Golf is a popular hobby and like most golf enthsiasts, I’ve read hundreds of magazine articles and dozens of books about the golf swing. I’ve tried scores of different clubs and chatted endlessly about golf with my golfing buddies. But, the other day I read something that caught me up short.
A golf tour professional in a book I was reading was challenged by his mentor to describe his golf swing. The mentor shared that if the young pro didn’t understand every part of his swing and why he swung the club that way, he might as well quit the Tour. Their dialogue got me to thinking about how I swing the club and why. Every element of my swing should have a distinct purpose, including why, how, and what.
The more I pondered what I had just read the more I understood that my inconsistency is linked to frequent swing changes. So, I stopped swinging and began writing. Beginning with my grip, I began to describe as much as I could think about regarding my swing. For example, I grip my clubs loosely in the fingers with the left thumb at 1 o’clock and the right thumb at 11. The “vee’s” formed by thumb and pointer finger on each hand point to my right sholder. On a scale from 1 to 10 (where a 10 is trying sqeezing the life out of the club), my grip pressure is about a 2 or 3. There is more to My Swing that I’ll include in future posts, but for now suffice it to say that my while swing is nothing to write home about at least now I know how I swing and why. My scores are higher than I want, but at least now I have a starting point to improve.
What does your swing look like? Get yourself one of those journals with blank pages. Lable the top of one of the pages – My Swing. Take sometime. Describe how and why you hold the club, how you take your stance and why, how you begin your backswing, how you trigger your downswing, and about your finish and why. Write about your feelings as you swing, including what feels right and why. Are you in balance? What about your rythm and tempo? Write it down. Take a few swings. Review it. Is it right? By the way, don’t worry about being perfect, that’s another whole discussion. Just get it down and we can adjust it later.
Remember: if you can’t describe it, you can’t improve it.
