Comments on: Time to turn golf coaching on its head

By: Tony Lucas (Lukey)

Tony Lucas (Lukey) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 07:31:57 +0000

Cam
I totally agree with what you have said and with steadys help and of course yours I feel at long last I am really grasping the idea of auto golf but due to work committments I am unable to get out there and just absolutely let it go as much as I would like.
Cheers Lukey

By: Cameron

Cameron — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:53:46 +0000

@ DP: Another win! You better take it easy – you might just start lowering that handicap. Fancy that. Your natural and automatic style giving you a win. Who would have thought? Keep up the good work

And yes, it does take time… but worth the effort.

Thanks for posting DP.

Good golfing,

Cameron

By: DP

DP — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:45:05 +0000

Cam,
Had second practise session this year before playing as I was determined to find my natural wristy sometimes overswinging swing without worrying about anything but how it felt.
Trusted it and definitely went automatic.
Sank some really good putts, had 40 points, won comp. what can I say.
Also suggested to fellow struggling player to try ‘Cameron golf ‘ later in the round – I feel he will be another convert in time – and it does take time – a fact I think needs to be emphasised. I know you have said it before but we punters need reminding.
Cheers, and of course, thanks very much!
DP

By: Steady

Steady — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:55:48 +0000

Hi Cam
shot 3 over for 9 holes. Not bad considering it was windy. Learnt how to finally hit a draw by turning the toe of the club to the left. Could hit it high or low. Last 2 holes started hitting fades by opening the face. Didn’t have to change my alignment. Just opened the face and swing. Not too far incase I hit a shank or very bad slice.
Cheers
Steady

By: Cameron

Cameron — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:24:46 +0000

@ DP: One thing people forget is that automatic/natural golf allows you to continually improve over time. You should get just that little bit better each time you play. Practice is completely overrated if you don’t do it properly.

A quote from Greg Norman:

“I made the dumb mistake of changing my swing and it’s taken all this time (four years) to get back my natural style”.

@ Gregor: Yes, you should practice like you play. Never play like you practice. There’s a huge difference.

Automatic golf allows your natural game to come through. Exploring, having fun and trying to hit new shots is fun and maximises learning potential. I often see golfers on the range hitting the same shot time after time. Boring, and not sure it helps that much.

My advice? Break free, try something new and explore the art of the possible. Maybe playing with a low draw is best for you – but you don’t know if you never give it a chance.

@ Steady: Yes, learning to react to the target, ball and environment will give you the ability to hit all types of shots. How’d you play yesterday?

Thanks for posting everyone. Good golfing.

Cameron

By: Steady

Steady — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:45:13 +0000

Hi Gregor,
in response to your question. Yes you can practice on the range those shots that we want to perform while playing. eg high fade, low draw whatever. How ever you don’t think about the mechanics of that particular shot. The auto process will take care of that. Get behind the ball, pick what shot you want to play. Set up for a draw and fade whatever shot you want.
Once aligned play shot with out conscious control.
I hope this was a help.
Cheers Steady

By: Gregor

Gregor — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:52:26 +0000

So should you practice based on objectives e.g. low shot, high shot, draw, fade. What about on the course, should you have an objective for every shot. And then do you determine success by whether the shot worked or by whether you had an objective for it ? If you keep trying different types of shots will you notice a pattern of what works best ?

By: DP

DP — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:44:22 +0000

Cameron,
I recall when Greg Norman was asked how to play bunker shots, he replied:- Throw 50 balls into a bunker, go in, and learn how to hit them all out.
What we need is ‘time’ to hit balls and work it out, but I suspect that most of us do not have time or are not prepared to spend the time, preferring someone to tell us the quick fix so we don’t waste our ‘precious’ time. Basically we do not want to spend our ‘precious’ time hitting golf balls badly while trying to find what works best.
There is a definite social side to this attitude and that is that people with limited time would rather have a game of golf with mates once or twice a week and accept poor/average/frustrating golf, rather than heading off to the practise range and tonk golf balls.( I suspect that this scenario is where ‘automatic’ golf should seriously rear its head, as the golfer must accept that he is here to PLAY, not practise).
I would love to have time to practise before my Thursday afternoon game but I am otherwise committed. The only Thursday this entire year when I had time to hit balls before lunch I won the b*&%dy comp!
Life ain’t perfect.
Cheers,
DP
PS: Whatever, it is still the best game.

By: Steady

Steady — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 01:30:39 +0000

Gregor,
In sport we have knowledge of results and knowledge of performance. Knowledge of results in golf is your score. Knowledge of performance in golf is that felt good/bad whatever.
In finding what works for you, as example. On long putts I putt very dominated by my right. So i use my right hand more than my left.
What Cameron and I are trying to say is that in 99% of golf instruction is a cookie cutter approach. That is one size fits all. Yet we all know that this approach hasn’t worked. The reason being is that the golf industry wants you on the merry go round. Keep coming back.
Yes basics are important however they are not the things you focus on when playing golf. PLay golfyour way.
Cheers Steady

By: Cameron

Cameron — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:27:29 +0000

@ Steady: Thanks for the reply. I thought you would enjoy the unschooling article.

@ Gregor: There will always be basics like grip, stance and swing. These can be learned quite naturally without giving it too much thought. There is also no need to spend years searching for the “correct” technique – something many golfers get caught up with.

You find your “own basics” by exploring, having fun and playing. Our learning system is more than capable of doing this.

I’m not against experimentation – I’m against unnecessary analysis of golf technique. Here’s an example.

A golfer wants to hit a ball over a tree located on the practice fairway.

Should he be able to learn naturally with the objective “over the tree” or should he be thinking about his grip, swing plane and body pivot or while keeping his head down?

The experimentation comes in by trying new shots and exploring possibilities (hitting the ball over a tree). You’ll learn all types of things with the “objective” mindset – open club face, ball position etc. You’re not getting stuck by guessing what you’re doing right or wrong – either you clear the tree or you don’t.

Hope that helps.

Cameron