Posted on 10/20/2018 4:44:15 PM PDT by freepdawg
This book was written to fill a gap we believe exists in golf instruction. It comes not from golf pros that have spent a lifetime learning and studying the golf swing and how to teach it. Rather, it comes from the viewpoint of amateur golfers who have struggled all of their lives to not only learn how to swing a golf club correctly, but to also lower their scores.
In that quest, a common and chronic problem has arisen for all of us—the round-wrecker shots we all seem to hit when the pressure is on: either because of the anxiety as we are closing in on a great round or because of the psychological challenges of individual holes or shots.
That chronic and common problem has led all of us to seek out “mental game” solutions. And none of them have worked.
That experience, plus the experience of watching world-class professional golfers periodically hit the same shots that we hit (see next chapter), led us to ponder, on a deeper level, what the hell is going on?
It’s not just that we don’t have the raw coordination of these Pros because they hit these shots too. It’s also clearly not having a great golf swing—because the Pros, who have great swings—hit these round-wreckers.
(Excerpt) Read more at docs.google.com ...
I follow Ben Hogans Five Steps
I couln’t get it to open to more than cover page...... however as a hacker for more than 35 years now I can advise it’s all about minimizing the bad hits. And having a good sense of humor....
The really sad thing about golf is this - the ball went over there because that’s where you hit it.
Some JD and Ativan will level out one’s golf game. No round wreckers...
John Madden wrote a hilarious article in Sports Illustrated in 1988 (pretty sure, but can’t find it) entitled, “You never GET Golf”. One of his best ever riotous pieces.
I have an incredible true story on how addicting golf is, which Tiger Woods recently admitted and stated. It’s more addicting than heroin, cocaine.
My dad was addicted and while he had me swinging a club the day I could walk (almost), and they said I was a natural, I deeply resented the game - because I never had a dad because of it.
Too tired to write true story on addiction to golf, may post it later....
Don Imus once remarked “How tough is golf”after a sports report that stated a eighty plus golfer had made a hole in one and a thirteen year old girl shot a 67.
But for five decades I played golf once, sometimes twice a week. I played on a variety of courses in the Phoenix area.
I was terrible for years. Never took any lessons. Went to the driving range and banged buckets of balls for practice. But I was still a mid-90's player. Bogey golf.
That was until I played a round with a college buddy who was a scratch golfer. He was a pro for a few years.
Watching him strike the ball effortlessly with a smooth, consistent swing, was game altering for my own game.
For years I thought the idea was to hit the ball with the club.
In playing with my friend that day, I realized the idea was not necessarily to hit the ball but to swing the club. The ball would just be there in the way.
Learning and executing that one difference from how I had played the game before was transformative.
With some pointers from my friend and a new-found enthusiasm for the game, my handicap dropped 12 strokes in a year and I made my first hole-in-one.
My swing thought was simple from then on. "Don't try to hit the ball. Just swing the club."
I'm reading this now. Hope it helps.
For sheer fun I would suggest getting a hold of P. G. Wodehouse's Oldest Member stories. Filled with wry wit, and in an uncanny way it seems as if Scotsmen golfing in the early 20th century had the exact same problems to deal with as golfers today.
Best game ever, game of a lifetime, the only honorable game remaining, every shot can feel like a home run.....and I’m not touching anything google.
Ive been playing golf for close to 50 years now and i hate the game. Ive always hated it. Its the camaraderie of playing with friends that enjoy.
Now 60, and after eye surgery last year I just can't see the ball like you should. Many adjustments and different clubs, but the bottom line is I just can't connect with the ball like I used to. But I'm having fun and that's the lesson I learned from my dear old dad.
Fresh air, a beautiful place to spend some time, no worries.
I've never taken a lesson, but I really like your. "Don't try to hit the ball. Just swing the club."
It’s a simple game if you let it be. The swing is optional. Ever watch Jim Furyk with his outside/in draw back. Or maybe the habits of Jack and his clearing the way for the swing just prior to draw back. Lot of ways and approaches. And it seems the pros change their swing consistent with their successes. They will use one until they can’t win with it or they get hurt and have to change it.
But the real success to the game is knowing your limitations and strengths. Most players that play regularly spend time on the range and are confident with certain clubs. So they use them by trying to get to where they can use them for the ability they have with them. If you can consistently hit a 90 degree wedge 105 yards and land it within a 10 foot circle, why wouldn’t you want to hit that shot? So instead of driving the ball 320 yards, maybe in the fairway, and hitting an 80 yard punch shot from the rough or sand that you don’t practice or the clubs are not designed to hit, you hit the ball 295 to hit that wedge. Playing within your limitation and strengths. Makes that putt a lot easier in most situations and you will use a putter more than any other club in the bag in a round. Take advantage of it by creating easier putts with more controlled shots in the short grass more often. Takes the hazards, traps, and bad green spot out of the game.
Simple game. You don’t have to hit it a mile, hit with a smile. Stay within yourself and hit the clubs more consistently with what they are designed to do and you are confident with. When John Daly won his British open, the driver stayed in the bag. Sure he could hit it a mile, but not always in the short grass. He never used it in that tournament. He substituted a one iron and was successful. His only other major was the PGA in his rookie year. But his inconsistent play kept him off the Ryder Cup throughout his career.
But if you’re out there to watch the ball fly, then stay on the range. It’s cheaper and you won’t be holding people up behind and with you. Join them at the ninth crossover and/or the 19th. You will be a happier person. And just as exercised.
rwood
I developed a swing “out of the dirt” when I was a teenager. I won my college championship twice with that swing, playing near scratch golf. After college, for the rest of my playing days, I tried to learn a “real” swing, reading every golf book I could get my hands on and taking lessons from pros. I never again could play anywhere near as good as I did in college.
Did you mean Tiger Woods ? he won the 2006 Open Championship and only hit driver once.
St. Andrews is a wide fairways driving course. Daley used driver everywhere when he won the 1995 Open Championship. He drove 5-6 par 4s and was hitting iron second shots into par 5s
I find that swinging full but not over-powering it, and checking my stance and grip leads to less really bad shots...been hacking for decades and lowest score is a 79 with an average of “sub-90, but not by much”....
My 11 year-old granddaughter has it figured out.
https://www.facebook.com/dancerdon/videos/10155797104966365/
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