[YodasLuke]

I was asked to do an article for a golf magazine, and this is a copy of it. Yesterday, a customer at the range asked what I thought was the biggest thing that incumbered the progress of a student. It made me think of what I had written.

The Path of Most Resistance: Changing a Golf Swing

One of the biggest problems in golf instruction is the student’s resistance to change. The easiest things in the world for the student to do are the same things they’ve always done. Students come to us with feelings of (what they believe to be) good golf swings. Very often they just want to “tweak” something. A screen door on a submarine is a “tweak”, it’s not a solution. They want to change, but are they truly willing to change?

Remaining comfortable = old swing = no change
Becoming uncomfortable = new swing = change

Bad feelings for the student could be good swings in the instructor’s eyes. The change that the body resists could be the very thing that would make the swing effective and efficient in the future. We are all creatures of habit, so change is difficult. I am a believer in the statement that practice makes permanent. So, my goal is to get students practicing correctly.

As instructors, we have to be sure that the student understands what the road to change requires of them. I hate to hear people say, “you have to get worse before you get better.” The truth is that change is difficult. And, the player that changes a problem can be left with a compensation that (previously) enabled them to play. After removal of the problem, the old compensation might result in a disastrous ball flight. But, this does not mean the golfer has somehow lost his ability to swing. It means that the golfer is closer to the goal of having an uncompensated stroke.

The way to encourage change is simple. Students have to look at what their doing. Ask them to look at their grip, the address alignments, their hands (post impact), the clubhead, the clubface, location of the hands in the finish, or any number of things. Everyone gets so enamored with ball flight, looking at anything else is almost impossible. The flight of the ball can lie to the student. How many times have we heard, “I’d like to hit it like that for the rest of my life!”? How do they know that’s the best it will ever be? Do they really want to hit 214 yard drives with a soft slice, or are they thrilled that it’s no longer going out of bounds? Surely it’s just that they haven’t realized their true potential.

The student has to be rewarded for making the motion rather than being rewarded for the flight of the ball. When they’ve been trained like Pavlov’s dogs, it’s no easy task to get them to look at something other than the flight of the ball. They simply have to learn how to judge themselves. Too many instructors let the student use full swings in the lesson and often times work with drivers only. How can the student monitor anything in a full stroke? It takes smaller, slower strokes like chips and pitches for the student to do any self-analysis. Then, question them about their progress. I have no desire to be the student’s pacifier. I want to be their teacher. So, teaching them how to monitor themselves fosters progress. Spending time with shorter shots might seem remedial to some, but for those seeking change, it’s the biggest and quickest shortcut.

When your student learns cause and effect in addition to being able to verbalize their own success or failure in making a motion, they will change. When they improve, they will send others to you in masses. It advertising that can’t be purchased. So, ask the student if he’d like the longest and hardest path to change or the shortest and easiest path. If they choose the longest and hardest, have them pull out the driver and let them flail at it for the entire lesson. If they choose the easiest, take them to the chipping green with a sand wedge.

Nothing can be more frustrating for a student or a teacher than seeing the same mistakes being made in every lesson. Accomplishments can be quick, when practicing shorter strokes. And, the student will see, feel, and hear the changes.