We have found that to improve your golf swing so that you’re hitting better shots and scoring better on the golf course – Golfers need to improve the ‘tangibles’ in their golf swing … as well as the ‘intangibles’.
A ‘tangible’ would be your golf swing mechanics.
The ‘intangibles’ are the little things that the best Players consistently use … while regular Golfers often ignore. Now this may not be your fault as these ‘intangibles’ may have never been brought to your attention. As most Golfers are taught to focus 100% of their attention on their swing mechanics until they get it.
Then after “getting it” you would work on the ‘intangibles.’
However, the best Players wouldn’t have been able to be as consistent with their swing mechanics if they didn’t also work on the ‘intangibles.’ And thus, this is one reason some Golfers never get better even though they are constantly working on their golf swing.
So what are the top 3 ‘Intangibles’ you should be aware of?
One – Stop Fiddling with your golf swing. Fiddling? What’s Fiddling? It means that you’re frequently trying something new in your swing when you go to practice or play on the golf course. All it takes for some Golfers is two or three bad shots and they abandon everything that’s worked in the past for some new swing tip they saw on the Golf Channel last night.
As opposed to staying with what has helped you hit good shots before. Everybody’s going to make a bad golf swing and everybody will hit two or three bad shots in a row – hopefully not often, but it’ll happen. When it does happen, it’s not the end of the world. It doesn’t mean that you’ve lost your golf swing. It doesn’t mean that the swing that helped you hit great drives on holes 3, 4 and 5 is lost because you hit a bad drive on hole 6.
For some people – after one or two bad shots you’ll see them off to the side working on something new. Yes, you should always strive to get better. You should always crave improvement in your golf swing. Though, there’s no truth to the saying – “The more you Fiddle, the better you get.”
Stick with what has given you Results in the past – even after two or three bad shots.
Two – You need to breathe on the golf course. “Breathe? I always breathe!” Well, there’s a difference between the breathing that many flustered people have in stressful situations and the breathing that keeps the Player focused.
As many Golfers unconsciously raise their stress while on the golf course – especially if you have high expectations for yourself – this is something to be aware of.
When’s the last time you noticed yourself taking a long, deep, cleansing breath before hitting a shot?
If you were able to watch the PGA Championship a couple of Sunday’s ago … you saw Jason Dufner staying “as cool as a cucumber” on his way to playing a fantastic round of golf and winning his first Major Championship.
However, would he be able to stay as unflustered after a few of his less than perfect shots if he wasn’t breathing? Because as well as he played … he did hit some shots that weren’t up to his standard. Now remember, his standard and your standard are different … so when he hits a shot you would take … it might still be a bad shot for Jason.
He won his first Major by staying in control of his game, emotions and breathing. On the other hand, we see many Golfers on the golf course with the look as if they’re being chased by lions!
As you’re set-up over the golf ball, try to take a nice, cleansing breath to clear out all the tension that your swing thoughts are causing. When you exhale, feel as if you’re pushing it all out as your body relaxes before you swing.
Three – The willingness to do things different than how they’ve always been taught to you. The ability to look at your golf game and to say “I’ve been playing for __ years and I haven’t played up to my expectations. I do everything my friends, the Golf Magazines, and even some Local Pro’s have told me to do – and I still haven’t improved as much as I feel I should’ve at this point.”
Many Golfers take the blame themselves and think it’s their own fault for not improving. Yet this is untrue … it is not your fault.
For example: you don’t know how to make a consistent golf swing, so you’re taking the information and listening to people that are supposed to have the correct information. So it becomes what you do in your golf swing. It doesn’t matter if the information is right or wrong … it’s what you do.
Yet maybe many of the “Theories and Assumptions” you’ve been using aren’t what you should be working on. Meaning, are the mechanics that you’re trying to do with your swing really the right things for your golf motion? Or are they just the correct ideas for the golf swing of the person that taught you?
We’ve found that for Golfers to improve, they must get away from the “Theories and Assumptions” approach. As close to 99 out 100 Golfers are taught to keep their head down, left arm straight, shift their weight, turn their shoulders, twist their hips, hold the angle of the club, blah, blah blah, blah.
Yet, as these Golfers try to coordinate all these elements – they hardly ever see improvements that stick.
Move away from the struggling Golfer techniques that are solely focused on working only on swing mechanics. Become the Player that has a PLAN using a “Results Based” approach of working on the ‘tangibles’ and ‘intangibles’ at the same time.
The Monkey looks at these 3 ideas on improving their game and goes back to doing what they’ve been doing
The Player will say to him/herself that they need to put as much work into the ‘intangibles’ as they have been putting into the ‘tangible’
Go ahead, Be a Player!
Regards,
Marc Solomon – Your Instructor For Life
www.GolfMadeSimple.com
