A few months back, yours truly had the life-changing experience of watching his own golf swing in slow motion. I didn’t expect to cut a fine figure on playback — we rarely swing the way we think we do—but I didn’t expect to look as, well, the word obnoxious comes to mind. There are many words to describe what I was doing with the golf club– lunge, hit, hammer—but ‘swing,’ is certainly not one of them. To quote PG Wodehouse I looked more like a man “…killing snakes in the bunker.” It wasn’t pretty. In retrospect it’s ridiculous, the number of years I’ve spent striving futilely to ‘figure it out,’ on my own. And there’s really no running away from it: I need professional help, and I’m drawing up a realistic battle plan to get better in 2024. Now you may or may not be in the same place, but I would urge you to steel your heart, press record, and then watch your golf swing. No matter how good you are, that’s the first step in getting better. There’s nothing quite as sobering as watching a video of your own golf swing — be gentle, if it’s your first time. On a more positive note, here’s my golf manifesto for 2024. And I’m offering it up here as some food for thought for you.
Get a coach, not a new golf swing
Understand that by going to a coach you’re not going to go the Tiger Woods way to ‘building a new golf swing.’ You’re not going to be able to create a brand-new golf swing if you’ve been playing for a few years. To do that requires the kind of time and effort that you’re unlikely to be able to put in. What getting a lesson will achieve is that your basics – grip, address, stance, and swing fundamentals will get checked and corrected by someone who knows what errors to look out for. Most swing faults originate from a faulty grip or stance, and it’s almost impossible to spot and correct them yourself. Commit to the changes the coach advises, and put in a few hours every weekend at the range before your four-ball tees it up.
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Replace your golf clubs
The forged blades I played with as a teenager, are still in my bag. Not only am I not half as good a player, but with the astonishing advancements in golf club technology, playing with clubs that old means I’m adding unnecessary strokes to my score. Golf is hard enough, there’s no reason to make it harder by playing with clubs that have more to do with your ego than the quality of your game. That last point is directed solely at myself; but if you’re not using modern cavity-back irons that are designed to forgive off-centre hits and minimise sidespin, then you’re making things hard for yourself. Why?
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This one is crucial, and much more so for experienced amateurs than professionals. Pros are good enough to adapt their swings to any kind of club, but we amateurs can’t. And we all have unique golf swings! Trying to play with stock clubs bought off the shelves is akin to buying a ready-made suit – it might work, but will never fit you like a glove. You get the suit tailored. The same goes for golf clubs. Whether you’re buying new clubs or persisting with your old ones, it’s imperative that you get them properly ‘fitted.’ Even a minor change in the set-up of your clubs can go a long way in improving consistency, and help you realise your golfing potential.
Deliberate practice
You can hit thousands of golf balls and not improve. Practice helps when you have a clear picture of what you’re trying to achieve, and know how to go about it, which brings us back to the absolute necessity of having a coach look over your swing from time to time. Changes in the golf swing are difficult to integrate feel-wise. And when you’ve been making a wrong move for a while then it’s going to feel natural. Any change to that, is not.
Have a good time
The joy of playing the game. If you’ve been betting on the course (those who do, say it brings out the best in them) or if you’ve been too focused on lowering your handicap, and scores, then golf can become too work-like. We all work at golf, but it’s important to remember why we play the game to begin with. Golf is fun. Granted it doesn’t always feel like that, but it’s a good thing to remember.
Play new courses
It’s amazing what playing a new layout can do to our golfing minds. When you don’t know the lay of the land then you’re likely to be much more target-oriented and swing within yourself. Playing a new course forces you to play the game! As opposed to teeing it up at your home course and smashing the ball off the first tee with no thought about where you’re hitting it, because you know the layout intimately. And if you can’t play new courses then try adaptations like playing with a half set, or just with specific clubs. The idea is to force yourself to manufacture shots that will reprogram your golfing brain to the task at hand. Golf rarely rewards the player who smashes the ball with all their strength with every club in the bag. Stop playing long drive, and start playing golf!
A few months back, yours truly had the life-changing experience of watching his own golf swing in slow motion. I didn’t expect to cut a fine figure on playback — we rarely swing the way we think we do—but I didn’t expect to look as, well, the word obnoxious comes to mind. There are many words to describe what I was doing with the golf club– lunge, hit, hammer—but ‘swing,’ is certainly not one of them. To quote PG Wodehouse I looked more like a man “…killing snakes in the bunker.” It wasn’t pretty. In retrospect it’s ridiculous, the number of years I’ve spent striving futilely to ‘figure it out,’ on my own. And there’s really no running away from it: I need professional help, and I’m drawing up a realistic battle plan to get better in 2024. Now you may or may not be in the same place, but I would urge you to steel your heart, press record, and then watch your golf swing. No matter how good you are, that’s the first step in getting better. There’s nothing quite as sobering as watching a video of your own golf swing — be gentle, if it’s your first time. On a more positive note, here’s my golf manifesto for 2024. And I’m offering it up here as some food for thought for you.
Get a coach, not a new golf swing
Understand that by going to a coach you’re not going to go the Tiger Woods way to ‘building a new golf swing.’ You’re not going to be able to create a brand-new golf swing if you’ve been playing for a few years. To do that requires the kind of time and effort that you’re unlikely to be able to put in. What getting a lesson will achieve is that your basics – grip, address, stance, and swing fundamentals will get checked and corrected by someone who knows what errors to look out for. Most swing faults originate from a faulty grip or stance, and it’s almost impossible to spot and correct them yourself. Commit to the changes the coach advises, and put in a few hours every weekend at the range before your four-ball tees it up.
Replace your golf clubs
The forged blades I played with as a teenager, are still in my bag. Not only am I not half as good a player, but with the astonishing advancements in golf club technology, playing with clubs that old means I’m adding unnecessary strokes to my score. Golf is hard enough, there’s no reason to make it harder by playing with clubs that have more to do with your ego than the quality of your game. That last point is directed solely at myself; but if you’re not using modern cavity-back irons that are designed to forgive off-centre hits and minimise sidespin, then you’re making things hard for yourself. Why?
Get fitted
This one is crucial, and much more so for experienced amateurs than professionals. Pros are good enough to adapt their swings to any kind of club, but we amateurs can’t. And we all have unique golf swings! Trying to play with stock clubs bought off the shelves is akin to buying a ready-made suit – it might work, but will never fit you like a glove. You get the suit tailored. The same goes for golf clubs. Whether you’re buying new clubs or persisting with your old ones, it’s imperative that you get them properly ‘fitted.’ Even a minor change in the set-up of your clubs can go a long way in improving consistency, and help you realise your golfing potential.
Deliberate practice
You can hit thousands of golf balls and not improve. Practice helps when you have a clear picture of what you’re trying to achieve, and know how to go about it, which brings us back to the absolute necessity of having a coach look over your swing from time to time. Changes in the golf swing are difficult to integrate feel-wise. And when you’ve been making a wrong move for a while then it’s going to feel natural. Any change to that, is not.
Have a good time
The joy of playing the game. If you’ve been betting on the course (those who do, say it brings out the best in them) or if you’ve been too focused on lowering your handicap, and scores, then golf can become too work-like. We all work at golf, but it’s important to remember why we play the game to begin with. Golf is fun. Granted it doesn’t always feel like that, but it’s a good thing to remember.
Play new courses
It’s amazing what playing a new layout can do to our golfing minds. When you don’t know the lay of the land then you’re likely to be much more target-oriented and swing within yourself. Playing a new course forces you to play the game! As opposed to teeing it up at your home course and smashing the ball off the first tee with no thought about where you’re hitting it, because you know the layout intimately. And if you can’t play new courses then try adaptations like playing with a half set, or just with specific clubs. The idea is to force yourself to manufacture shots that will reprogram your golfing brain to the task at hand. Golf rarely rewards the player who smashes the ball with all their strength with every club in the bag. Stop playing long drive, and start playing golf!
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