making golf a simple game part one

[davel]

No doubt golf is a difficult game !!! I would like to address what I think are problems and get the advice of professionals and amateurs on attacking these issues. Personally I do not have a clue of what the answers are. I will keep it simple as possible and describe 3 generic faults and how you would simply answer what you would look for and what you would think is the number one fault and what drill would be most useful. Remember simple means one answer one drill.

!. golfer whiffs the ball

2. lack of distance

3. crooked shots.

Simple answer to what one ( one and only) major fault caused the problem and what drill will help fix it.


Rules nothing more than $50 can be spent for training aids equipment lessons etc.
If people think this is not fair the majority of very good golfers were self taught and learned somehow through copying someone else or instinct by playing a similar sport (hockey , baseball) so they figured it out. That is called digging it out of the dirt.




So where I am coming from is can we say if we (us the player not club) learn to do these 3 things right things we can play in the low 80's on a medium length course at reasonably life span mid 70's and here is the best drill for that..

Looking forward to some feedback. Golf has been made to complicated! It needs to be reduced to its basic form and the trimings come later.

Brian you know this is a setup but most of the times I have found in the work I did that the simple logical answer was better than the complex answer which was not really going to fix anything.

Dave

 

[dbl]

Davel, if you have no clue about what the 'right' answers are, how can you judge any submissions?

As well, the premise that if one could eliminate these three faults from golfdom then people could shoot in the low 80's seems pretty questionable - either plain wrong or very myopic. Eliminating "all bad shots" might also lead to low scores but is not really a feasible outcome.

Sorry but I just don't see the point. By the way there are patterns which allege to provide simplicity in method and reliable shot outcomes. So maybe the question is why not just push such a pattern with that philosophy instead of a campaign against certain "bad things." If the people can learn the "right things" of those patterns, then they will achieve your goals of eliminating the negative things.

 

[ZAP]

1. Either very poor coordination or some serious issues with club control. I had a new golfer who was a really good athlete at one of my junior camps last year. He could hit the ball with either hand alone but would miss it completely with both hands. We worked for quite some time on one hand drills until he was willing to swing the club that way with both hands. He was simply trying to force the club and until he felt what a golf swing was he swung over the ball every time.

2. Distance relative to a golfers ability to create speed is down to impact conditions it seems. Centered contact? Shaft lean? There are other things for sure but you said simple.

3. Clubface awareness? Diagnosis with ball flight? Trackman?

 

[davel]

Davel, if you have no clue about what the 'right' answers are, how can you judge any submissions?

As well, the premise that if one could eliminate these three faults from golfdom then people could shoot in the low 80's seems pretty questionable - either plain wrong or very myopic. Eliminating "all bad shots" might also lead to low scores but is not really a feasible outcome.

Sorry but I just don't see the point. By the way there are patterns which allege to provide simplicity in method and reliable shot outcomes. So maybe the question is why not just push such a pattern with that philosophy instead of a campaign against certain "bad things." If the people can learn the "right things" of those patterns, then they will achieve your goals of eliminating the negative things.

First of all I am not asking for right answers. I am trying to get there perspective on what they did to improve any problems relating to clubhead , clubface club shaft control that was was simple.

Eliminating all errors is not possible I totally agree . I was just asking for a little improvement in those areas.

A pattern can mean a whole rebuild of a swing which is the right way but I am old and don't want to start from the beginning. It is however the optimum approach.

thanks for your response.

by the way I can shoot 80 and then follow it up with 110 now.

Dave

 

[GPM1985]

by the way I can shoot 80 and then follow it up with 110 now.

That is not a credible statement.

The problems you present can probably attributed to poor club face control and the sad fact that most golf instruction encourages the student to work against his own athletic instincts. Putting aside the latter, it is the task of any competent instructor to identify the cause of an open face and to then apply a solution.

Keep in mind that over-simplification is as costly as over-complication.

 

[davel]

1. Either very poor coordination or some serious issues with club control. I had a new golfer who was a really good athlete at one of my junior camps last year. He could hit the ball with either hand alone but would miss it completely with both hands. We worked for quite some time on one hand drills until he was willing to swing the club that way with both hands. He was simply trying to force the club and until he felt what a golf swing was he swung over the ball every time.

2. Distance relative to a golfers ability to create speed is down to impact conditions it seems. Centered contact? Shaft lean? There are other things for sure but you said simple.

3. Clubface awareness? Diagnosis with ball flight? Trackman?

1. Is a gem as if you knew about my problem. I have been having a hand problem. that when I take the club away my right hand heel pad looses its connection to the left hand thumb and nasty things happen after that. I tried putting a penny between the hands and I can feel it trying to pry upwards as I take the club back. I have small hands and setting the right hand and cover the long thumb is difficult to do. A 10 finger or interlock grip is even worse.I am trying to narrow it to whether its a grip problem , takeaway problem, or a problem with posture with arms too close to body Or even the remote possibility I need to grip the club harder.

Last week I tried the left and right hand grips swings with a orange whippy and a real club hitting a ball and could hit them very solid. I could hold on with no problem. Put them together and it doesn't work. I have all the faults you describe when things are going wrong.

So if you have drills I would appreciate more details.

2. Yes that is generic but you are looking at it from a teachers point of view which is ok. Maybe its easier to answer that in what you worked on in your own swing to improve. I Brians's confession of a flipper tape discusses his work with ben doyle and why even on chipping stroke he was having problems because of a misconception of the club being layed back at address using a mid body hands location. He then realized to get to impact hands he needed to pivot.Thats a example of what I am looking for with a drill if possible to go with it.

3. A acceptable answer. Yet I want to know what the golfer did wrong physically since they are hitting the ball (arms,hands,body etc.) what I said in 2 does apply. So If you personally used trackman and you improved your ball flight that is good. Just relate what change you made to improve your flight. Also since you mentioned trackman is it a viable tool for higher handicap individuals as well?

Thank you for your input

Dave



P.S. For those reading my purpose was not to get input for me alone it is just similar to tips you sometimes hear. That is what experience did you have where one basic correction made a big change in your swing improvement. call it the eureka moment!!