How to Be A Better Golfer Next Spring
Since you are reading this post, it is probably safe to assume you are either a golfer who would like to improve or a serious insomniac. I will do my best to educate you on how to make significant improvements to your golf game over the coming cooler months. If you happen to doze off, I will add curing insomnia to my resume!
I think the biggest challenge golfers face when trying to improve is that making lasting improvements takes time and repetition of the desired motion. When golfers try to make these changes during golf season, they are usually faced with heading out to play golf and having to decide whether to play poor golf while sticking with a new swing thought or reverting back to their “old swing”. I feel your pain, it is very difficult to soldier on with a new swing move when faced with poor shots, possibly poorer than before.
This is why fall and winter is the ideal time to make swing improvements. The fact the weather is cool and wet and you are less likely to be playing golf or less concerned with your score, means you are far more likely to stick with your swing changes.
How do we make a swing change? The steps are quite simple to understand but there is a key element of practice reps.
Step 1 – The golfer is often unaware of what they should change about their technique (unconsciously incompetent)
Step 2 – The golfer is educated on what they need to change (consciously incompetent)
Step 3 – The golfers is educated on the more desirable technique and how to actually do it (consciously competent)
Step 4 – Practice the desired motion while consciously controlling the motion. This is the biggest challenge because if you are out playing golf, you will most likely be consciously thinking about where the ball is going. When you think about anything besides the desired swing motion, you instantly lose the ability to make the desired motion because at this point, it is only a “conscious skill” and not a habit yet.
Step 5 – After lots of repetition, the motion becomes a habit (unconsciously competent) and the golfer no longer needs to think about the swing to make it happen correctly. The golfer can then play golf thinking exclusively about the shot they want to hit and not their swings.
So, how do we make a swing change? Ideally, we spend ample time making the proper motion and not worrying about where the ball is going. The only time this will make sense is during the fall and winter.
