You Can’t Always Get What You Want, But You Can Get What You Need
In golf, what you want and what you’re going to get are usually two different things!
This may apply even more significantly to women in golf than men. Why? Because golf has traditionally been taught from a men’s standpoint: Here’s a club…Now let’s improve your address position, create the proper angles in the knees and hips, turn your shoulders, keep your head down, swing easy, and extend through the ball.
After 30 years of teaching golf, I can hardly find anyone who can actually fit that model and make it work. And with less athletic experience growing up, women are often caught in a communications trap. What do all those things mean? And are they effective?
For starters, though not all men have been properly fit for clubs, the number of women properly fit is far lower. And, the less accomplished you are, the more a proper clubfitting helps! Just as you wouldn’t ski with boots that don’t fit nor would you buy shoes that don’t fit, you shouldn’t buy or use clubs that don’t fit.
Read: Clubs that don’t fit are not effective! Proper fitting is often the most effective thing a pro or teacher can do. Here’s the rub, if the Player can’t hit a club effectively, maybe it doesn’t fit!
But, going a step further, as golf instructors we would be better off adopting a Coaching philosophy rather than a Teaching philosophy. Teaching often requires adherence to a model in which drills are aimed at eventual learning. In coaching, it’s the PLAYER’S input, experience, and abilities that drive the COACH.
Read : A Coach learns about the Player’s knowledge and experience, and uses the Player’s terms and phrases. If the Player already knows how to do something- or already has a successful way to do it-then the Coach need not teach it! “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is an adage I like to abide by. It’s the Coach’s job to make you a better Player, not to make you into a machine that constantly needs readjustment due to failure.
So, while a swing model is a great tool for a pro to have, it’s a tool to work FROM and not a diagram that requires complete adherence.
This is potentially even more important with women based on the original premise that golf been taught from a man’s perspective. As Golf Professionals, we need to enhance and improve upon the experiences and abilities of the Player in front of us, and not overly use terminology, diagrams, and drills that may not be effective for that Player.
Women often benefit even more by going to different locations on the course and learning about what actually happens, instead of what you want to have happen. It’s not effective to teach someone that performance is solely due to making the perfect golf swing only to then watch them fail on a downhill lie. Or in a fairway bunker. Or on a side-hill lie. These all suggest they need modifications to the original ‘Model’ golf swing.
Read : On a tee, the ball is at the mercy of the swing and the club. On the ground (it’s only on a tee 18 times a round) the swing and club are at the mercy of the lie.
However, many teachers still teach a model that few can fit, one that stems from the premise that perfect is solid and straight, and apply a ‘faults and fixes’ theme to alternative performance. If the ball isn’t on flat ground with a perfect, ‘fluffed-up’ lie, then it probably shouldn’t go straight - that’s alternative. And, if it’s not on a perfect lie, these alternative results are actually predictable!
For a right-handed Player, if the ball is on a side-hill above your feet it should go left. Below your feet it should go right. But when you use that perfect driving range swing, you’re set up to fail. Instead, learning how to play these lies makes your game more predictable.
We need to consider more effective game-playing techniques and strategies because we all know that the perfect swing will fail at the most unexpected time. We need to enhance and improve the abilities and experiences of the Player we are coaching. And, we need to work with Players on the course - after all, if I never saw you play, how would I know what to teach you?
These are principles that make the game of golf easier. Yes, that’s right - easier! It requires far more ‘mental toughness’ and swing knowledge to adhere to a model golf swing that is built solely on the range but inexplicably fails on the course. And, we should not force Players solely into swing models - it’s the experience of the Player that counts the most.
And, really, playing golf is more fun!
Bob Duncan is the Teaching Professional at Tetherow Golf Club in Bend, Oregon. Bob has given over 8,000 hours of instruction and coaching, and has custom fit over $1.6 million in golf equipment. Bob is an expert in on-course coaching, and typically spends 60 - 75% of his lesson time on the course at Tetherow. You can reach Bob at golfsavvy@msn.com, visit his website at www.golfecoach.com, or visit Tetherow at www.tetherow.com.
