“This Tip Doesn’t Work!”
Tell me if this sounds familiar.
You pick up a new swing tip somewhere. You go to the range, and you try to implement it. Nothing happens. You try it some more. Nothing happens. You get frustrated and discard said tip because “it doesn’t work.”
If you’ve never experienced this, you’re clearly on the wrong site because you’ve never golfed before. In this lesson, I’m going to tell you why that happens and how you can stop it from happening ever again.
This Lesson Is For You If:
You want to learn ways to fix your swing on your own
You’re trying to make a big change to your golf swing
You’ve tried tweaking your swing but aren’t seeing results
You Aren’t Trying to Do It Wrong…
Let’s start with this basic realization: no one is trying to swing the club badly. There is no one on a golf course anywhere who addresses the ball and says, “I’m going to move my head wildly, change posture three or four times, bend every joint I have, and then bury the club in the dirt three inches behind the ball.” We are all doing our best to do the right things and make great contact.
This is important to recognize because tips often seem to assume we’re trying to do things wrong. When someone says, “Keep your head still” (which may or may not be good advice), they don’t realize that you’re not trying to move your head. This is why, when you try to “keep your head still,” nothing happens. You were already trying to keep your head still!
…So Try to Do It “Wrong”
We can solve this problem by trying to overdo the correction. Let’s stick with the example of “keep your head still” and assume that the problem is that the golfer is moving their head dramatically away from the target during the back swing. Instead of trying to stay still – which you’re already doing – try to move your head forward during the back swing. This gives you something to do that’s different than what you’re already doing.
This idea can be applied to almost any change you want to make. If you’re trying to rotate the club open more during your takeaway, try to get the club face pointed at the sky when it gets to hip height. If you’re trying to maintain flex in your right knee in the back swing, think about squatting deeper than you were at address.
Whatever change you want to make, aim well past it, and you’ll have a better chance of getting there.
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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10 Comments
Great tip Matt! Was on the TST site the other day and the discussion centered on deliberate slices/hooks and how to do such when getting out of the woods trouble. Your advice was where it centered – learn to overdo the change. Then when you “need” to slice around a tree or hook the ball around bush, you can on demand. Over correct to know what that feels like, so you will know what to do when needed.
I’ fit well and truly into the multiple thought checklist when addressing the ball category. When I hit the range to get some well need d practice there’s always someone who feels compelled to give me some free advice on golf swing …. “Don’t move your head” “slow down” etc etc
I’ll be trying this for sure
#SecretGiveaway2021
This is actually great advice that I had never thought about before. I’ve had this happen multiple times and I’ve just started golfing. Some things seem to help and others I can’t seem to figure out so I might have to try this tactic the next time I’m on the range or the course. #SecretGiveaway2021
Great advice! Reminds me about muscle memory. I think it i s a great tip to practice the overdo shots so you cam “pull them out of your bag” when you need them. #SecretGiveaway2021
Golf is a game of opposites
#SecretGiveaway2021
Dear Matt. one question which would help me enormously concerning becoming a top class short game player.
for example, if I already have good teqnique with a wedge and practiced a 100 yard shot every day for hours on end, would I become almost perfect from 100 yards. Sure as a golf pro I know must be good from all distances, this is just a question. Would love to know your thoughts. kind regards, David
David,
I think something that’s EXTREMELY helpful for players at all levels is to understand where the ceiling is. We can use the PGA Tour stats as a pretty good estimate. Currently, the PGA Tour Leader from 100-125 has an average distance to the hole of roughly 15 feet. Tour average is 20 feet. We also need to understand that this is an average, meaning that for every ball they hit to 2 feet, there’s one they hit to ~40 feet, which might not even be on the green. There is no “perfecting” golf. Even at his peak, Tiger missed short putts (VERY rarely, but the point stands). Working hard and striving for greatness is laudable, but if our goal is to run a 1 minute mile, we’re going to end up gravely disappointed.
I wrote more about this here: https://pluggedingolf.com/right-size-your-golf-expectations/
Best,
Matt
Matt, thank you for your reply. I hope its OK just ask one more thing. I have 6 months off now to prepare for next golf season. I want to get as good as I can from 100 yards and in. Do you have any articles on perfect practice, Thank you so much. regards David
David,
What do you mean by perfect practice?
-Matt