Joe,
Why do the pros preach fundamentals, yet their swings all look different?
Davey
Hello Davey,
There is a difference between fundamentals (what everyone should do) and mannerisms (individual peculiarities). Most of the mannerisms occur on the backswing, because the backswing’s only purpose is to arrive at a strong hitting position at the top, and to achieve that, it may not matter how you get there (right, Jim Furyk fans?). From there, the fundamentals take over, and the downswing happens so quickly that you may not notice the pros all do the same thing (lower body weight shift to the front foot, and moving the back elbow to the front of the hip before ball contact). Once the ball is struck, the differences in the follow thru positions again are mostly mannerisms (right, Arnold Palmer fans?).
Joe
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Joe,
There are so many tips in magazines, books, audios, videos, TV, etc. and some of these tips contradict each other. How is a person to know which ones to believe and which ones not to believe?
Ben
Hi Ben,
There are a couple of reasons for contradictions. Most tips come from people who have successfully used them, but that does not mean these tips will work for everyone else. Tip #1 might work for golfer #1 but not for golfer #2, but golfer #2 uses tip #2 which is the opposite of tip #1. For example, some say to start the backswing with no wrist action, others say to set the wrist cock early. Some say to use the “X-factor” by limiting hip action, others say to use more hips. All you can do is try them both and see which one works better for you. Another reason is the plight of any writer who has a contract to come up with a different article every week, or every month, this writer always has to think of something new to write about, and when it comes to golf tips, just about every idea has been used up already, so that makes it difficult to sound new and creative all the time. So to avoid repeating the same stuff, they might borrow ideas from others, and those ideas may be against something the same writer said before, who knows? That is why I prefer the question and answer approach. Even if I get the same question multiple times, I can always give a consistent answer explained a little differently for those who may not have seen or understood the same questions before. To answer your question on who to believe, I would not trust those who threaten that you must do every little thing their way or else you will fail, because that falsely assumes everyone has the same body build and degree of athleticism. Precision positions and moves that work for one person may not work for another person. Rather than thinking about 142 things during a swing, you have a better chance believing those who can keep things simple, because simplicity leads to better understanding.
Joe
There are so many tips in magazines, books, audios, videos, TV, etc. and some of these tips contradict each other. How is a person to know which ones to believe and which ones not to believe?
Ben
Hi Ben,
There are a couple of reasons for contradictions. Most tips come from people who have successfully used them, but that does not mean these tips will work for everyone else. Tip #1 might work for golfer #1 but not for golfer #2, but golfer #2 uses tip #2 which is the opposite of tip #1. For example, some say to start the backswing with no wrist action, others say to set the wrist cock early. Some say to use the “X-factor” by limiting hip action, others say to use more hips. All you can do is try them both and see which one works better for you. Another reason is the plight of any writer who has a contract to come up with a different article every week, or every month, this writer always has to think of something new to write about, and when it comes to golf tips, just about every idea has been used up already, so that makes it difficult to sound new and creative all the time. So to avoid repeating the same stuff, they might borrow ideas from others, and those ideas may be against something the same writer said before, who knows? That is why I prefer the question and answer approach. Even if I get the same question multiple times, I can always give a consistent answer explained a little differently for those who may not have seen or understood the same questions before. To answer your question on who to believe, I would not trust those who threaten that you must do every little thing their way or else you will fail, because that falsely assumes everyone has the same body build and degree of athleticism. Precision positions and moves that work for one person may not work for another person. Rather than thinking about 142 things during a swing, you have a better chance believing those who can keep things simple, because simplicity leads to better understanding.
Joe
Monday, February 21, 2005
A Series Of Unfortunate Events
Jack and Jill, both novices, are playing a fun round at the local municipal golf course. Jill is not a long hitter, but she gets the ball airborne consistently when the lie is good, and her main enjoyment comes from watching the ball fly. Jack hits the ball far, but not very accurately. On a long par 5, Jack drives OB, then hits again into the rough and cannot find his ball. Since he expected to find it he did not bother hitting a provisional, so he had to march back to the tee and hit again, finally hitting the fairway, but into a divot. Jill, meanwhile, is also in a divot, and she knows she is not good enough yet to get the ball airborne from a divot, so she moves the ball to a better lie and continues to make the ball fly, reaching a greenside bunker in 5 shots. Jack, meanwhile, skulls his divot shot into a fairway bunker and into a footprint. Then, while addressing the ball, his club accidentally touches the sand. Then his shot fails to clear the lip of the bunker and he slams his club into the sand in disgust. The ball rolls down into the crater he made. He finally reaches the fringe of the green in 2 more shots. Jill, meanwhile, finds her ball is also in a footprint, and she knows she is not good enough yet to execute that shot, so she moves her ball to a more level spot, and chips the ball onto the green about 50 feet from the cup, and waits for Jack to catch up, ribbing him about how much slower men are than women. The following group of golfers are gaining on them. Jack’s putt from the fringe hits the pin and comes to rest a foot from the hole. Jill, noticing the waiting golfers behind them, does not waste any time, and her putt glances off Jack’s ball, hits the pin, and comes to rest an inch away. While she is about to tap it in, a gust of wind moves her ball. Jack makes his putt from where his ball came to rest, and with steam coming out of his ears, he needs a calculator to figure the scores. Jill chuckles and said she only hit the ball 8 times, not bad for a novice.
Question #1 – Who won the hole?
Question #2 – Who had the most fun?
Question #3 – Which question is more important, especially for novices?
Jack and Jill, both novices, are playing a fun round at the local municipal golf course. Jill is not a long hitter, but she gets the ball airborne consistently when the lie is good, and her main enjoyment comes from watching the ball fly. Jack hits the ball far, but not very accurately. On a long par 5, Jack drives OB, then hits again into the rough and cannot find his ball. Since he expected to find it he did not bother hitting a provisional, so he had to march back to the tee and hit again, finally hitting the fairway, but into a divot. Jill, meanwhile, is also in a divot, and she knows she is not good enough yet to get the ball airborne from a divot, so she moves the ball to a better lie and continues to make the ball fly, reaching a greenside bunker in 5 shots. Jack, meanwhile, skulls his divot shot into a fairway bunker and into a footprint. Then, while addressing the ball, his club accidentally touches the sand. Then his shot fails to clear the lip of the bunker and he slams his club into the sand in disgust. The ball rolls down into the crater he made. He finally reaches the fringe of the green in 2 more shots. Jill, meanwhile, finds her ball is also in a footprint, and she knows she is not good enough yet to execute that shot, so she moves her ball to a more level spot, and chips the ball onto the green about 50 feet from the cup, and waits for Jack to catch up, ribbing him about how much slower men are than women. The following group of golfers are gaining on them. Jack’s putt from the fringe hits the pin and comes to rest a foot from the hole. Jill, noticing the waiting golfers behind them, does not waste any time, and her putt glances off Jack’s ball, hits the pin, and comes to rest an inch away. While she is about to tap it in, a gust of wind moves her ball. Jack makes his putt from where his ball came to rest, and with steam coming out of his ears, he needs a calculator to figure the scores. Jill chuckles and said she only hit the ball 8 times, not bad for a novice.
Question #1 – Who won the hole?
Question #2 – Who had the most fun?
Question #3 – Which question is more important, especially for novices?
