How important are swing mechanics to you?

[the_coach]

think that the vehicle analogy is a little misleading. holds true if the person once an auto is started has the technical learned ability to drive the car, but place in someone who isn't able to drive, doesn't have that knowledge base that learned experience the results could be more than a little problematic.

 

[RGDave]

If you post any comments, it would be interesting if you also state your handicap as i would like to see if there is any correlation between technical awareness and playing ability.

Technical awareness and playing ability.

hmmm.

I am not great at golf, but interested in swing mechanics. If I ignore this stuff for long enough, my swing falls apart.

Trusting to intuition or hitting thousands of balls mindlessly also makes me worse. Trying to understand the swing is my only hope.

... I think...

 

[DaveyG]

So....are you guys saying that you can't stand and swing a club without having a head full of technical thoughts?

Ive been playing about 3 years... Just came back after 8 months...

I think I can become a much better player but at the moment can swing the club sending it down the middle or make terrible contact/duff it... Distinguishing the reason for bad shots is so hard as it could be a nimber of things I do/don't do. Ask me in a few years and it may be different. But I am still capable of a birdie or a 9 based on my round yesterday

 

[SocketRocket]

I think it would always be best to swing without considering the mechanics. The problem is that many, many golfers make bad impact between the clubface and ball that results in slices, shanks, hooks etc and don't understand why. Many live with their slices and have to aim at the next fairway to have a chance of the ball landing on their own. Imagine hitting eight shanks every round you played.

So do these people keep swinging with a clear mind and put up with the horrible results. How much better it would be if the slicer understood the ball flight laws so they knew what was going wrong and how to fix it. If the shanker realised why they did it and how to overcome the problem. They may need to seek the help of a Pro but in my experience that does not always lead to an understanding of the issue and can be very expensive. Studying and understanding impact conditions and the effects is not that difficult, most people could do it.

Some people are fortunate in that they have very good natural coordination and dexterity, most don't. I need to always consider the plane the club in-hand needs to follow, if I do that I hit good shots, if I don't I hit bad shots.

 

[Imurg]

I have about as basic an understanding of what's going on as I feel I need.
I don't examine what I'm doing to the degree that some do but that's me.
I know enough to be able to do what I want ( sometimes.!) but I don't actively think about it.
I guess it all happens behind a shroud I bring down as I pick a club out - I try to think of as little as possible.

 

[3565]

I'm a Faldo nut, in his hay day, used to mimick his mannerisms, think Faldo, play like Faldo, and got the Leadbetter DVDs and tried to swing like him, until I saw it on video! An octopus could swing a club better then what I was doing. I'm always striving to get the control of the club and body rotation in sync and trying to compress the ball with shaft lean as well. When you do it properly the sound and feel off the club head is something else. Always trying to improve my set up bio mechanically and swing and what I know now, I wish I had 25yrs ago. Not got to scratch but feel I got things in place after seeing Alistair Davies at Arden and my coach where I live that I can get there. It's been a bad year golf wise but things have turned and it's all down to practise.

 

[DaveM]

I put it as no I just swing away. Now I'm thinking this is not strictly true. It is true on the course, as I will only use one swing thought. Normally "smooooth".

But I use the mechanic's in practice and fault finding.

Used them a lot recently as I have had to rebuild my swing from the ground up, it's nearly where I want it but I still need to groove it more.

The reason for the rebuild. My back leg is now full of metal work plus a new hip. Following a bike accident.

 

[SGC001]

As a player in a sport i would want implicit knowledge, as a coach I would want declarative knowledge.

As an example one of the best pressure players I've known (not golf) was also a coach. They'd done all the qualifications to be coaching at national level, but needed one more years service. I asked them how they executed one of their strokes which was not 'text book' and they had to think about it, I could see them doing the shot in their head and trying to work it out. There was no interference, the stroke was automated, and the shot selection drilled.

The player could coach, but could play and regardless of the game situation execute appropriate strokes and strategies effecively.

In addition I don't believe it's a coincidence that most gamemanship tactics are basically ways to get you thinking about what you do.

Coaching and playing are different skill sets.

 

[garyinderry]

How important is technical knowledge to you?

without knowing what I do about ball flight laws, path and face manipulation, I wouldn't be anywhere near my handicap. id still be playing a massive slice and most probably trying to lift the ball into the air.

 

[sawtooth]

I voted fairly important.

I use what knowledge I have of swing mechanics to help keep my swing from going wildly off the tracks. Not an expert by any stretch but I have a reasonable grasp of the basics.

 

[the_coach]

I did not vote, but only because none of the qualifiers, the sub categories really applies to me.

How important is my knowledge of swing motion mechanics, technique, physics, kinetics, anatomy etc. to me in the work I do on the practice area, range, my golf den with the golfers I help to coach, then the answer would be obviously, extremely important.

How important is all that to me with work I do on my own game on the practice area, range, my golf den, then similarly the answer would be also extremely important. I always monitor very carefully what I do, how I do it & review the overall outcome of any practice session. I would always have a practice plan for each session.

How important is all that to me when I step on to the first tee in competition, in play, I'm obviously aware that knowledge, that learned experience is there, but in this scenario is just allows me to be able to free up to just concentrate totally on making the next shot I have to play to my chosen target.

By that I mean, I see the shot I want to play choose the club, chose the line, go through my PSR to set up for the shot, look to the target twice on the second time my eyes come back to the ball, I make my swing. But I don't think about the swing mechanics of the swing motion.
After a round I will carefully review my performance of the whole round. I will always keep my shot stats up to date.

Fun games with family or friends are just that, fun. But I still always adhere to USGA handicap rules & regs.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I haven't got a clue about swing mechanics or ball flight rule etc etc

Just tee to up and hit it

 

[Foxholer]

Important if I am trying to change something on the practice range.

Important to forget (other than a general comment like 'slower back' or 'full finish') when it comes to swinging on the course!

 

[ArnoldArmChewer]

I try not to over analyse things but its nice to have a basic understanding.

 

[G1BB0]

I worried about it too much, too many lessons and wasted range sessions to remember.

I understand the ball flight laws, I know what causes a bad shot but I have stopped worrying about positions etc and purely concentrating on the target at hand.

Its working so far as I am hitting and playing much better. All with my own swing as in what is natural to me. It might not be text book or pretty but if it can be modestly consistant then that will do for me

 

[delc]

I voted for the 2nd option. You need to have a mental model of what your set up and swing should be like, but for me rhythm and tempo are more important. My game usually goes to pieces if I get too involved with the mechanics of the swing! :mmm:

 

[SocketRocket]

I haven't got a clue about swing mechanics or ball flight rule etc etc

Just tee to up and hit it

JustOne posed a question to someone earlier who replied similar to you. He asked, if you needed to hit a low hook around a tree or a high cut into a green, how would you do it if you don't understand ball flight laws or the swing mechanics to produce such a shot. What would you do?

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

JustOne posed a question to someone earlier who replied similar to you. He asked, if you needed to hit a low hook around a tree or a high cut into a green, how would you do it if you don't understand ball flight laws or the swing mechanics to produce such a shot. What would you do?

It's all very well posing the question but the reality is that as handicap golfers, we don't have the ability to produce these shots to order. In fact, a lot of tour players don't either.

So the answer is........chip out sideways

 

[SocketRocket]

It's all very well posing the question but the reality is that as handicap golfers, we don't have the ability to produce these shots to order. In fact, a lot of tour players don't either.

So the answer is........chip out sideways

Into the lake