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There are
as many ways to swing a club as there are golfers. Just
look at the tour players; are there any two that are the
same? Each player has a swing `fingerprint’, all different.
As a
teacher, I need to know how every swing works best, and when
they go astray, how to get them back on track. But as a
player, you only need to learn what works best for your
fingerprint.
It would
be helpful at this point to have a coach or instructor to
work with. Another set of eyes, and a person with years of
expertise, can help you to more quickly identify your
patterns and where you tend to make detours.
Back to
the theme of this series; to hit the ball better you need:
· To get your
mind in the right place
· Understanding
swing technique
· Practice
THE
EVOLUTION OF A GOLF SWING
Just like
peeling an onion, there are layers in the development of a
great ball-striker. Skipping one level will come back to
haunt you. For example, a poor grip has to have a poor
swing to match it.
In the
next few articles, I would like to discuss the levels, much
like the different colored belts in karate, that a golfer
needs to pass in order to be able to control the ball flight
with consistency. Instead of belts, I will call them bag
colors. Along with that, I will bring up the obstacles and
illusions we encounter in passing through the various
levels. The levels I will explore are:
· Make Contact
(white belt)
· Airborne
(yellow belt)
· Stop Slicing
(orange belt)
· More Distance
(green belt)
· Solid Contact
(blue belt)
· Stop Hooking
(brown belt)
· The black belt
level will be discussed later
Many of
you reading this have passed on to higher levels, but
perhaps you have friends who are learning. Hopefully you can
begin to steer them in the right direction.
LEVEL
1: Making Contact, White Belt
This has
to be the starting point of any golfer. First the clubface
must connect with the ball. One of the first questions I
ask a new student is `what are you trying to do, what are
you thinking about’; the most common answer: `I’m just
trying to hit the ball’. There’s nothing more humbling than
a whiff.
Obstacles to Level 1
Sometimes
the very thing you are trying so hard to do is what’s
keeping you from doing it. If that sounds like a Zen Koan,
or an impossible statement, follow along. In trying to hit
the ball, as the sole task, we forget about swinging the
club. We also forget about sending the ball to a
destination. Like trying to look at your own eye, trying
too hard to hit it (outcome) gets in the way of the motion
of the club needed to hit it (process).
What
makes matters worse, is the well meaning advice from
friends: `keep your head down, I’ll watch the ball’, and
other such half-truths. These only exacerbate the
outcome/hit oriented intent that keeps people stuck in level
1.
Overcoming the Level 1 Illusion:
The way
to evolve out of Level 1 to the next layer of the onion, is
by beginning to place your intent in the right place. Think
`swing the club’, and you will begin to discover a few
important facts.
· A swing is an
arc
· An arc has a
low point (bottom of the arc)
· If the ball is
placed at the bottom of the arc (this will change in a later
layer), then the ball will be hit with regularity
· Although you
should gaze at the ball, you don’t need to think about it
This is
the path out of Level 1 to Level 2. Learn to swing the club
to a place where it swishes the ground in a fairly
consistent place, place the ball in that place, and you will
be hitting the ball, without even thinking about the ball.
Next
time, getting the ball airborne with regularity |
