October’s Tip of the Month - WHEN MAKING A CHANGE...

BY RYAN WILLIAMS PLAYER DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL

All of us have reached a moment in which we realize our method of swinging a golf club is no longer functional. Before we discuss the ideal way in which to make a change, let’s talk a little more about how we find ourselves in dire straights to begin with.

The first thing to realize is the flaw causing your poor shots did not show up out of nowhere; instead, your swing had most likely been sliding in that fatal direction for sometime without you realizing it. Then, one day, it had finally gone far enough to the point your swing was no longer functional. That’s usually the day Teresa, Perry, or I get a call.

Before you start beating yourself up for allowing your swing to fall to pieces, it must be acknowledged that golf is a crazy hard game. The conditions change, the lies change, seasons change, and human beings change. Even the best players at our Club have degrees of variance and days in which the club feels like you-know-what in their hands. What the best players do better than others, however, is deeply understand their fundamentals and have strategies to manage them. If you spoke with Ross Vilinskas, Kevin Wolf, Russ Humphrey, or Tony Verna (who just played in the US Mid-Am in New York), they would be able to describe what leads them to success and also the reasons why they tend to get off. Oftentimes, players of that level will very strategically make their first swings to encourage the movements they want and discourage whatever their cancerous moves may be.

Becoming that mature as a player comes with time and can limit the necessity for a swing overhaul. That said, when you decide to take a lesson, there will undoubtedly be some degree of change to your swing. Hopefully, if you’ve taken a lesson from me, I’ve made it very clear how I want you to work on things. Even still, I thought it prudent to outline some habits of players who successfully make changes and get back to playing “golf” rather than “golf swing” in as short a time as possible.

1. Willingness to Start Slow and Soft

Without fail, the better the player, the more willing they are to walk before the run. It’s the high handicap player that most often attempts to make a change at full speed. The best players, when making changes, do so at a meditative pace. The learn to feel, without judgment of their poor shots, how the new movement feels. As it becomes more natural, the gently increase the speed and force of their golf swings. To tell a little secret: the best players take on this pace of swing when coming back after a break, wanting to encourage good habits from the onset.

2. Willingness to Exaggerate

Driving ranges around the world with average golfers see them making beautiful rehearsals and then, pardon me, ugly actual swings. A PGA Tour driving range has players that make ugly rehearsals and then beautiful actual swings. The purpose of their “ugly” rehearsals is to exaggerate whatever feel they’re working into their swings. Quite often, what looks beautiful can feel very unnatural. The best players are also the most willing to “trick” their brains into performing the intended movement.

3. Having a Plan and Committing to it Each Practice Session.

You have to ask yourself, what’s my goal for my time today? Furthermore, what is my plan to accomplish that goal? To give a hint, “never hitting a bad shot” would be a poor goal as it is obviously unachievable. A vague purpose can be just as destructive. We’ve all had those range sessions in which we seem to be trying something different on every ball and we leave the range more confused than when we started. A habit I encourage students to employ is to write down their purpose for the day and how they are going to divide a bucket of golf balls to accomplish said goal. When increasing strength in the gym, good trainers and athletes know how many exercises, sets, and repetitions they will perform before they start. Golfers should take on the same discipline.

4. Creating Practice Settings Intelligently

Teaching pros are infamous for their training aids, alignment poles, and gadgets. Many of you with whom I’ve been lucky enough to spend time have seen my fondness for alignment poles for ensuring good alignments and ball position. I’ve also used “avoidance drills” with a great many of you; usually, this includes the cones or a towel to encourage a desired swing path or ball-first contact. “These things are a better coach than I could ever be,” is one of my favorite lines and I believe it true because a well-structure practice setting forces a player to perform the right movement. The best players often have training aids or go-to drills that they do with such regularity that practicing their fundamentals becomes maintenance rather than a wholesale change.

5. Having a Separation of Church (Course) and State (Driving Range)

It’s natural when making a change to fixate on the new moves to the point where executing a particular shot is secondary. At first, that is a completely necessary mindset and is ideal when working on the change on the driving range. When on the golf course, however, the player needs to be engrossed in playing the shot first and foremost rather than making the swing. If you’ve trained in the manner of the previous three paragraphs, your fundamentals should be in a solid place. Perhaps a few rehearsal swings encouraging the correct movement throughout the round can be helpful, but they cannot dominate a player’s mind when trying to post a score. In other, players should train in one setting and trust their training in another.

I acknowledge developing and then keeping a solid golf swing and habits for managing your fundamentals is easier said than done. With the right advice and proper training, however, we can stay on the good side of the coin flips of golf more often than not. We never really have control, but good habits give a player much greater influence. Let’s have a great fall and please do not hesitate to reach out to us.