As I sat on my couch last night watching the Golf Channel, it dawned on me that people are consumed with ‘swings’.
By this, I mean that golfers are constantly searching for the perfect swing or the perfect method.
TV commercials are promising incredible ball striking skills…
Gadgets are promising fixes to your faults…
Pill and Potion pushers are promoting amazing swing focus…
But what if you aren’t broken? Would you still want to be chasing the latest and greatest fads being pushed on TV and in magazines?
I think not.
Tour Pro’s are guilty of chasing the perfect swing too… where the margin between victory and defeat are razor thin.
How many tour pro’s have gone under the guidance of a ‘guru’ only to become worse? True, some have improved as the result of a swing overhaul.
But who are we kidding? Do you have 10 hours a day to devote to re-tooling your swing from the ground up?
Would it even help?
I’ve had this same discussion with my good friend Brent Cryer, PGA… basically, we have concluded that everyone has a different mindset… different mood… every golfer is physically differently… heck, every golfer thinks differently.
So why try to force the ‘perfect’ swing on yourself?
Let’s get real…
… if you aren’t as flexible as Rory
… if you aren’t as strong as Tiger
… if you aren’t as devoted and Nick Faldo
… if you don’t have the natural flair of Greg Norman
Then you will NEVER have a perfect swing. You need all of the above to pull it off.
And worse, you might even hurt your game because what you are forcing upon yourself doesn’t come NATURALLY to you.
You see, I believe everyone has a natural golf swing. Given some guidance to practice the proper fundamentals (scientifically undeniable) I believe ANY golfer can become a Single Digit player.
Golfers have lost the ability to PLAY golf.
My point is simple…
If you want to become a Single Digit golfer, you need to be OK with who you are.
STOP chasing a perfect swing which is unobtainable even for the best athletes in the world.
STOP trying to be perfect with every shot.
START learning how to play the game of golf (master strategy and shot making skills).
ACCEPT your authentic and natural golf swing and tweak it.
he truth is, by mastering the basic fundamentals, improving your existing swing (through fundamentals) is rather simple. You don’t need to overhaul it entirely… and you don’t need a Rory perfect swing to score well.
What comes naturally comes easy. Natural can be tweaked and turned into something amazing (this is why I love Butch Harmon).
Look… I’m not saying we stop taking lessons or working out or eating better or adding technology to our game. I’m saying be OK with who you are and improve your authentic swing.
I’m saying that maybe we just need a few tweaks on our journey to becoming a Single Digit golfer. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.
Tiger Woods has gone through as many swing changes in the past 6 years as Jennifer Aniston has boyfriends (those lucky dogs!).
Tiger is still chasing the perfect swing… and he may just find it – but I think Tiger lost his ‘authentic swing’ on his journey.
Fairways and greens,
P.S. “Waves of problems will always break on the shores of your life. It is not the wave, but how each is ridden that will reveal you.” ~ Martin Rooney
P.P.S. Get to your local course and take a playing lesson from your pro. It’s time to start learning how to play this game and move past the mechanical phase.
