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Inside Golf - August 2003
Why Most Golfers Don't Improve

There are a few reasons why most golfers don't improve their golf games. Probably the most prevalent one is simply most golfers don't practice. If your life is too busy or golf is not a high priority in your life, I completely understand but to improve at golf you have to have both the desire and the time to invest in your skills.

The ultimate goal in golf is to shoot the lowest score possible. If your goals are different than that, maybe something more specific like hitting the ball more consistently, that is great as well, but you still probably need to take a look at how you approach the game.

I believe there are three major reasons most golfers fail to improve:

1. Most golfers spend 95% of their available practice time on the full swing, which represents a much smaller percentage of the game. This approach makes it impossible to achieve your lowest possible scores.
2. Most golfers miss-understand the 3 main concepts of the golf swing that determine the ball's flight. Working with the correct information is absolutely critical for building a repeating swing.
3. Most golfers have poor practice skills. The typical golfer fails to understand the difference between technique practice and golf practice. As a result, most golfers struggle to improve their swings and also never really learn the skills needed to play well on the course.

The golfing establishment is partly responsible for the way golfers approach the game. Most teaching professionals say they offer golf lessons but the majority only gives "golf swing lessons". If golf professionals are focusing too heavily on the swing, how is the average golfer to know any different?

Even when golfers do make good decisions and are working properly to make positive changes to their games, the vast majority gives up on the changes before they have a chance to take hold. New habits or skills take time to integrate into your game so patience is very necessary as you attempt to improve.

Study all the subjects

Most golfers understand that the short game makes up at least 50% of your score, yet most ignore this fact and continue to focus exclusively on the full swing.

Imagine when you were in school that you spent nearly all of your time studying only math. You would end up being a math whiz but since your advancement to the next grade was dependant on your overall grade, you would end up failing the grade. Golf is the same, if you want to become a better golfer and move up to the next "grade" you will have to study all the subjects.

Use the Correct Information

It has been my experience most golfers misunderstand one or more of the three major concepts, which govern how the club should swing through the ball. Understanding how to make solid contact, control the clubface and swing the club on the correct path are at the root of learning a repeating swing.

Once a golfer learns WHAT the club needs to do as it swings through the ball, they can begin the process of learning HOW their body needs to perform to make it happen.

Most golfers struggle because they misunderstand the major concepts and are trying to build a swing based on completely wrong assumptions. Stay tuned for chapter two to find out if you are using the correct information for your swing.

I will provide you with detailed descriptions of each concept in the next chapter.

Effective Practice

The final reason most golfers don't improve is the quality of their practices is very low. To get the most out of your practice you need to allocate time to every part of the game with respect to how the game is played and also how each part of your game is shaping up at any given time. You also need to avoid the classic error of practicing your swing while worrying about ball flight and trying to play golf (a target game) while worrying about your swing.

I have a lot of faith in golfers' to improve. If you are not improving as fast as you would like, take a look at the information you are using and how you are approaching the game.