Lately I\u2019ve been reworking how I practice golf — what to do with a bucket of balls at the range. For years I\u2019ve been getting it all wrong. I\u2019ve started to do it the right way, but it\u2019s really hard. Let me explain.<\/p>\n
After I started swinging a golf club again, nine months after my back surgeries, I knew I had to find a swing that put as little stress on my back as possible. <\/p>\n
I also knew that it had to be a simple swing, easy to remember, because I couldn\u2019t hit balls three or four times a week to keep the swing in tune.<\/p>\n
After a year and a half of experimentation, I found a swing based on six fundamental principles<\/a> that worked, was easy on my back, and was easy to re-create after a layoff.<\/p>\n The plan now is to apply those principles every time, or as nearly as a person can to that. That takes practice, but the right kind of practice. <\/p>\n I now start out at the range reviewing the six principles, focusing on each one through practice swings only. I don\u2019t move on to the next principle until I\u2019m satisfied the one I\u2019m working on is correct. <\/p>\n After I have worked through all the principles, and they have melded into one unified swing feeling, I can hit a golf ball. A golf ball. One.<\/p>\n It might take thirty swings to get things where I like them before I hit that first golf ball, but I hit it without thinking of swing mechanics, without wondering how the shot will work out. I just swing with the swing feeling I have created for myself and I get a really good shot out of it.<\/p>\n Then I start over. I do the same thing again. It might not take me thirty swings until I\u2019m ready this time, but there will still be a lot of them. And then I hit another golf ball. One. And I go through the whole thing again to get ready to hit a third golf ball. Et cetera.<\/p>\n I\u2019m getting two things done here. One is lots of isolated practice with each of the six principles so I learn them well. The other is putting my mind in a place where those things I mentioned, worry, swing thoughts, never come into my mind. I just swing with my best swing and the ball goes on its way. <\/p>\n That\u2019s how you have to play golf. That\u2019s why if you flub a shot on the course, drop another ball and try again, that second shot is always better than the first — because you don\u2019t have those swing-wrecking thoughts any more. You just hit the ball.<\/p>\n So you could say that I\u2019m teaching myself to hit my second shot first.<\/p>\n The title of this post is Practicing Golf the Hard Way. That\u2019s because it takes a LOT of will power to take all those practice swings between the time you hit golf balls. But that\u2019s the only I way I know to get it right.<\/p>\n Note: I\u2019m writing up the six principles in a small pamphlet to be published in October with related YouTube videos. I\u2019ll keep you posted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lately I\u2019ve been reworking how I practice golf — what to do with a bucket of balls at the range. For years I\u2019ve been getting it all wrong. I\u2019ve started to do it the right way, but it\u2019s really hard. Let me explain. After I started swinging a golf club again, nine months after my … Continue reading Practicing Golf the Hard Way<\/span>