Ron Hanson's Golf Tips
Swing Changes Take
Some Patience
Any golfer that is struggling or wanting to improve his/her
game; expect changes to take place immediately. Changes
take time. A wise golfer wanting to make changes will seek
out a PGA Golf Professional who is knowledgeable and is
a good communicator and schedule an hour lesson. During
the hour the talented instructor will impart his/her wisdom
to help improve the student’s game. Many students
go into the lesson with the expectation that the Pro will
impart his wisdom and the student will immediately hit
the ball better. A few students do have such luck, but
most do not. Despite the fact that student listens intently,
understands the change and actually makes the change that
is prescribed, he or she may not improve at all right away.
Quite often, the change that is prescribed is the catalyst
for the improvement.
Here is an example of what I am talking about. A student
comes to me with concerns with hooking the ball wide of
the target. After watching one or two swings, it is apparent
that alignment in the golfer's set-up is an issue. The
player
is lined up right of the target. Consciously the player
does not realize the alignment is to the right, but the
golfer’s
subconscious knows it is necessary to pull the club across
the body to give the ball a chance to get to the target.
The shot results in a hook. By hitting shots repeatedly from
this set-up, the pulling motion becomes a habit. The solution
is to line up square. In an ideal world, the student then
sets up with proper alignment and everything is perfect.
In the real world, it usually doesn’t happen that way.
In the best case scenario, I’ll expect to see the student
hit hooks for 5 or 6 shots and then hit some straight shots.
In the worst case, it may take several buckets of balls before
the student hits the ball on line. Remember, the player’s
subconscious has worked really hard to hit the ball straight
with that bad alignment. That pulling motion has become a
habit. That habit now has to change also and sometimes it
takes a little while for the subconscious figures it out.
Our subconscious plays this game pretty well. It is constantly
trying to produce good results despite some of the awkward
things we consciously try to do. There is axiom in golf, “For
every zig, there needs to be a zag.” The “zig” usually
happens because of something we consciously try to do because
of a misconception. The zag happens unconsciously because
the subconscious knows of the screw up and wants to make
it right. The subconsciously created “zag” becomes
a habit and will not change until the subconscious figures
out that a change needs to be made. Sometimes the change
is immediately correct, but quite often it takes time.
When making changes in your golf swing let your subconscious
have a chance to catch up to the swing change you are
working towards. Show some patience.
Tip of the Month
Soft Touch Around the Green
If you grabbed a hold of a ball and wanted to roll it softly
onto a green, you would use your dominant hand and make a
soft underhand motion. To develop a soft touch around the
green, treat your chip shots like they are underhand tosses
with your dominant hand. You will be amazed at how much touch
you possess
E-mail
Ron about lessons!
|
