golfrewind.com

This may be of interest to Robertg, and all you other swing-tinkerers...

As I mentioned in the "What did you shoot...?" thread, I had the privilege of playing with a former scratch player at my club last weekend. Although his handicap is currently 12, it was clear that he was a VERY good player, and 7 years out of the game had only affected his consistency, not his ability. This guy had given consideration to turning pro at the age of 18 before girls and other attractions turned his head.

Anyway, what did I learn from him?

The first thing I learned was that for beginners and high handicappers (I am currently 19.6), self-diagnosis is not the way to improve your game. I have bought and read countless golf magazines, and I can honestly say that the only shots they have saved me are through course management tips.

I had hit (and shanked) only three iron shots before my new friend had isolated a major issue with my swing and gave me a little drill. Four holes later and I was hitting the crispest iron shots I can remember - not just one but repeatedly. This translated into playing the back nine 2 under my handicap without making a single putt.

So, major lesson number one - to get better I need to get a professional eye on my swing.

Next thing - after passing on four or five suggestions to me, my friend stopped offering advice. He said he did not want to give me any more to think about. Of course when we are keen on the game we are often information sponges, but too many swing thoughts prevent progress. Even Jack Nicklaus said one swing thought was more than enough, and then only if that was your one thought for the ROUND.

So lesson number two - one thing at a time.

Finally, and this is sort of contradicting myself - he isolated my basic fault as being a balance issue (Ringer will like this one). I had actually started to come to the conclusion that my balance was poor, but had no real idea what to do about it. He prescribed a drill for me - anyone care to guess which one it was?

Once you have guessed I will start a thread on this drill so that I can understand what I am supposed to FEEL when I do it...

But for me, the big enlightenment was that I need to get some lessons from a pro. My partner did indicate that I could probably get my handicap down to low double figures, so it is definitely worth pursuing, but I am going to stop trying to fix my game by buying new gear all the time, and looking for magic fixes.

"Finally, and this is sort of contradicting myself - he isolated my basic fault as being a balance issue (Ringer will like this one). I had actually started to come to the conclusion that my balance was poor, but had no real idea what to do about it. He prescribed a drill for me - anyone care to guess which one it was?"

swinging a club with your feet together?

Nice story.

In response to uc8u, I swing the club with my feet together, arms only. I find it harder to make better contact and it really makes me square that club and make good contact. It's great IMHO.

Hmm.... the BEST drill I know of is swinging with your eyes closed. The one most widely used is the feet together drill, and sometimes a right foot back.

I like the walk through, and two coin drill as well.... as you all know, I teach balance first... and these are all key drills for me.

Yeah the coin drill helped me a lot years ago with my balance. Using the walk through now to get an even better feel.

The drill was indeed the feet together drill - although we did do one run through with eyes closed.

The prescription was for me to go to the range and hit 50 balls, pitching wedge only, feet together. I am also incorporating this into my pre-shot routine...

Although the drill was useful, and I intend to follow through with it, the key learning point for me was realising the need for a professional eye on my game.