RSS
Chapter Links |
- Yogi Berra |
I am convinced that anyone can learn to play golf and play golf well. What most golfers’ lack, however, is a simple blueprint of exactly what they are trying to build. As a result, their golfing lives are filled with flashes of success and littered with miles of failure. Their games are held together by glue, duct tape and a never ending barrage of “tips” supplied by their friends and anyone who has played golf for at least one more day than them. It is in fact, a really tough way to try and have fun!
Imagine approaching your life in business with the same attitudes. Imagine showing up to work with money on the line, changing your strategy for success day in and day out. Chances are you wouldn’t make much progress. There has got to be a better way!
Learning to play great golf is simple. 1. Understand what you are trying to build, then 2. Pick the right tools to build it! You have to find a belief system that makes perfect sense in your mind, then you have to utilize the tools, concepts and ideas that consistently revolve around that plan, unwavering in your belief and sense of purpose.
Keep in mind, that there are a number of models that players use to play golf and play it well. Even a player with a unique swing like Jim Furyk has a blueprint. He fully believes in a set of fundamentals that have yielded success over the years and continually works within that same framework. A great golfer has to have thick skin because there are tips coming your way from every direction. Once you believe in something it has to become your “religion”. Only then, will you be armed to easily fend off temptation.
What I have outlined for you in this book is my blueprint for playing golf. I think you’ll find that the principles, concepts and ideas will help you get a crystal clear picture of how simple and fun this game can be. Only with belief and purpose can you hope to truly play great forever!
Find a belief system that makes perfect sense in your mind, then you have to utilize the tools, concepts and ideas that consistently revolve around that plan unwavering in your belief and sense of purpose.
- Ben Hogan |
This statement by Ben Hogan is the genesis behind every golf lesson I give to every golfer that shows up on my lesson tee. Unless they are an accomplished player, they very likely have no idea how golf is meant to be played and their games definitely show it!
On-line vs. Off-line games
| “Straight swings hit curved shots, whereas curved swings hit straight shots. It is this lack of understanding that makes golf so difficult for the average player” - Jeff Ritter |
In general, I like to divide sports into two basic kinds of games. There are games where you stand on the same line as your target and games where you stand off or away from the target line. Basketball is a perfect representation of an “online” game because when you are shooting, it is clear that you are indeed standing directly on the target line. Furthermore, accurate shooting requires that you also “move” in a linear fashion along that line with your shooting arm. Shooting darts would be another example of an online movement where standing and moving toward the target are necessary for success.
| | |
| Basketball is an example of an on-line game | Baseball, like Golf is played from an off-line condition |
Golf, Baseball, tennis, Hockey and sidearm throwing all obey the arc. Since we are standing to the side of our intended line of flight, it is imperative that the club swing on an arc that moves away from the target line, touches the target line, and then swings back away again. In essence we are swinging in a perfect circle and there are no straight lines in a circle. Tips such as swing down the target line or swing to right field like you may have heard do not obey the law of the arc and usually cause more problems for golfers than good. It is the law of the arc that constitutes the “design” for playing golf. This is the fundamental concept that is at the root of every shot you will play.
“The greatest ball Strikers swing their club online the least NOT the most!” - Jim Hardy |
| Perpetual Motion Now that you realize that we are playing in an arc, imagine your swing as being 3 circles formed by the body, arm swing and club path. For all shots, lest putting, the circles must stay in motion. Any online or arrested movements will disrupt impact. Here I feel as if I am simply throwing the club back around me to the left. The balls on the turf show a natural arc that moves well off the target line on both sides. |
The Car and the Groceries- How understanding perpetual motion will cure the chipping flip!
I bring this up in the full swing section only because it is so relevant to maybe the most common problem I see in the short games of my students. I’m sure you have all experienced a situation where you were driving down the street and maybe weren’t quite ready for a red light. If you jammed on the breaks and had some groceries or books on the passenger seat, they likely shot violently forward as the car came to a screeching halt! Conversely, I’m sure you’ve had similar items on the passenger seat that stayed right where they were as you continued to drive smoothly to your destination. In golf, stopping the circular movement of your body and handle causes your club head, much like your groceries to violently jump forward and out of position at impact. This occurs most commonly in little chips and pitches where it’s hard for you to imagine continuing movement for such a small shot. To cure the chipping and pitching hand flips, just keep driving your car or keep your circles moving and your groceries or club head will stay right where you want them.
