I managed to get in a driving range session this past weekend. Overall I was not very happy with how I hit the ball, and I even managed to snap a shaft. Note to self – when you pull a graphite shaft from a 20-year-old used iron set that you bought for $35 and put it into a different club head, don’t be too shocked when it snaps at the hosel.
I did manage to hit a few really good shots, which got me thinking about something that I’ve been aware of pretty much since I started playing the game quite some time ago. Something transformative happens to the golf swing when a ball is introduced.
I have, like many golfers, a practice swing that would no doubt be much more effective for hitting the ball than my actual swing. There is something about knowing that the club is going to make contact with a ball that causes all sorts of bad things to happen. Relaxation is replaced with tension. Tempo goes from smooth to rushed. Smooth motions become convulsive.
What makes this so frustrating is that while I am fully aware of it happening, and I am largely incapable of controlling it. I say largely incapable because once every twenty balls or so, I’m able to actually apply a smooth practice swing to a real ball. The results are almost always deeply satisfying. One would think that this positive reinforcement would be enough to force me to allow it to happen with much more regularity.
Intellectually, I know that when I stay relaxed I generate at least as much club head speed as when I try to hit the ball hard. I know that I put less stress on my body when I swing smoothly, and I know that I square up the club face just as well. I know that I get better outcomes. However, at an emotional level I associate speed with strain, and control with tension.
I suppose that this is one of the many things that separates really good golfers from the rest of us. While there is no doubt that much of this difference is due to a gap in physical skills, there is probably a larger component that is psychological. I don’t know how this could be measured, but I’m convinced that if there was a way to measure the gap between the “effectiveness” of the practice and actual swings for a scratch golfer versus a bogey golfer, the gap would be significantly higher for the bogey golfer.
As I think about the focus of my limited practice sessions, this clearly needs to be something that gets much more attention. In the past it took me longer than I expected to be able to truly internalize a different level of expectations for scoring when I wasn’t able to practice and play as much. However, I was able to do it by being mindful and really paying attention to what I was thinking and feeling. Hopefully I can train myself to do this with my swing.
Alternate Golf 