Creating good “Feels” from proper golf swing mechanics
If golf felt like it looked… it would be an easy game…
You need to be creating good “feels” from proper swing mechanics.
What feels one way to one golfer will feel totally different to someone else, that’s why you need to create your own feels from good mechanics.
Golfers tend to develop a lot of bad swing habits. You hear golfers saying, “That just doesn’t feel right at all”…often times, what feels right is wrong and what feels wrong is right – the reason why most handicap golfers struggle with this game.
The slice that never goes away, fat chips, pull hooks and thin shots never getting higher than 2 feet off the ground…Let’s face it, there’s a small minority ( maybe 3% ) of golfers out there who just get it …I call them “gifted”, usually a kinesthetic learner – they just know what a good golf swing feels like.
The rest of us ( 97% ) have to figure out a way to deal with these crazy feels – swinging too fast, too flat, too steep, over the top, outside in and the list goes on and on and on. So we continue to swing thinking it’s right when it’s not…
Even making the slightest change, feels uncomfortable –the old saying “ Move an inch, feels like a mile” –so we end up never making a big enough change to correct our problem – this is why most players struggle- you need to break this cycle…
So, here’s the answer – when you’re no longer fighting what feels right vs. wrong – you want to allow these certain “different feels” to help shape better mechanics in your swing. You will no longer be fighting to stay on plane or stalling your power source “your Pivot”
– You’ll develop a more powerful golf swing which will in turn give you more accuracy – keeping your golf shots in the fairway, getting it on the green and sinking more putts…
First, you need to make yourself aware of this situation in the first place. Then you basically need to trick your brain into doing what is right even though it will feel wrong at times…
This is what I do on almost every iron shot…my thought is
” I feel like I’m going to hit the golf ball into the ground, say for a #7 – telling myself to drive the ball into the ground 160 yards” sounds crazy but it works, that’s what it feels like but I know that’s not the reality. This thought gets my body to continue to pivot through the swing. When you continue your pivot the club will bottom out at the same point every time and you’ll hit a solid shot.
Now, for my driver I feel like I’m going to leave the club at the top, that’s so I don’t get to quick from the top and yank the club down with my arms. Again that’s what it feels like –let the club just fall – but that’s not the reality…you need to fool your brain – it’s that simple…
Now I’m not saying that those thoughts are going to work for everyone, I’m just making a point that in golf you often have to trick your body into overcoming whatever unique issues you have in your swing (although many of us struggle with the same golf swing problems).
One of the best pro instructors I’ve encountered, that can explain so many of these feels is non-other than golfing “guru” Gregg McHatton – he’s simply a magician when it comes to getting you to work through these feels – he’s put together a program he calls “Brain Lessons” – it is simply amazing, I’ve never seen anything like it in my 30 years of playing golf – I strongly suggest taking a look at it – it will change your swing around fast…