Instruction
Instruction: What is the ball doing?
John Jacobs, the great British instructor and one of the greatest teachers of all time, was one of the first to ask the question: “What is the ball doing”?
It seems a simple enough question to me. What does the ball do when you hit it? There are a finite, not infinite, number of possibilities.
The golf ball has initial trajectory, starting direction, spin and curvature. That’s it. All four of those characteristics are progammed at impact — the 0.ooo4 seconds the golf ball is on the face of the club. And to break it down even a bit further, the golf ball gets its marching orders half way through the impact interval!
Side note: From the start of 2013 to the time the average tour player gets to Augusta for the Masters, he has had the golf ball on the face of the club about a second in tournament time. By the time of the U.S. Open, about two seconds, and maybe 4 seconds for the entire Tour season. Impact is a very short period of time! But in golf, impact is all that matters.
As Jacobs often said, “Golf is what the ball does.” Or even better: “The purpose of the golf swing is to apply the club correctly to the ball. The method employed is of no consequence as long as it can be repeated.”
This was, believe it or not, grounbreaking stuff back in the 60s. Before Jacobs, the golf community was largely concerned with “shoulds.” The club should be here, the body should be there, etc. He suggested there are no “shoulds” beyond impact. The elbows don’t hit the ball, the hands, legs, hips or arms don’t hit the ball. The body moves the golf club; the golf club moves the ball. So I learned to teach by asking three simple questions:
- What is the ball doing?
- What did the club do that made the ball do what it did?
- What did the player do that made the club do what it did?
To suggest any other way is mere folly.
I was fortunate enough to learn from Jacobs and a few of his disciples, and I can assure you that I would never have succeeded in golf instruction over these last oh so many years, had I bought into the conventional wisdom of the time — teaching the prototypical positions we are all supposed to be in to play good golf.
My take on this is pretty simple, apparently radical in its simplicity: If a player spins around three times and hits the ball with one hand, and hit fairways and greens, they have a great swing. Period. They have balanced their equation, they have matched their components.
The danger of the internet age, particularly the burgeoning golf blogosphere, is reversing this trend. When someone asks me to “look at my video” the FIRST question I always ask is: What is the ball doing? What is your general shape, trajectory, spin, distance, etc?
How can anyone look at swing and start critiquing it without knowing how that person hits the golf ball? The video of Alan Doyle’s swing below is a prime example of what I mean.
[youtube id=”CC4hgHucPY4″ width=”620″ height=”360″]
His swing, without knowing what it accomplished — 11 Champions Tour wins including four majors — would be picked apart mercilessly on the cyber school of golf. And most everybody would be dead wrong about them. Nobody can actually see impact. Even TrackMan and Flightscope estimate variables based on other information that the GOLF BALL is supplying.
For every position it is suggested someone should be in, I can find some Hall of Famer NOT in that position. From Jack Nicklaus’ flying elbow to Lee Trevino’s”caddyshack” move, it does not matter if they get the club to the ball as these great players do. And the same goes for the average golfer.
Let me give you an example — suppose you have a noticeable sway off the ball in your backswing, and an upright backswing that is quite narrow. Let’s say the ball flight problem is sculled, half topped shots and late slices. Someone sees a video and suggests that you take care of that sway and be sure and stay more over the ball. Why? Because the prototypical swing should not have a sway — it looks bad, it’s not textbook and it MUST have something to do with your problem. Well, you have added a narrowing element, your pivot, to another narrowing element, your backswing. Now you can’t hit it all. You just moved the bottom of a too forward arc even farther forward!
Another example: Your backswing is very flat. And you have a reverse pivot (weight going to left side in takeaway). Suppose impact is a very shallow, drop kicking some drivers and shallow topping irons. Someone looks at your video and says, look at that reverse pivot. Let’s fix that because well, because great players just don’t reverse pivot. So you learn to turn “properly” in the backswing, and now you are so flat you can’t hit a ball teed up 6 inches! The correction here for me would be simple: Learn to swing your arms and club in the air and LEAVE the reverse pivot alone until you start to get just the opposite impact, which in this case is quite steep.
I could go on and on with these scenarios but I think you get my point. If your impact is not solid, something is wrong. That something has to be corrected, NOT everything. And if you need two things corrected (the most I ever correct is two) the order in which they are corrected is vitally important if you don’t want to hit it worse. It’s all about balancing the equation and finding compatible variations for your own swing. So if you post a video and you want it analyzed, it needs be complete with a full description of ball flight and all its characteristics. And even then there is just no substitute for being there.
I can HEAR a slice, a top, a toe, and I can tell then from a mile away; but it’s a feeling an instructor gets that just won’t ever come from video analysis only. A lot of players have gone down dark roads trying to make their swing prettier. The hall of fame is filled with “ugly” moves. Let impact be you guide and fix only what needs fixing.
As always, feel free to send a swing video to my Facebook page and I will do my best to give you my feedback.
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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joro
Mar 13, 2013 at 11:02 am
This is a great article. It also reflects the teaching method of Butch Harmon and most of us old teachers. The days when we corrected what is wrong and based it on what the ball is doing. Today is all “science”, machines, and teachers who don’t have a clue. They try to make everyone have “the perfect” swing, and that is impossible. THe perfect swing is what works for you.
As a teacher for over 50 yrs. I will say that today Teaching is one of the biggest scams going, along with more distance is what it is all about. A good teacher is a teacher that teaches the basics to non gifted players, and corrects a problem in better players. And then of course, believe it or not there are some people who just do not have what skills they need to get better and will forever be stuck with what they have, teach them to have fun and enjoy the game.
Bottom line is that Golf today is so over taught and over hyped it is ridiculous. More games are ruined than helped by all the theories and lessons are ruined by turning them into a video game. Equipment is better than ever but unfortunately the “fitters” have no idea what they are doing, nor do they know anything about the product they push. Good luck to todays student and club buyer.
inall
Mar 12, 2013 at 5:35 pm
I often come across a guy on the course who hits a big banana slice but hits it pretty far. He just aims way left and the ball lands in the fairway. Does the same for approaching the greens. Plays to a low handicap.
Gary Lewis
Mar 12, 2013 at 1:10 pm
I like what you have to say and I am a BIG John Jacobs fan. Based on my misses it seems my issue has been too much in to out for quite awhile now, main problem has been push fades, straight pushes, some draws. Since trying to switch to a Sean Foley type swing (Stack and Tilt Lite as Jeff Mann calls it) things are improving. What other kinds of misses will you see if you are swinging down too much inside to out?
Doug
Mar 12, 2013 at 12:04 am
Spot-on article. I took a series of 5 lessons at the end of last years golf season from a pro to try and shave a few strokes off my 3.9 index. The pro hooked me up to motion monitors and used video analysis to compare my swing to tour pro swings and by the end of the series, my swing was disjointed wreck. I’ve spent the winter doing nothing golf related in the hopes of flushing away his lessons from memory.
Walt
Mar 2, 2013 at 1:22 pm
Another thing I disagree with is using someone like Trevino or Doyle as examples. For that matter any tour player with a non cookie cutter swing. Why? Because they constantly hit balls with their funky swings.
The majority of golfers might hit balls once a week if even that much. If you have an oddball swing and just try to hit balls that infrequently you aren’t ever going to get anywhere with your swing.
But if you have a mechanically simple swing that doesn’t require as much maintenance to keep it solid then you can get away with less practice time.
For this impact concept to work you must be repeating something in your swing. And the less complicated your swing is the easier it will be to repeat.
Dennis Clark
Mar 2, 2013 at 3:36 pm
Oddball is a catch phrase that connotes less-than-conventional. Once a swing gets into a groove, it repeats, conventional or not. You have to trust it. Like Bruce Lietzke. I saw him start a ball out over the middle of the water on #9 at Doral. He TRUSTED the fact that the ball was cutting back. Every time. I played with a guy who won a state open once who played a 30 yard hook on every hole. His path was probably 7-8 degrees inside out!
Walt
Mar 2, 2013 at 8:34 pm
Right. You are missing what I am writing. An unorthodox swing needs more maintenance from everything I have seen in my golfing life. You can do something odd and if you repeat it be my guest but you need to really work on the timing and mechanics of your unique swing.
Lietzke did what he did but he hit lots of balls to groove that feeling.
What do you do with the golfer with the bad swing that doesn’t hit at least two bags a day?
If he can’t come back once a week and repeat his flaw that works he is lost.
Walt
Mar 2, 2013 at 8:47 pm
Let me state this another way.
Golf is a repetitive game. It really helps if the golfer can do the exact thing he is doing over and over every time he swings the club. In fact great success can come from it. A strange swing can be great. This I fully agree with.
But…the worse of a golfer you are the less you stick to doing the same thing over and over. You fiddle with your grip, you fiddle with your takeaway. You fiddle with…yeah every single part of your swing.
You are only looking at this impact from they aspect of pro golfers with funky swings make em work. Yes they do, I see it too, but I know they don’t just walk out there and swing funky. They work really hard at it.
So what does the 20 handicapper who isn’t even sure how to hold the club supposed to do? They can’t read the ball flight when the ball doesn’t fly the same way each time.
I know what you are saying though, I have read Jacobs books and I agree with the concept.
I am just saying its much easier to tell one of the collegiate golfers at my range how to turn his baby fade into a straight ball or a tight little draw.
But the older gentleman I talk to with the issues I wrote about above fights something different every time I see him out there. Fat shots, bladed irons, shanks, then a good shot, then a hook. I mean literally anything can happen when he takes the club back.
You can’t just say its all about the ball flight when the ball isn’t consistently flying out of there.
Dennis Clark
Mar 3, 2013 at 6:23 pm
Walt,
Im not talking about Jacobs book here. I relating my 30 years, 35,000 lesson experience. Again, everybody’s swing repeats if they have been playing even for a little while. And the ball flight is what identifies what is incompatible in the swing. I finished a weekend school today and all the students have a better understanding of what they need to change based on the shots (or lack of them) they hit. IF the ball did this (rolled, shanked, topped, sliced whatever) THEN you did this. Lack of consistency in ball flight does not equate to lack of consistency in PATTERN. The degree of it perhaps, but the general pattern is very repeating. These things fall into a pattern when you do this every day for as long as I have. Thx for reading and replying
Andrew Cooper
Mar 5, 2013 at 5:18 am
Walt, I think the idea that unorthodox swings require more maintenance is a myth. I’d actually suggest they need less work- they are that player’s move, he’s not TRYING to do anything, he’s not TRYING to swing like somebody else, he’s just making HIS swing. I think the old one about technically “perfect” swings holding up under pressure is similarly not true for the same reason. I’d also say in terms of career longevity, the guys who find their swing early, stick with and learn to score tend to do ok.
Leitzke rarely practiced, yet he topped or was near the top of GIR for years on the PGA Tour. In Europe, we had Colin Montgomerie, who also rarely practiced, had very much his own swing, and obviously was as consistently good as anyone tee to green in Europe for a 10, 15 year spell.
I remember Trevino saying he felt his swing would always hold up BECAUSE of the seemingly unorthodox move-it was his move. That’s an inner confidence that players who’re constantly trying to perfect a move, or correct their “faults”, swing into positions, trying to swing like their favourite tour player that week e.t.c. will never find.
Walt
Mar 2, 2013 at 1:15 pm
I agree with this and with John Jacobs.
But one thing has me question how to apply this method. The “bad impact” then fix it with one or two things has to be based on the fact that the golfer is repeating that bad impact, right?
What do you do when the golfer hits it low one time, high another, hooks it and slices it swing to swing?
There is just this type of golfer at my range. He has a terrible reverse pivot, takes the club back insanely flat, comes over the top and hits with all his weight on his back foot.
The ball goes everywhere. So where do you start when the player is unable to repeat bad impact?
Dennis Clark
Mar 2, 2013 at 3:14 pm
First of all golfers swings fall into patterns. Out to in is out to in. Period. NOBODY goes from that path to in to out on the next swing. My job would be infinitely harder if they did. But here is what youre missing…An out to in path can produce slices, pulls, tops, toes…But the PATH is still the problem and THAT does NOT vary or change until it changes.
Adrian
Feb 28, 2013 at 9:30 am
Absolutely fantastic article and I will be passing this information on because I love how you put it. I have been working with a couple friends trying get them to understand the ball flight laws and how to get the shots to fly the way they want them to, and after getting one of my friends to execute draws and fades on command in just a few minutes he then asked me “how did his swing look?” I told I didn’t really care how his swing looks and wasn’t even paying attention to the positional aspects of his swing I was simply trying to “talk him into executing the shot shape and that was it.” The shot shape obviously told me everything that I needed to know. He also thought I was crazy when I told him that I was listening to his impact because I told him that solid impact makes a distinct noise that I call ” cracking eggs” because it sounds like a raw egg being dropped on the kitchen floor to me. Great Great article….I have been lurking around this forum for over a year but I will definately be joinging now!
Steve
Feb 28, 2013 at 5:26 am
This really IS a great article – Way too much is made over picture-perfect video swings and virtual lessons. I actually forced myself to use a ‘putting guru’ template and struggled for a season before going back to my not-so-good, Nicklaus-style-putts, with far better results.
Like Harvey Penick Said: “Use the Swing God has Blessed You With, and Go Play Golf.”
3Puttnomore
Feb 27, 2013 at 11:35 pm
As the old saying goes, ‘Golf is a game that can be taught… It can’t be learned, but it CAN be taught’… I think what this means is that we all have in ourselves an innate ability to hit the ball correctly. We just have to find it.
Turn & Release
Feb 27, 2013 at 8:08 pm
Dennis
Another great piece. You have a way of explaining things that other instructors (at every level) seem to talk around so far; that i find myself back at the beginning and with more questions then when I started. I balanced equation makes perfect sense! However, I assume that you are talking about players that have been playing and repeat their mistake over and over again. I’m sure many new golfers see balls flying in multiple directions. In the case of junior or new player would you not point them in the direction of “text book” swing? Just for a better chance of making contact.
I have to say; I read all these articles, and most of them are noted by 200-300 people on other websites. I love your writing and look forward to reading what you have to say because it always makes sense and gives me fresh thought for several days.
Big Fan!!