Correcting Your Golf Swing

In my experience, golf is what the golf ball does; only this and nothing more. The sole purpose of a golf swing is to apply the golf club correctly to the golf ball. The method employed is of no consequence as long as it can be repeated. 

Correcting impact, the .0004 seconds the golf club is in contact with the ball is the basis of my approach to all golf instruction. My approach is founded on the immutable laws of physics and seeks to discover which of these laws is incompatible with a particular impact. It allows for a myriad of methods to achieve the desired effect of producing good, solid and repeatable impact. Identifying those (and only those) motions which are the source of (and thereby causing) unsound results is the essence of professional instruction.

Method-based golf instruction held sway in my profession for many years. It was believed that the player and the golf club had to move in specific ways to create desired outcomes. From the grip to the backswing to the finish, many method-based teachers seem to believe there was a certain way to hit the golf ball. As one heavily influenced by this orientation, I too labored under the belief that a certain technique was the one true path to better golf shots. 

I began to question this approach, however, when it became clear to me that many of the top players in the world all had their own unique swings. How could so many different “styles” be producing such outstanding results? It was at this point I was compelled to go beyond the prevailing wisdom and my search led me to the truth…impact!

Every lesson should consist of three distinct parts: diagnosis, description and solution. Of these, the diagnosis will determine the plan for that student. Student A is quite likely to have a very different diagnosis than student B and therefore a totally unique plan. That is why a correct diagnosis is the most critical part of a golf lesson. After obtaining it, I can accurately prescribe a correction.

If one were to watch Jim Furyk from a distance, it would be hard to think him a professional, let alone one of the top players in the world during his time.  That “odd” golf swing has won him nearly 100 million dollars! What is great about that swing? Impact! Jim gets the golf club to the golf ball squarely time after time. That is ALL that matters…the golf ball is an inanimate object and does not know who hit it or how it was hit. It only responds to the club face, the angle it came into the ball and the direction it was traveling. 

What does all this mean for your game? It means this: The appearance of a swing, the sequence or speed of it simply does not matter if…that motion can get the golf ball to behave. Every correction I make is done for that reason and that reason only.

It is true that if you have never played golf at all, a teacher will “suggest” a starting position. That is “creating” a swing. If you have played golf for even a little while, starting anew is a fruitless and futile effort! A great teacher will work with what you have and start and end there. with good reason. If one has seen as many swings as I, one thing becomes quite apparent:  a golf swing is very hard to change entirely! The good news is it does not entirely have to - if you know what to look for.

When you look for trouble with your swing, the very first thing you must ask is: “what is the golf ball doing?” Next, “what is the golf club doing that is creating that ball flight problem”? And last but most importantly, “what do I have to do to correct the impact?” A few things to consider:

A backswing does not hit the golf ball! 

“Picking up” your head is NEVER the cause of topping the ball!

Slowing your swing down will rarely, if ever, help the swing!

It is likely you will not discover the problem on your own! 

“Don’t be too proud to take a lesson; I’m not.” Jack Nicklaus.