Golf Habits

A habit:

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Something we do despite our best intentions.

We all do things habitually. From something as basic as brushing our teeth to something as difficult as well, playing golf! The question is…how do habits develop and why are they so hard to break? 

Habits in golf are typically developed in the earliest days of playing. We hit balls, the ball flies and we react. How do I know this? Because I have watched it for many years. Right-handed golfers who slice the golf ball, aim and swing left. Vice versa for those who hook the ball, and so on…When this happens over and over, a habit becomes deeply embedded.

What can or should be done to develop a new habit? There are many theories on this. One suggests 60 times a day for 60 days, another 21 days 90 times a day. But regardless of the theory, one thing is clear:  habits do not go away easily. They have taken a while to develop, and they will take some time to change. 

The problem is most golfers do not have time or are not willing to be sufficiently patient to break these habits. In a previous article, I suggested that the best way to break a habit is to develop a new ball flight. By that I meant this:  If you are a habitual slicer, you should learn to hook the ball ASAP. Not simply hit it straight. That is insufficient to change the habit. The golf ball must fly in a totally new and different pattern, for you to swing a totally new way. For now, let’s discuss the time and effort needed to make swing changes. 

If you are really dedicated to breaking some old bad habits, it will take time. Regardless of how small the change might be, the “new way” must be completed often- daily if possible. For something as basic as a grip change, take a club home and hold it in the new position every day. For something as involved as a backswing habit, not only will you have to go to the range daily for as much time as your schedule will allow, but it will also serve you well to get a full-length mirror and practice the new motion right in your home. Does this sound excessive? Well, guess what? Golf is an excessive game. Those of us who have strived to play it to the best of our ability know full well that half measures are nothing. A half-hearted, short-lived attempt is not even worth the effort or time it will take.

Any golfer interested in making a change should pay little to no attention to the immediate results. You must remember that the change you are trying to make is to produce the opposite ball flight! If you are slicing the ball, you must learn to hook the ball. It is the only way that you are likely to develop a new reaction. Earlier in this article, I mentioned that golf is a reaction game. This is perhaps the least understood notion about golf. It appears that we are acting on a stationary target. We are, but what is driving that motion is every golf shot that a player has hit, especially when the shot pattern becomes habitual. You can execute practice drill after drill, but any swing trainer you want but unless the ball flight pattern changes, you will not make any significant change in your golf swing. 

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