teachers in the golf industry is the swing model concept. There are many people in the golf instruction world who believe their method is better than everything else out there today, and will fight to the grave to prove that it is.
Homer Kelley, in The Golfing Machine, figured out that there were more than 446 quadrillion ways to swing the club (thanks to Top-100 Teacher, Ron Gring for the math), so in my mind there are millions of ways to swing efficiently. I try not to teach the same swing model to everyone, but I will say that there are a few stroke patterns that I teach more often than others. So I don’t teach one model swing; I try and teach a few of them so I can work around the inefficiencies of each player without getting stuck.
The flexibility that comes with teaching multiple patterns is quite useful; it allows a person’s natural motion to stay reasonably intact as they work on their game. And secondly, trying to “re-build” a club golfer’s swing from ground zero tends to be too laborious. Too often they’re forced to play “in between patterns” because of the big change. And there’s no guarantee better scores are on the other side.
Is technology dangerous?
One of the most energized topics is the debate between the old school and new school teaching methods, with Trackman being at the center of the debate. Some experts say Trackman is bad and it’s ruining players because they are playing “golf swing,” not golf. I agree to a point. Other teachers (like me), will tell you that nothing has helped them on the lesson tee more than Trackman.
But let’s discuss the difference.
After all, this IS the information age for golf instruction, as there has never been more information readily available regarding how the body, club and ball react during the swing. While I will say that knowledge is power, I will also tell you that it comes with inherent danger; too much information can hamper a player’s development.
I don’t think technology is wholly bad, regardless of what type you use. But I will say technology used during a lesson is ONLY as good as the person who uses it. If I cannot insulate my players from the information they don’t need to know, then it’s not the technology’s fault, it’s mine!
Trackman is not the issue; it’s HOW it’s used that is the issue. You can use technology and Trackman to teach “feels” or you can tie students into knots. It’s entirely up to the teacher to properly use this amazing technology.
Do you play “golf” or “golf swing”
As briefly mentioned above, have we as a golf community become too focused on playing “golf swing” and not “golf?”
I whole-heartedly believe we have!
It’s not the fault of the players, however. With the advent of affordable technology, golfers can understand more than they ever have and many want this information at their fingertips. This is the age of instant gratification; information about anything is just a touch of a button away. If Teacher A won’t give it to them, then Teacher B will. It’s extremely difficult to make a student slow down enough to learn golf in the old school way with new school technology. So for a while, we may just have to accept that people will play “golf swing” until the masses understand that this is NOT the way to shoot lower scores. The golf world is full of great ball-strikers who can’t score. Why? Because they learned how to play “golf swing” instead of golf.
Figure out what is most important to you; a great swing or a great score. There isn’t a wrong answer, unless of course you’re trying to make a living from playing the game.
What’s a better swing position?
On Twitter, I see threads about this position or that position being better than the other because “X” player did it or “Y” player did it. Two of the most contested positions right now are locking the right knee at the top (versus keeping it flexed) and bowing the left wrist during the transition. And next week it will be something different.
While I have explained my stance on the swing models above, comparing the positions that pros get into and what amateurs should get into isn’t necessarily beneficial. The guys at the top levels of their game could have been great players and tournament winners with ANY swing you put them into. Let’s take Tiger Woods for example. He’s won with many different swings. Why? Because he is a highly skilled golfer and athlete, and was able to understand and monitor those swings. Most club golfers just cannot do this.
Just because someone pulls a bunch of photos off the internet and shows you that player X,Y, and Z is in a certain position does NOT make it the correct position for YOU.
Who is the “best teacher” in golf today?
Simple, the best teacher for you is the one who helps you shoot the lowest scores. Period. I don’t care if you use very little technology or a bunch, the goal is to shoot lower scores and that’s all that matters.
Sometimes for Tour Players it takes a teacher like Butch Harmon who says, “Man you are hitting it like Tiger and Norman did in their prime.” This can give them the confidence to go out and win. Or sometimes they need to listen to the science and psychology of a teacher like Sean Foley who says, “You are swinging the best you ever have and I have the data to prove it to you right here.”
There are different teachers for different players. Find the one who is best for you and your game, and they can be the best teacher in the world for you.
The LPGA Tour is kicking off its 2026 season this week at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, and the pros are dealing with something most Florida golfers rarely face: freezing temperatures.
“It’s colder here than in the UK at the minute, which is a first,” said England’s Charley Hull during Wednesday’s media day at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Even Lydia Ko, who lives at Lake Nona, seemed surprised by the cold snap. “We’re pretty much getting to below zero in celsius here, which maybe in other parts of the country they would be thankful, but when you’re in Florida it is a little bit of a surprise,” she said.
If the world’s best players are adjusting their games for cold weather, recreational golfers should, too. Here’s how to play smart when the mercury drops.
Understand What Cold Does to Your Game
Before you change anything, you need to know what you’re fighting against. Cold air is denser than warm air, which means your ball won’t fly as far. Period.
Hull noticed this immediately during practice rounds at Lake Nona. She mentioned hitting a gap wedge into the 18th hole during a previous win but needing a 4-iron during Tuesday’s practice round. That’s a difference of four or five clubs for the same shot.
Action item: Expect to lose 5-10 yards on every club in your bag when temperatures dip below 50 degrees. Plan accordingly and don’t be stubborn about club selection.
Layer Up Without Restricting Your Swing
Hull admitted she wore three pairs of pants during practice. While that might be extreme for most of us, staying warm is critical to playing well in cold conditions.
Your muscles need warmth to function properly. When you’re cold, your body tightens up and your swing gets shorter and faster. Neither of those things help you hit good golf shots.
Action item: Wear multiple thin layers instead of one bulky jacket. Look for golf-specific cold weather gear that stretches with your swing. Keep hand warmers in your pockets between shots. And don’t forget a good hat because you lose significant body heat through your head.
Take More Club Than You Think You Need
This is where ego gets in the way of good scores. When it’s cold, the ball doesn’t compress as well off the clubface. Combined with denser air, you’re looking at serious distance loss.
The pros at Lake Nona are dealing with a course that measures 6,642 yards but plays much longer this week. If they’re adjusting, you should too.
Action item: Take at least one extra club on every approach shot. In temperatures below 40 degrees, consider taking two extra clubs. It’s better to fly the ball to the back of the green than to come up short in a bunker.
Adjust Your Expectations on the Greens
Cold weather affects putting in ways most golfers don’t consider. The ball is harder and doesn’t roll as smoothly. Your hands are cold, making it harder to feel the putter. And if there’s any moisture on the greens, they’ll be slower than normal.
Ko mentioned that she still sometimes reads the greens wrong at Lake Nona despite being a member for years. Cold weather makes that challenge even tougher.
Action item: Hit putts more firmly than usual. The ball needs extra speed to hold its line on cold greens. Take a few extra practice strokes to get a feel for the speed before you putt.
Embrace the Mental Challenge
Hull said something interesting about cold weather golf: “I like the mental toughness of it.”
That’s the right attitude. Everyone on the course is dealing with the same conditions. The player who stays patient and doesn’t get frustrated by the extra difficulty will come out ahead.
Action item: Lower your expectations by a few strokes. If you normally shoot 85, accept that 90 might be a good score in 40-degree weather. Focus on solid contact and smart decisions rather than perfect shots.
Warm Up Longer and Smarter
This might be the most important tip of all. Cold muscles are tight muscles, and tight muscles get injured easily.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul revealed she’s been protecting a wrist injury that bothered her late last season. Cold weather makes those kinds of injuries more likely if you don’t prepare properly.
Action item: Spend at least 20 minutes warming up before your round. Start with stretching, then hit easy wedge shots before working up to your driver. Keep moving between shots on the course to maintain body heat and flexibility.
The pros at Lake Nona this week will adapt and compete at the highest level despite the cold. You can do the same at your local course by following these tips and keeping a positive attitude.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour, and whether you love him or hate him, the guy knows how to win when it matters. After his LIV Golf stint, the five-time major champion returns this week at the Farmers Insurance Open.
What makes Koepka fascinating? He doesn’t fit the mold. His swing isn’t textbook. He doesn’t obsess over mechanics. Yet he’s won three PGA Championships and two U.S. Opens, regularly making it look easier than guys with prettier swings.
So, what can average golfers learn from someone who treats the game so differently? Quite a bit.
Stop Overthinking Every Shot
Koepka describes his approach as “reactionary” rather than mechanical. While most tour pros grind over swing thoughts, Brooks sees the target and hits it. No mental checklist.
This might be the most valuable lesson for weekend golfers who’ve watched too many YouTube swing videos.
How to actually do this:
On the range, hit five balls where you stare at the target for three seconds prior to addressing the ball. Don’t think about grip or stance. Just burn that target into your brain. You’ll be shocked at how pure you hit it when your brain focuses on where the ball is going instead of how you’re swinging.
Next time you play, give yourself a rule: Once you pull the club, you’ve got 15 seconds to hit. Koepka is one of the fastest players on tour because he doesn’t give his brain time to sabotage him.
If you feel tension in your hands at address, you’re trying to control too much. Koepka’s grip pressure is famously light. Loosen up until the club almost feels like it might slip, then add just enough pressure to hold on. That’s your swing thought: soft hands, see the target.
This approach works better under pressure. When you’re standing over that shot with water left and OB right, the last thing you need is a mental checklist. See it, feel it, hit it.
Play to Your Strengths (Even If They’re Not Pretty)
Koepka uses a strong grip that wouldn’t pass muster in some teaching circles. But he’s built his game around what works for him, elite driving distance and recovery skills. He doesn’t try to be someone he’s not.
Here’s how to build your game like Brooks:
Look at your last five rounds and figure out where you’re actually gaining strokes. Bombing it off the tee, but can’t hit greens? Lean into it. Play courses where distance matters more than precision. On tight holes, grip down on your 3-wood instead of trying to thread a driver through a keyhole you’ll miss seven times out of ten.
Koepka knows he can scramble, so he’s not afraid to miss greens. If you’re deadly from 50 to 75 yards, start leaving yourself those distances on the par 5’s instead of going for them in two every time.
Know when to take your medicine. Koepka in the trees at the PGA? He’s punching out to 100 yards, not trying to bend a 6-iron around three oaks. You’re in the rough with a flyer lie and water short? Hit your 8-iron to the middle and move on. That’s not playing scared, that’s playing smart.
Save Your Best for When It Counts
Here’s a wild stat: Koepka’s putting average in majors is often more than a full stroke better per round than in regular events. He elevates when pressure is highest.
How does an amateur tap into that gear? It’s not about trying harder, it’s about caring differently.
Here’s what actually works:
Decide which rounds matter to you. Club championship? Member-guest? That annual trip with college buddies? Circle those dates and treat them differently. Koepka doesn’t care much about regular tour events, but majors? That’s when he locks in.
Two weeks before your big round, change your practice. Stop beating balls mindlessly. Play nine holes in which every shot has consequences. Miss the fairway? Hit from the rough on the next hole too. Three-putt? Twenty push-ups. Koepka’s practice intensity ramps up before majors because he’s rehearsing pressure, not just swings.
Develop a between-shot routine that resets your brain. Koepka is famous for his blank expression after bad shots. Try this: After any shot, take three deep breaths while walking, then find something specific to notice, a tree, a cloud, someone’s shirt. That’s your reset button. By the time you reach your ball, the last shot is gone.
The Bottom Line
Brooks Koepka’s return reminds us there’s no single path to success in golf. His “substance over style” approach proves that results matter more than looking good.
You don’t need a perfect swing; you need a reliable one that holds up under pressure. You don’t need to hit every shot in the book; you need the shots you can count on. And you don’t need to play great every time; you need to play great when it matters.
Welcome back, Brooks. Thanks for the reminder that golf is ultimately about getting the ball in the hole, not winning style points.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Blades Brown made a big impression last week in the California desert, and not just because he’s only 18. He put up numbers that would catch any weekend golfer’s attention. Most of us won’t hit 317-yard drives or find 86% of our greens in regulation, but there’s a lot to learn from how Brown managed his game at The American Express.
Here are three practical lessons from his performance that you can use on your own course this weekend.
Step 1: Give Priority to Accuracy Over Distance Off The Tee
Brown’s driving stats are impressive. He averaged almost 318 yards off the tee, ranking 12th in the field. More importantly, he hit 76.79% of his fairways, tying for fourth place in the tournament.
Think about that ratio for a second. Brown could have swung harder, chased more distance and tried to overpower the course. Instead, he played smart golf and kept his ball in play.
Your Action Item: Next time you’re on the tee box, ask yourself a simple question before pulling the driver. Do you need maximum distance here, or do you need to be in the fairway? If there’s trouble lurking or the hole doesn’t demand every yard you can muster, take something off your swing. Grip down an inch. Make a three-quarter swing. Do whatever it takes to find the short grass. Brown’s approach illustrates that fairways lead to greens, and greens lead to birdies. He made 22 of them last week, along with an eagle.
The math is simple. When you’re hitting three out of every four fairways like Brown did, you’re giving yourself legitimate looks at the green with your approach shots. That’s when scoring happens.
Step 2: Commit To Hitting More Greens
This is where Brown really separated himself. He hit 62 of 72 greens in regulation, an 86.11% clip that tied for first in the entire field. Read that again. An 18-year-old kid tied for the lead in one of the most important ball-striking statistics in professional golf.
How did he do it? By keeping his ball in the fairway (see Step 1) and giving himself clean looks with mid-irons and wedges.
Your Action Item: Start tracking your greens in regulation. You don’t need a fancy app or a statistics degree. Just mark down whether you hit the green in the regulation number of strokes. Par 3s in one shot. Par 4s in two shots. Par 5s in three shots.
Once you know your baseline, set a goal to improve it by 10%. If you’re currently hitting five greens per round, aim for six. The beauty of this approach is that it forces you to think strategically about club selection and shot shape. Brown’s strokes gained approach number was positive (0.179), meaning he was better than the field average. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be on the dance floor more often.
When you hit more greens, you eliminate the need for heroic short game shots. Brown only had to scramble 10 times all week, and he got up and down 70% of the time. That’s solid, but the real story is that he rarely put himself in scrambling situations to begin with.
Step 3: Minimize Mistakes And Stay Patient
Here’s the stat that jumps off the page: Brown made only three bogeys all week. Three. In four rounds of professional golf against the best players in the world.
He also made just one double bogey. That kind of clean card doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you play within yourself, avoid the big miss and trust that pars are never bad scores.
Your Action Item: Before your next round, decide that you’re going to play boring golf. No hero shots over water. No driver on tight holes just because you can. No aggressive pins when there’s a safe side of the green.
Brown’s performance shows us that consistency beats flash every single time. He didn’t lead the field in any single strokes gained category, but he was solid across the board. That’s how you post numbers and cash checks.
Give these three steps a try. Your scorecard will thank you.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
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pete the pro
Mar 8, 2016 at 4:20 am
Excellent article. If we are after answers and the truth, read on. The vast majority of golfers are playing for fun. To try to improve and have great times whilst playing and practising. However, top pro’s, club pro’s and elite amateurs apart, golfers are not improving. Lots of effort going in, not much result coming out. I know, I know, we hate this fact. There is no poor equipment out there any longer, so it’s not that. It’s so obvious, but rarely discussed. Look, the vast majority of golfers have little idea about what they are trying to achieve. They’re going to the next ball with often a hotchpotch of ideas. Sometimes insanity intervenes, where golf instructors are ratyed “best in the world” and “top 100 instructor”. Measured by whom exactly? If you want results, a clear understanding what to do, consider this…. the best golf instructor I worked with you have never heard of. Superb communicator, the fewest words for the clearest description, perfectly demonstrated. Technically spot on. Best results from newcomers also from instructors you have never heard of – 2 hours instruction, set-up routine, good grip, posture maintained during swing till impact, decent body turn, control over weight to create ball then turf contact, control over swing radius, backside of ball struck, clubface control, on plane on path. That’s 2 hours, a no-name golf instructor, not a launch monitor in sight, the golfer was nothing special but the instructor was brilliant. Most importantly, the player was having fun and was not being taken for a ride. Pass me a soapbox, I could go on for hours on this subject.
RAT
Feb 20, 2016 at 9:08 am
I just want to hit the ball further without back pain later.. I have lost 10 to 15 yards in the last 2 years. I worry that if I swing harder it will hurt my back. But enough with that . I find that some get stuck on wanting to look like a pro in their swing while their distance and direction suffers. I think video helps in ways to cross check along with swing tech data. But each should take things that shows a performance improvement without getting too much into tech by forcing it . Confidence , health and expectations
are always something to figure into your golf swing .
McGruff
Mar 8, 2016 at 10:28 pm
I did a lot of core exercises and now my back pain is gone and the distance is back.
Carl Spackler
Feb 19, 2016 at 1:04 pm
Pro — (par / birdie) score for coming at the subject from a neutral standpoint. ( double bogey / snowman) score for providing factually incorrect information regarding the information stated from one-half (aka one camp) of the two-sided disagreement regarding Right Leg/Knee (action/position) on the backswing. Obviously you either did not pay attention or you’re not understanding the concept. Based on their standpoint and concept at no time did they ever communicate locking the right leg / knee on the backswing. I cannot emphasize that strongly enough. They DO NOT want you lock right leg/knee. What they are saying is that there is a change in Flex of the right leg/knee. There is a huge difference between a change in flax and locking. Personally I think you owe your readers a clarification on that important fact.
tom stickney
Feb 19, 2016 at 6:28 pm
Semantics….straightening it is.
mikee
Feb 19, 2016 at 10:59 am
Excellent article Tom! As a “golf newbie” I enjoy all the info…..it is the information age and once a golfer understands and is able produce an optimal “club path” and “face angle” (with the aid of a decent instructor +/- a Trackman) they’re off to the races. If they can’t do that for whatever reason, then get a set of SGI clubs,do the “home swing” ,accept you won’t have a scratch handicap(play a bogey as “par”) and have fun.
Jim Horn
Feb 19, 2016 at 10:27 am
Value systems can affect the “golf swing” vs “golf” tendencies. For example, a person with a high “aesthetic value” will tend towards the “golf swing”; whereas, a person with a high “results oriented value” will tend towards “golf”. Be nice to have both.
Other Paul
Feb 19, 2016 at 10:07 am
I am looking forward to reading chamblees book. Its basicaly going to rehash what Lucas Wald teaches as well as what Kelvin Miyahira teaches, but in a differnet words then what they used. As someone who has tried to conform to the drive/hold method (And seen massive distance gains), i certainly believe in using a designed method. Its tough to argue with a 20MPH improvement in club head speed. And straighter drives. And less back pain.
McDuff
Mar 8, 2016 at 11:07 pm
Agreed. I took a lesson from Kelvin 2 years ago (after devouring his content) and dropped from high single digits to nothing and now competing with aspiring pros and “professional amateurs” in local compes. Not bad for a 50 year old. Plus, no pain! Brandel has definitely picked up on this teaching…
Eugene Marchetti
Feb 19, 2016 at 9:34 am
I have been a professional tennis instructor for forty years and have played golf for the last twenty. The parallels between the two sports are undeniable: follow basic fundamentals and then build a swing that works for you!!!!! If you aren’t 100 percent confident with your swing then doubts arise, fear sets in and bad results occur. The object of both sports are the same; hit in the court one more time than your opponent and get it in the hole one stroke sooner than the field. It doesn’t matter how pretty your swing looks if it produces good results. Remember, golf is a game of misses. Find a swing that limits your bad strikes and you will enjoy this great game for a lifetime!!!!
DaveT
Feb 19, 2016 at 9:01 am
Great article, Tom! Most of your points hit the nail on the head. I’d like to take issue with a couple of details, but I agree with you on almost everything. Now the details:
*** “Swing model” does not mean the same thing as “model swing”. Your discussion refers to the “model swing” concept, but not to the “swing model”. (FYI, the term “swing model” refers to the mathematical models that biomechanics specialists use to analyze any golfer’s swing.)
*** As to “golf vs golf swing”, most serious golfers should indeed be less focused on golf swing and more on golf. But the majority of people I see out on the course NEED enough of a golf swing to have some idea where the ball is going to go. You can’t worry about golf until you have at least a somewhat competent golf swing. The golf vs golf swing debate assumes a level of competence that simply isn’t there for the novice golfers that we need in order to grow the game.
Thanks again for a great article.
Putty
Feb 19, 2016 at 2:47 am
Who cares. The question really should be, “Can you putt?”
Because any tournament player who can get to any Tour can hit the ball somehow, any which way they choose to swing. But can he putt?
Putty
Feb 19, 2016 at 2:51 am
Because nobody’s going to tell me how I shouldn’t swing or play like Zach Johnson. Why not? Yeah, exactly. Or Jim Furyk. Or Jordan Spieth. And even Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer. All these funny, and funky, unique swings that have won Majors. Those are the swings that should be looked at, and not just their swings, but their overall game and course management and club choices and how and why.
That’s what’s wrong with all these pompous instructors and commentators on TV spouting garbage for the sake of filling the silence on TV.
RoGar
Feb 18, 2016 at 11:13 pm
Hey everyone, it’s golf!!! In this day and age people are trying to reinvent the wheel on a daily basis. Find yoursel a top instructor, exercise, and go play with what works… I golf, therefore I am!
alan
Feb 18, 2016 at 7:13 pm
good read. thanks for writing, i have a buddy that plays a golf swing and is his own worst enemy.
M-Herd4
Feb 18, 2016 at 4:46 pm
Great article Tom. Any tip/drill for a 10 handicap trying to get better at ball then turf contact? Thanks!
prime21
Feb 18, 2016 at 5:09 pm
Put a towel on the ground & pretend the front edge of the towel is a golf ball. Make a swing that misses the towel, but hits the ground after the towel. If you hit the towel or nothing at all, you better figure out how to get more weight on your front foot to start your downswing.
M-Herd4
Feb 18, 2016 at 5:46 pm
Excellent! Thanks! I’ll give it a try.
Alex
Feb 18, 2016 at 4:21 pm
After many years, I still believe in fundamentals Nicklaus style. I’m not sure that methods work per se, they are more like a hair tonic. A swing like Sam Snead’s is timeless. If you want to copy Rory, you’d better be young, strong and flexible, otherwise, you’ll whiff it.
The great golfers of the past didn’t hit the gym, they had a different motion, they used their hips a lot, and they did rotate going back unlike the best players of today. I believe Snead’s or Tom Watson’s are swings to imitate for beginners or older golfers.
juststeve
Feb 18, 2016 at 2:26 pm
There are a lot of ways to swing a golf club but there is only one optimal way for the club to swing. All teachers should teach students to make the club move in that optimal fashion. If that constitutes a “Method” put me down as an advocate of method teaching.
Steve
prime21
Feb 18, 2016 at 5:05 pm
1 optimal way for the club to swing? Well, let’s see, you could swing it inside/out, outside/in, or neutral, so that would make 3. I’m pretty sure someone on tour has won at least once hitting a fade, a draw, & straight. Though, the latter would certainly be the least used or even attempted for that matter. Just out of curiosity though, what is this magical method that optimizes the way the club is swung??? Can you explain this to those of us who are obviously lacking the secret to golf, or will it remain a secret available to only those whom are part of The Optimal Swingers Club?????
Stretch
Feb 19, 2016 at 11:50 am
prime, the optimal way to swing a club is shown by the Iron Byron machine. That said there a lot of different styles that get the club head on the ball in an on the line square and solid strike.
DC
Feb 18, 2016 at 2:04 pm
If the goal is to get more players to play “golf” and not “golf swing,” then teachers should really build the swing around the player’s current level of athleticism and coordination, rather than trying to fit them into a model. Trackman should be used to illustrate what the “home” swing looks and feels like, then give them the feels to correct ball flight and contact issues on the course. After that, give the most forgiving set of clubs they can use (even SGI clubs) and tell them see your shot, hit your shot, and accept the results.
I know its anecdotal, but I spent years wasting away trying to build a swing that can handle forged Players Irons. It got to the point where on the course, all I thought was of swing positions. Maintenance of the swing was too time consuming. After internalizing “new ball flight laws” with Trackman findings and began using SGI’s and hybrids, I don’t have to worry about swing maintenance anymore. I hit the ball with my “home swing” and it goes. If it goes wrong, I rely on a “ball flight law” feel to fix it and use my short game to bail me out. My thoughts on the course are just seeing the ball flights and not swing position. Only now am I actually playing “golf” on the course. It took me a lot of years to get to this point, but it could be done a lot quicker for others if we emphasize the correct things.
prime21
Feb 18, 2016 at 5:20 pm
Thank you for…….NOTHING. What happens if a player is not athletic nor coordinated, do we simply not teach them, or do we tell them to take up fishing? You built a swing that could handle forged players irons? I have read really poor comments on here before, but this one is now the all time worst! Congrats! Whether a blade or a cavity back, isn’t the goal to always hit the center of the face? Or were you so good that you decided to hit it a little off the toe to draw it & a little off the heel to fade it? In the future, please resist the urge to post. I can never get those 15 seconds of my life back & not only did you waste my time, I am now officially dumbed for having read it. Tanks for nuttin Danny! Good luck with your home swing and Big Bertha irons!
Andrew
Feb 18, 2016 at 7:03 pm
Wow – relax!!
Bruce
Feb 19, 2016 at 8:27 am
Actually DC made several good points. I think you’ve shown us that you were “dumbed” before reading the comment or are just unable to comprehend words.
Other Paul
Feb 19, 2016 at 10:02 am
Chill dude. You commented enough times on what everyone thought of this article. Move on.
IhaveNoDoubtPrime21HasHighBloodPressure
Feb 19, 2016 at 6:04 pm
Judging by your repeated negative comments on all matter of posts, you are, 1). One of the great trolls of all time or, 2). The most miserable c*nt of all time.
Either way, congrats for excelling in your field.