What’s one of the major causes for Golfers hitting inconsistent tee shots? You all pretty much know the answer … it’s when you’re swinging too hard.
But even though you’re constantly telling yourself to “swing easy” … we continually have bouts of swinging too hard.
Much of this recurring theme can be attributed to the numbers we hear the Pros hitting on the PGA and LPGA Tours. When you hear Bubba Watson is hitting his Driver 320 yards … you start thinking “maybe I could hit my Driver 260 yards this shot.”
Yes, maybe you can. Though, besides the Tour Players … less than 10% of Golfers hit more than one 260 yard drive per round. Yes, there are many Golfers I have met that tell me they have hit their Driver 260 yards … but golf is a game of “everytime … not one time.”
We should always want maximum distance so that we can use an easier club on our next shot. However, we should be striving for “Maximum, Repeatable Distance”. Meaning you need to balance what you are capable of consistently producing versus what we think we can hit the golf ball. Because if we are always swinging to recapture that long drive that we once hit … we will consistently be disappointed with our results.
The Tour Players are so good … they make the game look so easy that we think that we should be able to at least be comparable. Yet, their skill is almost imcomparable.
They are superior athletes – just as an American Football Player can run 40 yards in 4.5 seconds and bench press 225 pounds 20 times in a row. And you and I will run the same 40 yards in about 6 to 8 seconds (depending on your ability) as well as maybe not benching 225 pounds even 1 time.
To see what I mean, watch this video of a 45 year old sports announcer, in good shape run the 40 yard dash compared to college football players. It is truly amazing because if you watch him run alone … he seems as if he is running pretty fast – yet when you compare to Pro-ready athletes … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jh-ebY68OCU
The Professional Golfer’s skill level with his/her golf swing is just as superior to ours as the Football Player is superior to us in running. As fast as those Football Players blew by Rich Eisen because of their skill … Martin Kaymer is equally more advanced with his golf swing over the normal Golfer.
But, because the Pro Golfer makes it look so easy playing a sport that you also play … you always have their yardages in the back of your mind.
So when you hear the Driving yardages of the PGA Tour Player … we often overreach with what we are capable of doing in our swings and we hit less than stellar shots.
The first step towards more consistently in your swing is to understand the distance you are capable of hitting the golf ball on 7 out of 10 drives. Then repeating that swing speed on every drive on the golf course. Because every mph (kph) over that speed you try to swing … you will become that much farther away from the consistency of your “Maximum, Repeatable Distance”.
The Monkey is swinging at speeds that allow themselves to occasionally hit great shots in between the many inconsistent shots they suffer through
The Player is finding their Maximum, Repeatable Distance
Go ahead, Be a Player!
Regards,
Marc Solomon – Your Instructor For Life