I have had my golf swing ruined many times over the years after various lessons. I finally realized I was consciously trying to steer the club or the ball or think of my arm or body positions in the space of 1 to 2 seconds. I knew and focused on not trying to think consciously about the swing. It was causing all kinds of issues in putting (yips), pitching (shanks), and full swing (you name it….) I found the body swing by Paul Wilson a few months ago, and it really worked for me. The problem was I wasn’t being consistent. There’s an idea about practice, expertise, and improvement by Daniel Coyle called The Talent Code.
What Coyle talks about is that there are physical changes in your brain where neurons are reinforced with myelin as you improve a skill. Here’s the problem for many of us amateurs. We’ve been programming our neurons and building myelin for our bad swings, our gorilla swings, our yips, or looking up before contact. Thousands of swings on the range, on the course done incorrectly, and we’ve strengthened the ability to repeat that bad swing for decades. I believe this is why it’s so hard for a lifelong hacker like me to break through and finally improve.
Recently, I’ve been erratic. Oscillating between my old “arm” swing and ugly shots and solid shots that are effortlessly on in regulation. I realized I wasn’t thinking on the teebox, wasn’t planning how to execute the shot, nor telling myself positive thoughts about what I wanted to accomplish with the upcoming shot.
There’s something I found today that really helped and helped quickly. It’s not consciously trying to manipulate the golf swing during the swing. It’s taking a few moments before the swing to actually focus on how you want the swing to work, how you want it to feel, and what you want to accomplish. For me, I consciously checked my setup, then I thought about the feel of a great swing. Finally, I told myself to have a slower backswing, stare-down the ball through the entire swing, and finish with the Paul Wilson “touch the legs” & “club parallel behind the head”. Having prepared, I then took my practice swing. A quick recap in my mind, then the shot. What happened, 13 out of 15 irons from 135 yards or closer today were on in regulation with the two that missed on the fringe.
Why all the focus on GIR for my golf game?
Lucius Riccio, Ph.D. did an (extensive) analysis of 10’s of thousands of golfer’s scores, and he came up with this formula I found in a Golf Digest article from May 2006:
golf score = 95-2*GIR
So having trouble off the tee would obviously make it hard to get on the green in regulation. But if my drive is good, or I’m on a par 3, it’s vital to get most of these shots on the green or on the fringe to get up and down if I want to break 80. My plan is to keep my swing non-conscious, but keep my pre-shot routine thoughtful.