The simplicity of it all

[steadyon]

I was out for a game on Thursday. Average golf, a few pars, a double, plenty of bogeys, first birdie in moths??

Striking was okay but not exceptional.

So I thought by way of experiment let’s just try hitting one without a single swing thought.

Sets up counts to three - go - absolutely rips it!!???

same with chipping - just put the bounce under the ball - perfect!

Does that for remaining 5 holes - walks off feeling like Rory asking whether I’ve been over complicating the game! See what happens later???

 

[stefanovic]

Yeah, the enthusiastic amateur stands up to the ball and just hits it.
But players who have found swing secrets have only discovered mechanical tricks.

Ernest Jones quote:
"Undoubtedly golf is a difficult game, and undoubtedly it attracts a large proportion of devotees whose only qualification for playing it is their devotion.
But it is not on these grounds alone that one can explain the pathetic failure of the average golfer's life, or the comedy that is always being enacted by golfing contortionists over the links of the world."

I understand fabulous Phil admires Jones.
As for me and just about anyone else: what worked most recently will never work again.

 

[steadyon]

Yeah, the enthusiastic amateur stands up to the ball and just hits it.
But players who have found swing secrets have only discovered mechanical tricks.

Ernest Jones quote:
"Undoubtedly golf is a difficult game, and undoubtedly it attracts a large proportion of devotees whose only qualification for playing it is their devotion.
But it is not on these grounds alone that one can explain the pathetic failure of the average golfer's life, or the comedy that is always being enacted by golfing contortionists over the links of the world."

I understand fabulous Phil admires Jones.
As for me and just about anyone else: what worked most recently will never work again.

the never wo4ks again is usually right for me???

 

[Hobbit]

If you want an experiment that highlights the difference between automatic and robotic, try the following. Scrunch up a bit of paper and throw it into the bin, as you probably have many times. You’ve hit the bin way more times than you’ve missed it. Now do it concentrating on scrunching the paper to a certain size, grip it a thought out way, thumb up lined up with the bin. You won’t hit the bin as often because you’ve turned it into a mechanical exercise.

Back to the golf swing; if the grip, stance and alignment is correct, just hit the damn ball. Others will swear by rigid mechanics, and it may well work for them with enough repetitive practice. I was a grip it and rip it golfer and, until age and infirmity took hold, spent over 40 years with a single figure handicap, mostly 5 or below… set up and just hit the damn ball.

 

[stefanovic]

If you want an experiment that highlights the difference between automatic and robotic, try the following. Scrunch up a bit of paper and throw it into the bin, as you probably have many times. You’ve hit the bin way more times than you’ve missed it. Now do it concentrating on scrunching the paper to a certain size, grip it a thought out way, thumb up lined up with the bin. You won’t hit the bin as often because you’ve turned it into a mechanical exercise.

Anything works for 3 throws, then the muscles tense just like in the golf swing.

… set up and just hit the damn ball.

Sage advice but I don't think I can do that. My skull is heavy in relation to my body and it tends to rock forward when I contact the ball.

I will give the Jones' method a try.
All that's needed is a penknife on the end of a handkerchief to get the feeling of the swing in the hands.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ernest-Jones-Swing-Clubhead-method/dp/0976017407

 

[steadyon]

If you want an experiment that highlights the difference between automatic and robotic, try the following. Scrunch up a bit of paper and throw it into the bin, as you probably have many times. You’ve hit the bin way more times than you’ve missed it. Now do it concentrating on scrunching the paper to a certain size, grip it a thought out way, thumb up lined up with the bin. You won’t hit the bin as often because you’ve turned it into a mechanical exercise.

Back to the golf swing; if the grip, stance and alignment is correct, just hit the damn ball. Others will swear by rigid mechanics, and it may well work for them with enough repetitive practice. I was a grip it and rip it golfer and, until age and infirmity took hold, spent over 40 years with a single figure handicap, mostly 5 or below… set up and just hit the damn ball.

I think the problem with golf is - you won’t ever hit the perfect shot - and - most of us want to be a bit better than we currently are.

Therefore, after every shot we can’t but ask ‘I wonder if just? Kept it outside like Rory does, swing a bit slower like my mate does, try this that my wife said last week…’.

or sometimes (often) try them all at once, inevitably the next shot is a bit worse, so partner offers a bit more advice. 3 holes, we’re stood over the ball shaking for 5 minutes, then we can’t swing a hay ho we just topped another!