My love affair with swing technique really started when, after a series of back surgeries, I decided that I had to change my swing if I were going to continue playing competitive golf at the professional level.

I realized that my upright backswing and bent back finish needed to be a flatter, more rounded motion that ended up with my upper body more on top of my lower. I began to study Ben Hogan, and to this day, the videos of his swing and the instructional books he authored are the foundation of my own teaching preferences. The instruction I give is also the result of having continued to pursue playing at the highest level of competition while maintaining a busy teaching schedule at a private club.

I have taught the game to players of all levels from beginner to Tour player. Today, most people who have worked with me directly or that know me through my online instructional videos should be familiar with my teaching philosophy. Summarized, I believe that golf is really a technique game in which a good swing hits good shots and you need to hit enough good shots to compete and perhaps win. And by “good” I mean “effective,” which applies to all swings, including pitching and putting.

Golf is a Hard Game

There are a few things that might set my teaching apart from what one might consider conventional. For one, I believe that there are no quick fixes when it comes to improving swing technique. Every change affects something else. While it is possible that one idea may cause other things to fall into place, it just as likely that one change may mess other things up and create even more problems. Therefore, it is very important to have an understanding of how any attempted change will affect other areas of the swing.

Second, I believe that most changes need to be combined with another change in order for any of it to work. I realize that “keeping it simple” is one of the great buzz phrases of the teaching industry, but the game is truly complex and there is really no way to keep it simple. Unless, of course, you have been blessed with incredible talent and can do things correctly without much conscious thought. If you are like me and don’t fall into the category, you should find comfort in knowing that players having that level of talent are extremely rare.

It is hard to be a beginner and it’s hard to get to the next level, no matter what level you’re on. When you finally think you’ve “got it,” it can quickly and mysteriously leave you, for no good reason other than you went to bed and woke up the next day. I know this because I have been playing competitive golf since I was 12 and I have been teaching golf to every imaginable level of student for 27 years. In my career, I have left the game three times, twice due to injury and once for poor play. Each time I was lured back inside of two years and I have realized that there is really no way around the fact that I am a golfer for life.

Developing Good Technique is Physically Demanding

My goal, as it is with all my students, is to provide readers with an honest perspective of the game gleaned from my many years of experience and to offer information and direction to those seeking to improve. One thing you won’t get from me is a promise that anything I say will cause you to improve instantaneously, unlike most teaching methods which spout the same message:

“This (whatever method) will have you hitting the ball better instantly!”

Of course, we all know this is rubbish, but boy do we want to believe that it’s true. Unfortunately, the process of improving one’s technique is long and arduous. It is full of pitfalls, plateaus, and then, perhaps, if you are fortunate, the odd, exhilarating moment when things finally do fall into place and don’t disappear.

There are a few technique items that I emphasize in my teaching that you may find different from the norm. For one, I don’t believe that “maintaining your posture” is the best way to think of pivot movement. Rather, I would like to see my students lower both in the backswing and in transition, just as video evidence proves that a majority of great players past and present have done. I have covered using the ground (what I refer to as pivot compression) extensively in my swing analysis videos in which it is shown to be a common trait of good ball strikers even though they may appear to have very different looking swings. Another unconventional preference of mine (also used by many of the best players) is to have the hands travel outward toward the ball in their first movement in the change of direction, while the shaft of the club kicks back or shallows. This combination sidearm and underhand motion, as Hogan referred to it in his book “The Five Lessons,” is the key to the overall feel and athletic conception of the movement of the golf swing. Hogan put four different examples of this elbow first throwing motion in his book, which to me is proof of his belief in its importance.

The True Test of Technique Is Under Pressure

It is easy to pontificate about the swing and all the various facets of the game if you don’t have to take your theories out onto the course and put them into action. Golf is a truly fascinating game in that there is incredible variation in the techniques that have been used to by the greatest players of all time. Some of them have what may be described as classic swings that follow all of the rules of physics and geometry that a century of study has deemed correct, while others seem to break every one of these rules, which of course means that there are very few real rules that need to be followed. Having done slow-motion video swing analyses of well over 100 past and present Tour players, the thing that stands out the most is just how differently each one of these players achieved their success, although there are enough commonalities among this wide range of swings that we can form an idea of just what is an effective way to move the club through impact for those who are not already blessed with a knack for hitting the ball.

I look forward to contributing to this column each month and you can expect original and thought provoking pieces to be forthcoming. I also hope that you will be enticed to further explore my teaching. My desire and mission is to educate and offer direction to those who are seeking a better understanding of the game. If you come back to look for more of my work here I can promise you that I will be doing my best to give you useful information.