lessonspin
Simplifying Your Plan
We hope everyone is
doing well and enjoying
this great fall weather. This
month’s article is all about
mapping out a practice plan
that puts first things first
and ensures practicing with
a purpose.
The fundamentals of
the golf swing have not
Andy Loving changed that much over the
PGA Professional past several 100 years. We
Laurel Country Club need to have a good grip,
good aim and a good set-
up. Then we need to have
a good short game and a
strong mental approach.
It shouldn’t be that
complicated.
It’s
just
human nature for us to
overcomplicate things in life
and this is especially true in
the game of golf.
I love to read golf
magazines as much as the
next person, but let’s put
things into perspective.
If the swing hasn’t really
changed that much over
the years but the golf
magazines have to come out
every month; what on earth
are they going to talk about?
That’s where we start to
overcomplicate things and
it just snowballs from there.
Everybody
has
a
different golf swing. Like
fingerprints, there are
no two golf swings alike.
While the fundamentals are
important, we must learn to
keep things simple. The true
“Art of Golf ” comes from
50
learning when and where to
work on the fundamentals,
how to separate playing
golf and working on your
swing and learning the “Art
of Practice.”
How, What and When to
Practice
Not everyone has to
learn the so-called perfect
swing to play good golf,
but every golfer needs to
learn the fundamentals
of the game and how and
when to practice those
fundamentals.
Golf seems to be one
of those sports where the
players try to think about
how to do it while they’re
doing it. When you’re
playing
baseball,
you
couldn’t think about your
fundamentals while trying
to hit the ball. You just hit
the ball. The same approach
needs to be carried over to
the golf swing.
You only get the most
out of your potential when
you trust your instincts and
swing freely without any
mechanical thoughts such
as keep your head down or
keep your left arm straight.
The bottom line is we
need to learn how to separate
playing golf from playing
golf swing. We must learn to
practice our fundamentals
on the range and when we
play golf…just play golf. We
must learn how to play the
game by feel and trust that
our mechanics are getting
better from the time we
spend on the practice tee.
Look at it this way –
if you haven’t learned it
by the time you tee it up,
you’re not going to learn
it in the four hours on the
golf course. As a matter of
fact, you’re going to make
your situation much worse
by trying to think too much
about the how to do it while
you’re doing it.
When you get too
mechanical minded, you
lose whatever bit of natural
ability you have.
Golf for Thought
Have you ever played a
second ball from the fairway
after hitting a bad shot or
played a second putt after
hitting a bad first putt? Do
you remember how you hit
that shot or putt? Usually
you hit a good one because
you just get up and hit it
without thinking too much
about it.
Sports psychologist Dr.
Bob Rotella calls it “getting
out of your own way.” That’s
exactly what happens when
you’re just thinking about
the target vs. thinking about
how to swing. When you get
out of your own way you get
the most out of your ability.
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