| My standard question to a new student is, “If your car’s
engine started running rough, would you rip it out and strt over?”
I would hope not, but that’s exactly what hundreds of golfers do daily to their golf game. Let them hit a shank or pull hook and there goes the attitude and routine. In the holes that follow they make wholesale changes to their grip, stance, alignment, and swing. Bottom line. All you can and should do is set up to the ball correctly, swing the clubhead at the target, and accept the results. Simplicity Avenue and Perfection Drive may run parallel, but they don’t end up at the same place. "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." Mr. Leonardo da Vinci. You need only to watch the ball’s flight to know the path of hands and clubhead angle at impact. With this information you can correct most set-up and/or swing errors.
The above configuration will produce a shot straight down the target line. Change the path of hands or clubhead angle the slightest bit, and you will alter the flight of the ball. In this drawing the path of hands and clubhead angle are both square to the target. I find that most students have trouble visualizing golf terms, as I do, so I use drawings. I don’t want to beat this horse to death, but it’s so much easier to work backwards to fix set-up and swing flaws. Again, we can do this by watching our ball's flight. It will tell us in no uncertain terms the path of hands and clubhead angle at impact. The mystery of how to break 90 can be solved sitting in one’s favorite chair and closely observing the swings of tour players. I ask new students to do this and report back to me what they observed. What is astounding is how many won’t do this. They are willing to pay hard-earned dollars and spend hours out in the hot sun with me, but refuse to take free lessons from the world’s best players. The students who do take the time to watch the pros come to the practice tee a different golfer. The most noticeable difference is that they keep the target side arm (left arm of a right handed player) straight, take three quarter swings, and end up with their chest facing the target at the finish. True story: A seventy-year-old student, after watching tour players as I had asked him to do, says to me at the end of a lesson, “I noticed today that you didn’t complete your swing and didn’t end up with your chest facing the target. You don’t finish like Vijay does. Why?” I answered, “So that’s why I’ve not been getting my usual distance. Thanks, Pro! You’ve just earned a free lesson.” Ever hear of an 'accidentally funny' book? Well, you have now. Kill Me If You Can by Bob Miller is a non-fiction book about the 192nd AHC and 3-506th of the 101st Airborne Division (Vietnam 1968-69). |
