When.....Is enough...Enough

[kid2]

Ok im gonna put myself out on a limb here...Im not really directing this anywhere in particular just wondering what the general thoughts are.....

Something that Snelly said in a reply to a post yesterday got me thinking.....As my job entails fixing crashed cars....when im doing filler work on them its normally a time to let my mind wonder and sure what else do i think about only golf ....

Anyway...I visited the range tonight like every other tuesaday night armed with my 4,5,and 6 irons.... And started going through the usual motions.....

I hit the first basket about 50 balls while thinking about this that and the other of areas of my golf swing...Where i wanted the weight..The takeaway path, where my hands were, where the clubface was pointing.....You catch my drift....
When i first took up the game 2 years ago i thought of none of this...I just hit the ball...Ok i had a desperate slice but i got around the course eventually....
Over the past 12 months iv worked on heaps of things and for the most part there has been good improvements but alot of heartache also...

So tonight i decided to get an extra basket of balls.....With one objective...Just have fun and hit 'Em....
I picked 2 targets about 30 yards apart and just kept swinging the club until i could feel the weight of the head...Once i had a feel for this i addressed the ball with just a swing and a hit....No mechanical thoughts whatsoever ...No thought about posture whether i was too upright or too bent over....No thought about where my weight was....No thought about ball position.....No thought about the takeaway path.....No thought about where the ball was going to start and finish.... and what transpired was to put it plainly big high fades....Ok they were fades but with decent distance....All the shots were the same shape and much the same distance and surprisingly 95% within the target area.....Ok out on the course it may have ment heaps of missed greens but then again there were no thins no fats no shanks.....

It felt like my head was pretty steady but every other part of my body had a motion attached to it.....I was having FUN
So what gives....How do we know we have become too mechanical.....When is enough....Enough......When is it time to go have some fun again.
When is it time to just forget about all of the nuances of the swing and get back to playing golf?................



I think this is an important question for all of us to ask ourselves when we become too technical with our game. The thing to remember is that golf is a sport, and the golf swing is an athletic action. It's not a series of positions, or a bunch of links. It's an aggressive, athletic action, and when we think otherwise we?re doomed.




Food for thought!

 

[Imurg]

Been saying it for years Kid

Once you know the basics just get out there and don't spend too much time thinking about why you're doing what you're doing or whether your left arm is positioned just so you can pick your nose with your elbow etc etc

I've never done that - ok I may be a fairly natural player but the moment I start to think about the swing it all goes to ratpoo.

Take the club back, swing it through - simples.

 

[Oddsocks]

a very valid thread kid and one im working on, ive learned that on the range pre game, its nothing but to losen up, shank hook it dont matter just get lose. i can have a good front 9 with no swing thoughts and stand on our tenth as low as plus two.. swing thoughts creep in, i tense up and blow it,.

the longer i can keep swing thoughts out of my head for the better

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I definitely went way too far into the dark side of getting overly technical. 6924 separate swing thoughts over the ball on the range is ot conducive to a structured practice session and if you square that number again for the amount of thoughts I carried around on the course you can see why I struggled to play wel very often.

Its taking a lot of cajolling from some friends (and others) on here to get me to relax and have fun more. I still like to work hard at my game and there is defintely a degree of OCD about my approach but in the last few years on the course at least its been a lot more hit it, find it and hit it again. The new glass half full Homer doesn't get down if a range session is bad and go off looking to change it. My new teaching pro has given me a very basic blueprint towards what I need to do and its a very simple and more natural movement now that encompasses (for now) my unique foibles. We may get rid or lessen them in the lessons I have.

Lets not get confused between having lessons and getting too technical as in my book they are two different things. A lesson is there to correct and rectify destructive mistakes. The range work I do afterwards is about making those changes feel natural and bed them into my game. Being technical is looking for correct plane postitions, perfect MOI at impact, beautifully balanced and square hitting position and a myriad of thoughts on ideal technique for short game and bunker play. Indeed I'm sure I've got so many aspect on how to play short game shots its what has fried my brain and destroyed my confidence around the green and I need to go back to uninhibited chipping like a kid.

As long as my overall set up on the course isn't too far off then I'll stand there and just hit it and count it up at the end. I'm hitting the ball better lately with the guidance of my new teacher and thinking less. For me that has to be a win win combination

 

[SocketRocket]

Never, never, have more than 15 swing thoughts in your head at any one time. Well, no more than 16 anyway.

 

[kid2]

Its just today in work those words that Snelly said yesterday kinda began to make sense to me tonight on the range....I didnt care whether i faded the ball or drew it...All i was thinking anbout was getting it between those 30yard gates....

 

[Oddsocks]

Link to snellys wise words

 

[CMAC]

I've said it in a few threads (and I have no connection to them whatsoever) but instinctivegolf.co.uk did a lot for my game when it got so technical my head was full of spaghetti and could hardly swing.

 

[kid2]

Link to snellys wise words

Dunno how to link OS.....But here is his post....

I don't understand the original question. What does stay centered mean?

And I don't understand most of the responses either. "Pivot around a flexed leg". Eh? All manner of issues being caused by having a 50/50 weight distribution? Really?

Loads of you really baffle me with your ideas on golf sometimes. New laws of physics for balls, smash rates, pivots, tilts, stacks, pronating etc etc. It is all genuinely beyond my comprehension and bears no relation to the game I have played (quite well at times) over the past 30 years.

I love your enthusiasm but really, in all honesty, I have no idea why you devote so much thinking time to it as I will tell you now for a fact, it will make sod all difference.

Procrastinating on an internet forum about the technical intricacies of the golf swing won't help your game. Lots of practice is the only way you will get better. There are no short cuts.

Free your minds from this technical approach! Remember when Sam Snead was asked what he thought of diuring the golf swing he replied "Nothing. It would be impossible to hit a good shot if I didn't empty my mind before settling over the ball."

Wise words.

 

[richart]

I am sure there are a lot on here with Snelly's approach to the game, me included, but we tend to just get on with playing the game. Swing the club, hit the ball, walk after it, swing again, and in between shots have a chat. It is the the ones that analyse the swing from every possible angle, spend hours on the range with a thousand swing thoughts that tie themselves in knots.

I only have one thought once I have set up to the ball, look at a marking on the ball for as long as possible. Mind you having lost so many brain cells with age I probably couldn't cope with any more thoughts.

 

[Smiffy]

The new glass half full Homer

You don't say!!

 

[SocketRocket]

Dunno how to link OS.....But here is his post....

Thats his opinion and he makes a point. I still cannot see how you can improve by practising with no swing thoughts: What can you hope to improve by just repeating what may be an ugly swing so many times that it gets inprinted into your muscle memory.

Some people can become very good golfers without lessons or structured practice, they have the natural ability for it. MOST people dont have that ability and cant become good this way and it's futile trying to say that because 'one' can do it anyone can. Some people are natural mathamaticians, some musicians, some good <enter any skill here> But most are not.

I believe your current problem is that you are not focused on what you need to do to improve and have no clear plan on how to do it. Someone once explained this to me like a fly that wants to get out of your kitchen but keeps flying around in circles and banging into things, if he just sat back and considered the situation he would notice an open window and just fly out of it.

I also think that we tend to think too much on periferal things or 'Symptoms' of poor golf shots rather than homeing in on the cause, the things that really affect your ball striking.

If you consider the best golfers of all time and some of the most succsessful tour players then you will notice something about the way they play. Many of them have different swings but still manage to strike the ball well; How do they do that? They do it because no matter what their swing is like they all know how to make good impact with the ball, they all are good at delivering the club through the impact zone.

Maybe you need to clear your head of what is not so important and focus on what is.

 

[JustOne]

I don't think you are correct because whilst you were just hitting them for fun you were probably doing it as a result of the practice you have done. I doubt you were 'all of a sudden' swaying off to the right, standing up straight, rolling your wrists or any of the other things you 'used to do'. Just ripping some is part of the process to making something feel more natural that initially wasn't.

Knowing how to adjust that fade if necessary is still important, unless you are happy with it of course. Golf IS about fun but part of that is doing what pleases you and making it to the standard that you set for yourself.... some people (eg Smiffy) are more than happy when they 3-putt as it means that they've kept a 4-putt off their card

 

[Smiffy]

some people (eg Smiffy) are more than happy when they 3-putt as it means that they've kept a 4-putt off their card

You cheeky git!! We'll see tomorrow. The "glass half full" Smiffy

 

[richart]

You cheeky git!! We'll see tomorrow. The "glass half full" Smiffy

I didn't have a single four putt last year, did have two five putts on the 18th though.

 

[Smiffy]

I didn't have a single four putt last year, did have two five putts on the 18th though.

Was your glass half full or half empty?

 

[SocketRocket]

Was your glass half full or half empty?

Sounds like the glass is too big to me.

 

[kid2]

I don't think you are correct because whilst you were just hitting them for fun you were probably doing it as a result of the practice you have done. I doubt you were 'all of a sudden' swaying off to the right, standing up straight, rolling your wrists or any of the other things you 'used to do'. Just ripping some is part of the process to making something feel more natural that initially wasn't.

Knowing how to adjust that fade if necessary is still important, unless you are happy with it of course. Golf IS about fun but part of that is doing what pleases you and making it to the standard that you set for yourself.... some people (eg Smiffy) are more than happy when they 3-putt as it means that they've kept a 4-putt off their card

Interesting point James.....
I dont think ill ever be fully happy...Thats just my nature...Very self critical and tough on myself...And i suppose it has its ups and downs....And like you said...Maybe everything was working like it was supposed to but without the thoughts....And maybe its starting to get a little more natural...Watch this space.

 

[One Planer]

I confess to being a bit mechanical at the range.

All the swing thoughts you mention are at the forefront of my mind. I'm making (minor) swing changes at the minute and I have to keep what I'm working on clear in my mind whilst practicing at the range.

When I step out onto the course I swing the club with very few thoughts. I'm a firm believer in leaving your swing thoughts on the range or practice area before your round.

Each to their own.

 

[Smiffy]

When I step out onto the course I swing the club with very few thoughts.

I tend to think of "You Porn" when I am playing. Helps me find some kind of rhythm. A side effect is that I've got something to keep my hand warm when required (please notice I said "hand" and not "hands". I don't brag).