Let’s hear it for Mark Wilson, the winner of the PGA Tour event a couple of weeks ago in Phoenix, Arizona. Here’s a guy that is 5’8” tall and weighs 145 pounds (1.52 meters and 65.7 kg) … yet he was bombing his Driver 301 yards (275 meters) in the 3rd round of the tournament!
This translates into 2.07 yards per pound (4.18 meters per kilo) with his drives! What’s your yard per pound rating with your Driver? Meaning, if you weigh 200 pounds and your average drive is 220 yards, your rating is: 1.1 yards per pound.
This obviously isn’t a stat that is extremely vital … although it does tell a lot about the efficiency of your golf swing. How much are you truly getting out of your golf swing? Is you golf swing efficient? Or is your golf swing similar to the US Budget? Meaning it has a lot of waste stuffed into it?
Obviously, the bigger you are … the harder it is to have a higher efficiency rating. For example: a guy that’s 250 pounds would have to average hitting his Driver over 500 yards to equal Wilson’s rating. And if the same 250 pound Golfer averaged 250 yards a drive he would ‘only’ have a rating of 1 yard per pound.
The key is that everyone’s goal in their golf swing should be to make it as efficient as it can be. Or, in-other-words, getting the most out of your swing that you’re capable of.
Now this doesn’t mean you should just swipe at the golf ball as hard as you can. Doing that doesn’t make an efficient golf swing. If that was your mindset before each swing, your golf balls would be flying (or rolling) all over the place.
So how do you become more efficient?
A question I am often asked is: “Marc, what makes a good golf swing?” My belief is: A good golf swing depends on each individual person. However, the key for you to improve your golf swing is to start working on becoming more efficient in your movements. The more everything is working together … the less problems. The less everything is working together … the more inconsistent you will become.
Why is Tiger ‘struggling’ right now? His golf swing is less efficient than it used to be. Can he regain that efficiency? Of course he can. When will that happen? When he stops trying to incorporate new stuff into his golf swing and starts going back to becoming efficient. Why do most Golfers never improve their game? Because they’re always trying to incorporate new stuff into their golf swing … instead of learning to make an efficient golf swing.
Most people consider improvement being based on becoming more consistent. However, I believe that consistency is just an Effect of a more efficient golf swing. When you’re able to have more parts of your body working together in unison to bring that club from the starting position to impact – you’re becoming more efficient in your motion. And because you’re becoming more efficient … your golf swing is becoming more consistent.
For example: When a Golfer comes to GMS and learns how to allow their left side of their body and their right side of their body to work together … they are learning to become more efficient with their golf swing. When Golfers first come to see us … 90% of these Golfers are completely right side dominate. Their right side is much, much more coordinated than their left side. Everything from their right foot all the way up their body to their right arm and hand is more coordinated than the comparable body part on their left side.
So what are the effects of that problem? Well, their right side then has to compensate for their slower, weaker, less coordinated left side. Thus, because of these compensations, their golf swing isn’t close to being efficient. Meaning, they are continually making different adjustments each and every golf swing to try to overcome their bad golf shots. Which is just another way of saying that you are inconsistent. Yet, this inconsistency is Caused by your lack of efficiency.
However, most of you are trying to fix that inconsistency by trying to swing more inside to out, or keeping your head more still, or trying to stack and tilt, or trying to create more lag, or blah, blah, blah, blah. Yet, you’re getting farther and farther away from consistency because you’re trying to fix different Effects. And these Effects will not disappear because you haven’t worked to fix the Cause of these problems.
What we have found is that the more you get both sides of your body working together, the more efficient your golf swing is becoming. Thus, your golf shots become more consistent.
Do you want to become more consistent? Stop Monkeying Around – Start Learning To Become More Efficient!
Consistency is based on Efficiency …
Consistency is not based on an inside to out swing!
Consistency is an Effect. It is an Effect that is based on a more efficient golf swing. Or in other words, have you been working on becoming more consistent? What have been your results? Over the time you have been working on becoming consistent, how much more consistent have you become?
If you’re like most people, your answer is “very little”. Why is this so common? Because a consistent golf swing is an Effect. And you can’t work on fixing an Effect. You need to fix the Cause!
Perhaps the Cause of your inconsistency is that your golf swing isn’t very efficient.
For example: How can a 145 pound person hit the golf ball over 300 yards? His golf swing (at least for those 4 rounds of golf) was very efficient!
What’s your yards per pound (meters per kilo) with your Driver? The higher it is … the more efficient your golf swing is. The lower it is … the less efficient (and possibly more inconsistent) it is.
The Monkey is working on Effects to become consistent … and continues to stay inconsistent
The Player knows consistency comes from efficiency
Go ahead, Be A Player!
Regards,
Marc Solomon – Your Instructor For Life
