Living in southwest Florida, especially between January and May, golf is everything. There is arguably no better weather or courses in the entire country than what we have here during the spring season. With over one hundred golf courses in Collier County alone, anybody who’s somebody in the golf world can be found on a course at least once a week.
The downside is how hard and frustrating this game can be! It is the only game I have ever played in which the harder I tried, the worse I got. I just couldn’t understand why it was so difficult to make good contact when the ball was just lying there! Out of all the other mainstream sports I’ve played in my life, golf was (and still is!) by far the most challenging and the most rewarding.
Your Swing: Fact vs. Fiction
One of the most frustrating things about golf is how we all feel like our swings are one hundred times better than they are. That is, until you see a video of your swing and think, “There must be some mistake; no way that’s actually me on that screen…” Yes. Yes, that is you and your horrible swing on video, and there is slim to no chance you’re going to get the results you’re looking for without some drastic changes.
It doesn’t matter how many YouTube videos you watch or how much money you spend on the latest and greatest set of clubs “guaranteed” to fix every problem any golfer has ever experienced. You’re still going to have flashes of excellence followed by extensive frustration simply because you’re working harder and not smarter. Let me explain.
Work Smarter, Not Harder
Most golfers know they need to practice to get better. Most golfers even admit they should go get “a” lesson to help correct XYZ. However, with all the noise in the golfing world, it’s hard to know what the correct recipe is for you, your body, and your golf swing. What I’ve found over the years is that most amateur golfers who are struggling to improve their games fall into three categories: imperfect ample practice, improper instruction, and insufficient practice time. If you’re a double-digit handicapper, there’s a ninety-five percent chance you’ll fall into one of the three following categories.
1. Imperfect Ample Practicers
Golfers in this category are those who will spend hours sweating bullets and banging balls on the range. And when they’re not on the range, they are surfing YouTube, searching for the next big thing that will completely transform their swing, finally giving them that perfect ball striking and distance they’ve always longed for. The problem these golfers have is that their strength – their dedication to practice – is also their greatest weakness and limiting factor. This is because practice makes permanent – if they’re not practicing perfectly, they are further ingraining faulty mechanics.
I understand they think they are practicing perfect form and technique; however, the harsh reality is that they are not. I can say that with absolute confidence because it is simply not possible. There’s a reason the greatest golfers in the world have constant coaching – because we are all subjective to be objective, and feelings are very rarely reality. Think about it: How often do the PGA pros playing on Sundays spend the entire warm-up time on the range before teeing off without any coaching? The answer is never. So, what makes the average golfer think they are better than the pros and don’t need constant feedback while practicing?
2. Improper Instruction
Next are those who fall victim to improper instruction. If you are a double-digit handicapper getting lessons that involve somebody showing you videos of professional PGA tour players’ swings and asking you to mirror them, then yes, you fall into this category. It is absolutely frustrating when a teaching pro asks a seventy-year-old to mirror the swing of a twenty-five or thirty-year-old. It’s obvious that seventy-year-old Bob or Sally doesn’t have near the strength or flexibility to come even close to that professional’s swing, yet for some reason, this is happening over and over again. My opinion is that if a golfer can’t break 80, they should not be trying to mimic the swing of anybody who gets paid to play the game.
3. Insufficient Practice Time
Finally, there are those who don’t spend enough time practicing, period. They generally show up thirty minutes at most before their tee time and rush through a small bucket of balls using a wedge, seven iron, and driver. Then, if there is time, they’ll roll a few putts, and then off to the first tee they go. They continue to cuss and moan, annoying those they’re playing with when they shank one, and then blame the car and not the driver, so to speak.
The next day they go to the PGA Superstore and leave with a brand-new set of clubs and drivers that, for some reason, lead to the same results as their old clubs… Well, there is a saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Instead, if this is you, please try something different before I get matched with you and have to suffer through four hours of your explicit negative self-talk.
Golf is an amazing game you should be able to enjoy for as long as you live. It doesn’t have to be as hard as many amateurs make it, and sometimes it takes doing the opposite of what everybody else is doing. Many people think lessons and new clubs are the answer to their subpar ball striking and poor distance. But if you’re over the age of sixty, I can tell you with absolute certainty that your physical ability is by far the lowest-hanging fruit. If you spent a little more time on some very specific strength and mobility drills, you might just see some positive changes in your golf game sooner rather than later. Search for Berman Golf on YouTube to get a different perspective on the golf swing—and zig while everyone else is zagging.
Dr. Jake Berman, PT, DPT, is a physical therapist and owner of Berman Golf, where they focus on helping aging golfers increase distance off the tee, shoot more consistently, and play more frequently. If you’re not ready to accept “getting old” as an excuse for a poor golf game, call Dr. Berman at 239.431.0232 to take advantage of a FREE 30-minute taster session!
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