Tiger Woods, arguably the World’s greatest golfer has changed his swing 3 times with now 4 different coaches, why?
Because by his own admission he wants to be more consistent!
He practices 6-10 hours per day, has a range and golf holes in his back yard, he has access to the world’s top 100 coaches, and he wants to be more consistent!
When a student comes to me and says “I want to be more consistent” or “yes the game is better but I am still not consistent” we have to evaluate..
If every shot you hit bears right, believe it or not, that is consistent.. not the shape you want I get it, but it is consistent! To get to the next level we ask questions…
Firstly, with someone that practices once a week, usually after a hard stressful day at the office just how consistent can they really get?
Secondly, how much of that practice is positive?
So we ask, what is their definition of consistency, is it to hit the ball straight every time? If yes you’re in the wrong sport. Or is it to lower golf scores which is much easier to achieve!
Many want the former….
So we start with goal setting, obtainable goals so busy people can see progress, that excites them to keep training.
Then we assess their training regime, is it ‘Positive”.
Beating ball after ball at the range is not positive, 100 – 150 balls with zero purpose only benefits the range owner.
Positive practice starts with setup, if you are not setup correctly then it does not matter how well you swing the club the ball still won’t go where you want it too, Surprising how many people think hitting a ball, then without moving dragging another ball to your feet and hitting it is practice!
Grip, alignment, ball position, posture, balance… get those right first, then focus on takeaway, back-swing, weight transfer, transition, impact, follow through, balanced finish.. Yes very mechanical, but that is why we go to the range to work on mechanics so on the golf course we don’t have too.
Make sure you step away from the ball and re setup every time, that is what we do on course, change clubs regularly, that also is what we do on the golf course.
If you have swing drills to work on… (Which you should) then do the drill 5 times, and then one full swing trying to be in trusting mode… this is how we take mechanics to the course.
At the range the ball fight is secondary, get the mechanics right and the flight will follow, too many people just revert to their old technique just to see the ball fly…
If you really want to lower that golf handicap, don’t be afraid to leave balls behind at the range if you are hitting well, leave with that positive feeling…
Every swing must have a purpose at the range.
Is consistency obtainable?? Let’s ask Tiger in 2020!