THE PLAYERS COACH

Growing up, I was always taught the fundamentals and some “key” elements in the golf swing to focus on… I’ll discuss the benefits and negatives of both the old school golfer and today’s modern day golfer.

These “tips” were some of the main reasons that I developed swing flaws I fight 20 years later. I started playing golf in the mid 90’s, self-taught trying to “dig it out of the dirt”. With that came so good and bad habits that I developed.

THE GOOD

I learned how to score my golf ball. Luckily I had a head pro at my local course that played at Arizona State University and understood the importance of playin on the golf course. As a kid, I did a lot of that. I developed a mindset for scoring my golf ball that most players today struggle to find. The modern era of golf technology has definitely led to better golfers today, but many recreational, junior golfers, and even golf instructors struggle to blend the technology with the art of playing the game.

I learned the core fundamentals... and practiced them daily.  With technology like trackman launch monitors and boditrak, we get so typed up in the data that we forget how to be an athlete. What other sport do we focus solely on technique and data when going to see our coach for practice? Just golf, which is one reason why it is the most frustrating sport in the world.

THE BAD

Swing smooth and keep your head down…. I don’t want to blame anyone, we just simply did not know what “swinging smooth” was. Most people translate swinging smooth, slowing down through impact – or decelerating. The slower your body moves through impact, the shorter you will hit it and you will rely on the timing of your hands to flip to hit the ball.

Instead golfers should SWING HARD…. but first, they need to understand HOW to correctly swing hard. An easy thought for me is this –

  1. Smooth, slower paced backswing (comfortable to my natural tempo/rythm)
  2. Smooth, slow and controlled at the top of my swing (transition – backswing stops, transitioning to downswing)
  3. Swing as hard as I can – WITH MY BODY ROTATION – hips, glutes, core… while at the same time having the most relaxed upper body as possible (I like to imagine my arms feel like noodles, they just drag behind my body turning down to the ball)
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