I’m convinced if you want to play better golf you’ve gotta go against the grain a little. This doesn’t mean you’ve got to do something crazy, but you might need to step things up a little. If things make you feel a tad uneasy then that’s probably a good sign you’re on the right track.
Take the below comments from Luke. His message is profound and might be enough for you to step up as well.
Recently I even took a lesson – my ‘pro’ watched me hit 5 or 10 shots and sent me off to practice with some drill that had me swinging like an octopus falling out of a tree. I’ve read countless instruction books, internet forums etc and have tried so many ‘techniques’ and now it’s just horrible.
I don’t feel like I’ve hit a solid shot in 2 years. I’m hitting everything so short and crooked. Even when I’ve played reasonably well I’ve felt it’s been down to luck and just hitting safe little half shots to kind of get me round. I’ve forgotten what it feels like to have a crisp shot rip off the face and take off like a bullet like I used to do. I’ve practiced like crazy all winter, the first single medal is 2 weeks away and I am nowhere. I’ve even stopped practicing now because I dread going to the driving range. All the joy has gone.
A week or so ago I decided I’d had enough of this. Then I watched Bubba win the masters and thought if he can win a major swinging like that, then I can easily get back to being something like a half decent club golfer swinging the way I did.
I started to really think about all my old friends who are now extremely good golfers and came to the realisation that none of them have taken a lesson in their life and most of them have no working knowledge of the golf swing. Truth is, they are maybe just a little more talented than me, fell in to good technique when they were young, played a lot of golf growing up and always had confidence and belief in their way.
I picked up a club in the house yesterday and put my ugly old strong grip on it and it felt so good. Back at work this morning and I’m messing around on the net and I find your blog. And now my mind is made up and I’m going to make a commitment. I’m going to the golf course tonight and I’m going back to my old method of grip it and rip it, I’m going to accept bad shots and bad rounds and the consequences be damned. I’m going to bin everything I’ve ‘learned’ in the last two years. I’m never going to listen to idiots going on about technique again. I’m never going to doubt my method again. I’m going to blow everyone away next time I hit a 70 yard hook around a line of trees and stick it on the green. I’m going to laugh when I rip a drive 290 yards in to the wrong fairway. Most importantly I’m never going to listen to the naysayers and life’s losers again, the ones that’ll happily tell you you’ll never be any good doing it like that.
I see it now – it’s all about perception. If you think you’re rubbish, you probably will be. If you think you can become one of the best golfers in your club with what you have, you might well just do it. If Bubba keeps ignoring the idiots drawing lines on the slow motion vids, he’ll probably win more majors. If Pete Kostis gets to him however, it’s probably all over for him.
My strong advice here is to read his comments again, there’s some really powerful stuff in there. His words are drooling passion and will push him on a road of discovery, learning and enjoyment. I hope they inspire you to do the same.