Where Did Your Golf Swing Come From?

Have you ever wondered where you got your golf swing? How did your sequence of motions become what they are today? And more importantly — what, if anything, can you do about it?

If you are like most golfers, you tried the game before ever taking a lesson. Most people quickly discover that was a mistake. Why? There are two main reasons.

First, golf looks simple — but the reality is the opposite.

Second, golf is a game of opposites. Hitting down to make the ball go up makes no sense compared to almost any other sport. New golfers must learn to respect the game’s uniqueness. That starts with understanding the fundamentals and realizing improvement comes from learning correct cause and effect — not simply reacting to poor shots with what feels natural.

This is why I teach struggling golfers that meaningful improvement starts with understanding what actually makes the golf ball do what it does. We have to learn not to rely on instinct, and instead understand what happens during club-and-ball collision — and why. For example:

The clubface primarily controls the ball’s starting direction. That’s it.

The swing path, relative to the clubface, controls curvature — fade, draw, or straight. That’s it.

The ball flight laws are not opinions. They are science. They are immutable and ignoring them guarantees frustration.

The golf ball is an inanimate object. It has no idea who is hitting it. It simply reacts to impact conditions and flies accordingly. Golfers often deceive themselves with phrases like, “I took my eye off the ball,” or “I swung too hard.” These myths have held players back for decades.

The real difficulty is that the golf ball provides feedback — and players naturally react to that feedback. That’s where trouble begins.

If a right-handed player slices the ball (curves right), the natural reaction is to aim and swing left. Unfortunately, that usually produces an even bigger slice. This is one of golf’s great paradoxes: the moment we let previous shots dictate our counterreaction, we often make the problem worse.

Take a slice, for example. The ball is curving right. Why? The clubface is open relative to the path. Why might that happen?

Possibilities include:

• A grip that is too weak
• A swing path that approaches too far from outside the target line

So, what should you do?

Instead of aiming farther left and swinging more outside (which worsens the slice), you might strengthen your grip and learn to swing more from the inside.

Those are starting points. A qualified instructor would begin investigating in those areas. The key is understanding the true cause of the shot — not trying to counteract the result.

That is the pathway to better, more consistent golf.