Golfers can be obsessed with symmetry. They have to stand square to the target, turn their hips ninety degrees, shoulders 45 degrees and have the club parallel at the top. Finally, they work hard at having the club face square at impact and then finish facing the target. This is all nice and pretty, and for the most part form many of the fundamentals of the golf swing.
But…
I doubt they will help you play any better. This kind of thinking is playing safe. Playing safe, in my opinion, is the worst thing you can do. Your swing becomes tight and over controlled. You think too much and don’t let your golf swing flow. Playing safe might not get you into any trouble with your golf pro or your golfing mates (they’ll think you’re doing the right thing), but you’ll let yourself down time after time.
I made my biggest breakthroughs in golf when I started to forget about symmetry and started to swing the club in a way that felt good to me. I let myself break a few rules and started to explore new possibilities. Boy did it feel good!
I opened my stance a little and strengthened my grip. Result? An extra 10-20 metres in my drive. My swing found a new freedom by breaking rules – not by sticking to them.
Scientific research later proved that my swing had mechanical advantages over other golfers. I had the shortest back swing, the least amount of shoulder turn and no torque or strain on my spine. The best part was that I had the most club head speed. Even the sports scientists were impressed! Their thinking had been influenced by traditional golf instruction…and didn’t believe the results until they saw me swing the club 
My swing would not have evolved if I had kept following traditional advice. I spent years working on a perfect (symmetrical) back swing, swing plane and downswing. Nothing worked consistently. The paradox is that once I gave up on this mission I made giant steps with my game.
I can hear golfers shouting, “Surely you must have a square club face at impact!”. Even this is not true. In a perfect world your club face will be open when the club face strikes the ball. The ball sticks to the club face for a fraction of a second and hopefully at separation the club face is pointing to the target. You don’t have the time (or skill) to think about this anymore than you do to keep the club square. So stop thinking about it and forget about being symmetrical!
Let go and allow your golf swing to go where it wants to. There is no right and wrong. Stop being safe. It’s like being a kid again 
Talk soon.
Good golfing,
Cameron Strachan
I got thinking today on what my favourite golf books are. I’ve read hundreds of books on golf, psychology and learning but I rate the following books as my all time best.
- Mind Swings – by Masters and Burns
- Extraordinary Golf – Fred Shoemaker
- The Inner Game of Golf – W. Tim Gallwey
If you haven’t read them before then I suggest you get your hands on a copy. If you have read them then go read them again. You’ll get an insight or two that will ignite your game.
I’ve also stumbled onto a website that provides plenty of content on natural learning and playing golf your way. This website lists many resources and the author is a perfect example of what can be achieved when you learn to play more naturally. Well worth a look. Visit the Artful Golfer and be sure to say hi from me
Let me know if you have any other recommendations.
Good golfing,
Cameron Strachan
Coaching is more than a hobby for me. It has become a passion, and something that I try to improve on each day.
Ever since my first golf lesson I have been fascinated by how we teach each other to play. That golf lesson was a real eye opener. It was the first time I had heard of things like swing plane, pivot and release. It didn’t take long for my mind to become muddled and my golf swing to become erratic. Not long after that lesson I had my first air swing and developed a nasty slice.
I often wonder were my game would have gone if my first coach had nurtured me rather than impose those tedious regulations on me. If, instead of filling my mind with useless technical rules, he encouraged me to swing hard (which was my style), have fun and keep playing. I was 16 years of age at the time and on a rapid learning curve. I had gone from shooting scores of 150 to a score of 63 in two years. I was raw, but I had ability and a desire to improve.
Some coaches feel a need to justify their existence. They do this by bombarding you every piece of knowledge they have. This, they believe, proves that they are smart and gives you value for money. I don’t know about you, but I don’t care how smart a coach is. I want to see improvement with my play…not be bogged down with information overload.
I strongly believe that it take guts to be a great coach. That sometime you have to appear stupid by saying nothing. You must resist the urge to make change for the sake of it. Clients will expect lots of information and may be surprised when you don’t deliver. This is the hard part.
The other day I was teaching a technical client. He wanted ‘one with the lot’. He was prepared for everything I could throw at him. I resisted. I could see the doubt on his face. We both persisted and a genuine breakthrough was made – progress I doubt would have happened if I had given him what he wanted.
If you’re teaching you wife, husband or child keep quiet. Offer encouragement where required. Don’t force things. Let the learning process take care of things. This is hard to do but you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results. This is what it takes to become a great coach.
Good golfing,
Cameron Strachan
Below is an email I received from a reader of my newsletter. You can read my response below. Thought you might find it interesting.
Email subject: Doubts
Cameron,
Having watched over the past 24 hours, the Buick International and the Qatar Masters, there are doubts that your method is really the answer. Tiger Woods showed again why he is number 1 with a putting display in the 3rd round (and previous rounds) that was truly superb. Aaron’s play from tee to green was excellent and he gave himself numerous chances within 20 feet but in almost all cases failed to convert. In the Qatar Masters, I watched an unforgettable duel between Scott and Stenson where Scott hit 18 greens in regulation and achieved 11 one putts. He was almost matched by Stenson’s play. Whilst Scott is a good putter he is not a great putter but his display in the final round was remarkable. I would say that all the key players, in both these tournaments, do not apply your method and all would have as part of their routine a couple of practice putts before making their putt. Everything you read says that putting is individual and the recent viewing of golf tournaments only reinforces this fact. I’m not convinced that Aaron would be as good as he is without his excellent long and short iron play rather than his putting.
My response:
Thanks for your email.
I’m not sure what point you are trying to make but I’ll do my best to respond to your email.
My first question is have you read all of my material? If there’s one thing that I hit home is that you must be individual…Play Golf Your Way is the name of my best selling book! I also recommend a holistic approach. I don’t believe in quick fixes or a ONE method or trick to solve your problems. If you want to be the best player you can be you must have a sound putting game (short game) and long game. It’s for this reason that I’ve studied the golf swing scientifically. I then give golfers a method of applying that information so they can take it to the golf course. It’s a complete learning system.
I have just moved house and don’t have Foxtel so I haven’t viewed the latest golf coverage but will make these points/comments;
TW is unbelievable…nothing new there. He is perhaps the most automatic sportsman on the planet. Although Federer is not all bad.
AB has become one of the best putters ever, not because of those misses this week, but because he’ll keep doing the same thing week after week. Next week, or sometime soon, he’ll make more than his fair share and win or be in contention. Also, his ball striking has improved and has allowed him to take advantage of his awesome putting game. A few years ago his ball striking was so bad that he nearly walked away from the game.
I agree that AS is not a great putter. I would contend that this week he got lucky and had a good week. This is part of the game, just like having the odd poor round is. But unless he has managed to change his attitude with putting, some point this year he’ll revert back to what has been normal for him…average.
I believe practice putts are unnecessary for the most part, but I don’t discount them entirely. TW has used a practice putt since he has been playing golf…it is part of his routine. Same with AB and HS…they use a practice stroke as part of their routine but I don’t think it really makes that big a difference. You don’t see tennis players practice their serve, and for the most part most other sports don’t require a rehearsal prior to execution.
I would make the point that those golfers performed exactly how I recommend…they played automatically and kept doing it while in contention. This is the part that makes the difference. TW is the best at it. He never changes his approach and is able to contend most weeks. Playing on auto pilot is the only way to perform to your peak, especially under pressure. If you don’t learn how to do it you’ll never play your best golf.
And finally, I’m not sure you understand what I do in its entirety, but I have helped and received hundreds of testimonials from golfers all around the world. By encouraging golfers to forget about swing mechanics and worrying about other things, I get them to play to their best by helping them find their natural swing…I then show them how to take that swing to the golf course. Just recently I helped a golfer from Melbourne realise his dream of playing a St. Andrews. His handicap was stuck on 25 (for three years) two lessons later he has lowered it to 21. He can now book his game at the Old Course which has a handicap limit of 22.
Thanks again for your email, I enjoy getting all sorts of feedback.
Good golfing,
Cameron Strachan
I hate it when people expect a free ride all of the time. I feel that I provide plenty of free info on this website and with my newsletter (which is also free). I have received hundreds of testimonials from golfers that have improved their game by reading this material.
Yesterday I got a complaint from a guy because I directed him to one of my products. He was expecting another freebie. I understand that money is an issue but all he needed to do was show some initiative and he could have made vast improvement without spending up big. I practically showed him the solution to his problem…but he couldn’t be bothered improvising or making an effort. I suppose this is the quick fix and get free stuff mindset. I find it frustrating!
Good golfing,
Cameron Strachan
I played golf yesterday. It was a super day and it was great to get out of the office on a Friday afternoon. I’m a believer that the worst day of golf is still better than the best day at work
I’m a little frustrated this morning because I feel that I let a really special round slip away. I made some mistakes and I’m determined to learn from them. Please don’t feel sorry for me. I still shot a 69. But it could have been so much better.
I birdied my 10th hole (The 1st on the course as I started on the back nine) to get to four under. I was going nicely. Everything felt great and the world was on my side.
I then made my first mistake. I started playing safe. I didn’t mean to. But I went conservative in my approach. I started worrying about the trouble and tried to protect my score.
I made my first bogey on the 5th hole. This came after I played the par 5, 4th so safe that I was lucky to escape with a par. Sometimes you just have to go for it. Pull out all stops and go with the flow… By playing safe I cost myself at least two shots on those holes.
I then realised my second mistake. I had stopped drinking water. It was hot and humid yesterday and by the time I reached the 16th I was shot. I had a headache and no energy. I stumbled into the 18th with a string of lucky pars.
Although a 3 under round is a good score it was not a remarkable score yesterday. It should have been better, but I stopped playing instinctively and automatically. I applied too much logic and paid the price. Worse still, my mind wondered and I lost concentration. I was hot and bothered by the finish and it took me a few hours to rehydrate. Not a good thing.
This morning I have realised another mistake I’ve made. Fitness. Or a better term is lack of fitness. I’ve put on some weight in the last few months and stopped exercising. To help motivate me I’ll be writing about it on my blog. I’m aiming to lose 10 kilograms. I’ll see how I go.
To help me I’ll be using an ancient Russian exercise tool. A friend of mine sells them and they are fantastic. You can lose weight, get stronger and improve flexibility all at once. If you’re interested check them out at his website, they are called kettlebells and are ideal for all ages and fitness levels.
I’ll chat to you soon.
Good golfing,
Cameron Strachan
I believe that many skills require some lateral thinking for you to be successful at them. Take writing for example. At one point I was scared about writing, I believed it to be difficult and that it required some super special talent. It does not.
A mentor of mine changed my thinking completely. He said writing is just communication, “If you can talk you can write…write like you talk. Stop trying to be so formal and doing it correctly….just write”. This was a revelation for me. Instead of thinking about sentence structure, paragraph forming and all the other rules and regulations I thought I needed to obey, I started writing.
A wonderful thing happened. My writing flowed and it was fun. Ideas came into my head and when I read other writing I could see, hear and feel their communication. No longer was writing a barrier for me. I’m not claiming to be the best writer, but it is now something I enjoy and continually get better at.
It is interesting to learn that my mentor (a journalist, writer and amazing thinker) disagrees with conventional writing teaching. “Too many rules and regulations”, he says. When he spoke to his son about writing with passion and finding his own unique voice, his son responded with, “But our teacher at school says we have to do it another way”. My mentor believes that we all have an inner talent to write, but if we focus on HOW to write we never can do it. Much better to break some rules and be you.
The belief that you must try hard and be perfect disrupts the learning process. Playing golf is no different than putting pen to paper. It requires you find your unique game first. After that it becomes easy to make changes and develop your skills. Doing it the other way around is messy, boring and rarely leads to success.
So be daring. Break some rules and go against convention. Open your stance if it feels good and swing quickly if that is your thing. And it really doesn’t matter if your grip is too strong. Play golf, have fun and write to me to tell me you experience. I would love to hear your story.
Good golfing,
Cameron Strachan
I was having a drink in the local pub last night and was chatting to a new friend about golf. My friend was interested about my ideas and also my experiences with conventional golf instruction.
I was reminded of a time when I used to have golf lessons at a leading golf facility here in Melbourne. At the time I was still formalising my concepts on natural learning, and many of my golfing mates were having lessons there so I thought it was a good idea for me to do the same. After all, I didn’t want to miss out on anything that could help my golf game.
I still remember walking into to the coaching centre and being surprised at many of the golfers performing the same practice drills. It seemed a bit strange, especially when the playing standards of the players varied from professional to beginner.
I had lessons there for a few months. The routine was pretty much the same. My swing was captured on video then we went out the back to watch it. The coach would draw lines on the screen, I would nod in understanding (although I was often confused) and then I would hit some balls or do drills to put the ideas into action.
The one thing that really annoyed me were the practice drills. The coaches used the same drills for everyone! Each month or so they would come up with a new drill. This became quite funny for me so I termed the phrase “drill of the month”.
Over time the golfers having lessons there (and there were many) all resembled each other. You could spot them from a mile away. Their routines were the same, each performing a drill that they had learned.
I soon became frustrated with this coaching method. My game was stagnant, despite performing the drills and practicing hard. The coaches were great guys but they had a lack of flexibility in their coaching style. They tried to force me to fit their coaching method, not adapt their style to fit me. I stopped having lessons after few months and continued on my own path of discovery.
Chatting about it last night it hit home why this traditional approach does not work for everyone. It’s the ‘cookie cutter’ approach. Everyone is taught the same way. The coaching model is rigid…if you don’t fit in you have no chance to improve. This I believe is wrong.
If you’re currently having lessons ensure the coach can work with you and not against you. Push him or her, make them earn their money. If you don’t understand speak up. Don’t take everything they say as gospel. If you’re not improving leave, you’re the boss.
My other advice is don’t drink too much on a work night. It makes being productive difficult. Think I might head to the golf course.
Good golfing,
Cameron Strachan
