Connect with us

Instruction

Why most golfers aren’t improving as fast as they should

Published

on

Improvement happens when our current skillset is challenged to adapt and expand to a new level. So, in order to improve, we need to learn to embrace the challenges that will lead us down the path of improvement.

Unfortunately, most of us have learned to fear challenges. It makes sense. Challenges often led to failure, which can lead to humiliation and embarrassment. They can make you feel lousy. If we can get past our egos that are trying to protect us from failure, however, we can come to see that challenges are the only route to improvement. From there, we have a chance to enact real change and long-lasting improvement.

When you’re practicing golf, you need to look beyond the results or the awkwardness of learning a new technique or skillset. Coordination in the golf swing is everything, and sometimes the changes that are needed are not all that big. They may feel like enormous changes, though, because there is a difference between feel and real.

Golf is a game of improvement. In this video I share my thoughts on how you can get started in your process of improvement. Please enjoy, and feel free to interact with your comments and thoughts.

Your Reaction?
  • 13
  • LEGIT1
  • WOW0
  • LOL0
  • IDHT2
  • FLOP5
  • OB0
  • SHANK27

Adam is a PGA Professional and TPI Certified Fitness and Medical Coach. He enjoys working with golfers of all ages and levels of expertise, and his approach is to look at every golfer as an individual to try to help them achieve their goals as effectively and efficiently as possible. He is also the author of two books: The Golfers Handbook - Save your golf game and your life! (available on iTunes and Amazon) And his new book, My Mind Body Golf Coach Adam also offers online lessons and offers a monthly membership to help golfers stay committed to the process of improvement. All this and more can be ordered through his website www.golfadamstevenson.com "The golf swing may be built from the ground up, but the game of golf is built from the head down" - My Mind Body Golf Aside being an author, Adam is also a public speaker, doing workshops and lectures introducing concepts of athletic movement for golfers of all ages and levels of expertise.

7 Comments

7 Comments

  1. namthan

    Sep 24, 2018 at 3:15 am

    This article has inspired me to golf and also some minor deficiencies. See more at golf to be more complete

  2. A. Commoner

    Sep 23, 2018 at 7:11 pm

    Of course he’s just trying to make a buck; but with such drivel!? Harvey Penick, Jackie Burke, et al come back and educate some of these “pretenders.”

    • ogo

      Sep 23, 2018 at 11:26 pm

      Adam is a PGA Pro and a TPI Certified Coach. His knowledge of golf and the golfswing is scientifically based. Penick’s only good observation was: “Golfers are gullible.”.. Little Red Book, page 72. Burke, et al are obsolete.

  3. engineer bob

    Sep 23, 2018 at 1:49 pm

    It’s scientifically documented that your game will suffer once you try to change your golfswing. It takes at least 90 days of intensive practice before you engram your neuro-muscular system and your brain operates automatically. That’s why most golfers refuse to “improve”. They are stuck in their incompetence because change doesn’t “feeel” good.

    • Johnny Penso

      Sep 23, 2018 at 6:59 pm

      I offer my own anecdote as evidence this is true. I took at much more serious approach to the game starting last year but my goal was to do it with the same swing I always had, only better. Although I did have marginal improvement of 1-2 strokes on average it wasn’t good enough for me. I knew I had to change my swing on all shots from small chips to the driver. I studied a lot of instructional stuff online, made a ton of changes and it took 3-4 months to kick in but it’s finally coming together. I’ve only broke 80 on a 6000+yard course once and that was 2 years ago. My last 5 rounds have been 80, 77, 76, 80 and another 78 today. Most importantly was the consistency and my late round strength Today for example I was 7 over (par 71) going into the last 2 holes. They are two of the toughest holes on the course at a combined 850 yards from the whites. On 17 I pushed my drive into the rough and lost about 20 yards and had to hit a 5 wood onto the green. I crushed it and ended up about 20 feet away. Easy 2 putt par. 18 plays about 435 and I hit a good drive up the right side and sat 195 from the flag. I hit a solid 4 hybrid that took a bad bounce and ended up in a depression to the right of the green. Tough chip out of thickish rough, about 45 feet, to a slightly elevated green that ran away from me the whole way. Put it up to 5 feet and made the putt.

      Key thing was, as I stood over each shot I had the confidence to make the correct swing and execute the shots because I had spent so much time analyzing my own swing all year. I’d been in that situation several times with my old swing but it never held up under pressure. Now it does. It’s a tremendous feeling that only comes with lots of practice and being realistic about your tendencies and your limitations.

      • ogo

        Sep 23, 2018 at 11:22 pm

        You are a fantastic golfer with an amazing kinesthetic ability to control your body. It took Faldo 2 years with Leadbetter to overhaul his swing, and then his career took off. You were able to make your changes in 3-4 months!!! Wow!!!!

  4. dj

    Sep 23, 2018 at 1:02 pm

    Well… you can skip the first 40 seconds and the last 20 seconds. I can sum it up in a few words. Be prepared for change to improve.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Instruction

Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

Published

on

Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

Your Reaction?
  • 0
  • LEGIT1
  • WOW2
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK2

Continue Reading

Instruction

How a towel can fix your golf swing

Published

on

This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.

For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.

Setup

You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.

While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.

Get a Better Shoulder Turn

Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.

In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.

Stay Better Connected in the Backswing

When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.

Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.

Conclusion

I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.

Your Reaction?
  • 11
  • LEGIT1
  • WOW2
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP2
  • OB0
  • SHANK8

Continue Reading

Instruction

Clement: Why your practice swing never sucks

Published

on

You hear that one all the time; I wish I could put my practice swing on the ball! We explain the huge importance of what to focus on to allow the ball to be perfectly in the way of your practice swing. Enjoy!

 

Your Reaction?
  • 0
  • LEGIT0
  • WOW0
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK2

Continue Reading

WITB

Facebook

Trending