It’s important that your find your groove. Another way of saying this is finding your natural golf swing.
This means that you’ve got to find (and use) the golf swing that feels good to you. More importantly, it means you’ve got to use the golf swing that works.
So if your natural shot is a fade (or a baby slice) then this is your shot. Use it. Don’t aim for the middle of the fairway. Have the guts to aim left and let your natural shot shape find the target.
Too many golfers aim straight. Hoping against all hope that the ball will fly straight and true. It’s not going to happen. And you’ll never be truly be able to swing with confidence. You’re fighting nature and it’s a fight that you’ll never win.
A myth is that tour players hit the ball straight. They don’t. Because they are playing for a living they play with the shot that has the highest probability of finding the target. For the most part they’re not concerned about others and distracted by ego. So they hit shots that curve – rarely do they play straight.
And one last thing.
You can only find your groove when you swing freely. And the best way to do this is to play automatically.
So you think you swing too quickly.
I don’t think you do. Swinging quickly is often used as an excuse for a bad shot or the reason why you can’t hit the ball. But it’s nonsense…
If there’s one thing that you must learn to do if you want to play better golf it’s not emotionally evaluating your shots.
In other words, don’t make up reasons why you played a poor shot. Let it go and step up to the next shot with a clear head. Adult temptation is to think, analyse and control. I used to do the same thing but was never really able to experience my best golf. Each round was hard work – continually thinking and trying to work out what I did wrong (or right) took its toll.
Best you forget about judging and evaluating your shots – hit the ball and move onto the next one. Doing so will allow you to free your mind and play your own version of remarkable golf.
The “swinging too quickly” syndrome is a common one. I think it’s a bit of a cop out too. When you can’t think of anything else it’s easy to blame the errant shot on a quick swing. My advice is to stop doing it.
Most golfers I know want to hit the ball further. By swinging slowly (what you do when you’re trying not to swing quickly) you don’t allow yourself to swing with speed. Speed allows you to find power, and extra power makes the game more fun. Loosen up and let your golf swing flow.
If you think you’re prone to swinging too quickly I offer the following suggestions:
- Stop trying to slow your golf swing down. Commit to the shot at hand and go with your natural swing. Your instinctive swing is better than any consciously controlled swing you can come up with.
- Ignore advice from others. It really is impossible for them to tell you accurately if you’re swinging too fast. Learn to trust your own swing and intuition.
- If you hit a poor shot it’s unlikely you were swinging too quickly. Chances are it was just a bad swing – it’s not possible to hit every shot perfectly. Accept a bad shot or two and move on.
- You can play great golf with a quick swing – especially if swinging fast feels good to you.
Conscious control and emotional evaluation will hold you back. If you’re trying to slow your swing down you’re not playing automatically. If you’re making up stories or guessing what you’re doing wrong you’ll always be disappointed. Automatic golf is the key to playing your best golf. It allows your natural instincts to take over and gives you the best swing possible. Automation will keep that adult mind out of the equation – you’ll be free to play without that inner critic holding you back.
Ultimately you want to swing the club in a way that feels good to you. Stop thinking about too quick or too slow, there’s no such thing.
Golfers like to work on their swing and search for the ‘secret’ or golf tip that can help them improve. Although I’m not a big fan of quick tips or jumping around looking for a miracle cure, correct golf mechanics are important.
There is so much contradiction available in the golf world that it can be hard to know what is right or wrong. I have found that if golfers get correct information they can swing better and with more confidence. This is always a good thing 
In 2004 I was involved in a scientific study of the golf swing. This was a comprehensive study and involved analysis of motion, ground reaction forces and muscle activity. After nine months of researching the scientists had come up with some interesting results. These results contradicted many traditional concepts. Below are three ideas that can help you improve your golf technique;
Scientific Secret #1 – Power comes from your hands and arms, not your body
Most of modern instruction places an emphasis on spinning (turning) your body for maximum power. This is not correct. This spinning and turning causes most golfing problems – most notably a weak slice.
The key for maximum power is to swing your hands and arms. The body acts as a support mechanism – moving in response to your hands and arms. Move your arms first and the body will follow. It should never be the other way around.
Have you ever been stuck under a tree with a restricted back swing, then been surprised at how far you’ve hit the ball? This has happened to many golfers and represents the scientific secrets to a better golf swing. With a restricted backswing you are forced to swing your arms, which is exactly what you’re supposed to do.
Scientific Secret #2 – How to have perfect timing
Golfers report that when they are playing well they have more time to hit the ball. During these times their timing is spot on. Scientific analysis has helped identify the secrets to having perfect golf swing timing. Here they are;
- club head traveling along the target line for a longer period of time
- club face pointing at the target for longer period of time
We termed this the Flat Spot Principle. Learning to perform the FSP will give you an unfair advantage. You can hit the ball with confidence because you’ll know that the ball will travel longer and straighter more of the time.
Scientific Secret #3 – How to hit the ball further with less effort
Science has shown it is possible to get more power without straining and hurting your body. Here are the key concepts for doing so;
- Use a shorter back swing. It was found that when golfers relaxed and attempted a shorter back swing they actually INCREASED the length of their swing. This could help explain why golfers can report better results when they swing easier and take a three-quarter length swing.
- Allow a bending of your left arm (your right arm if you’re left-handed). This not only reduces strain and makes the swing easier to perform, you’ll also give yourself a mechanical advantage. A slight bending of your left arm at the top of the swing reduces the moment of inertia and allows you to start the club down more quickly. This will allow your swing to have more speed at the ball.
- Don’t wind your body like a spring. Turning your body tight or as far as you can is not the right thing to do. This is sometimes referred to X factoring. You should strive for a relaxed and comfortable swing – not one that causes you pain or is difficult to do
A bonus Scientific Secret – The Grip
Learning how to hold onto the club can be a difficult thing to learn. There are many pieces of advice to choose from and deciding on the right one is not always easy. Our scientific data identified two key areas that are most important. Get these two concepts correct and you can forget about the rest;
- Choose a grip that allows you to swing the golf club with speed. This should be your greatest priority.
- Choose a grip that YOU find comfortable – not what your instructor says so
This means that you don’t need to worry about Vardon, interlocking or overlapping grips. Find method of holding the club that satisfies the above principles and you’ll do just fine.
As an extra bonus you may find bulking up your grips to your liking. Get your golf professional to add some extra tape under your grip or experiment with some chunky grips that are now on the market. I should have some of these new grips in stock shortly. If you’d like to learn more please contact me.
###
These scientific secrets form the basics of BioSwing. One independent scientist was so impressed with the golf swing model that he described BioSwing as the golf swing of the future. To learn more about BioSwing view my Golf Instruction 2.0 package for full details.
No matter how good you golf swing mechanics are you still need to perform the swing automatically and naturally. I still believe this to be golf’s most important skill – when you have good mechanics and can automate that swing you will become the best golfer you can be.
Good golfing,
Cameron
Do you want to play better golf? Most golfers that write to me do but the vast majority don’t know how to do it.
First of all let’s define what better golf is.
My simple version is being able to play good golf out on the golf course. For most golfers this will be hitting shots and scoring as well as you do in practice and in non competitive rounds. If you hit the ball well on the practice tee but lose the plot once you step onto the first tee, you haven’t learned how to play the game yet.
If this sounds like you the game will become frustrating (if it isn’t already) and you will feel like you’re not maximising your potential.
What’s the best way to start playing better golf?
Traditional instruction likes to focus solely on the golf swing and in particular golf swing mechanics. Thinking about your swing (especially while you play) is one of the worst things that you can do. Here’s why;
You become attached to your golf swing. You can’t hit a shot without analysing what went right or wrong. Hit a good shot and you’ll try and replicate it. Hit a bad shot and you’ll try and find a remedy. I call this emotional attachment and it doesn’t allow you to play your best golf. It’s also hard and tiring work!
When I ask golfers to describe to me the best shot or round they’ve played invariably they can’t remember HOW they did it. These situations are like magic and only result when you can let go of your attachment to to golf swing. Letting go enables your instinctive learning machine to take over and perform the skill the way nature intended.
Consciously controlling your swing, worrying about what others think, playing safe and thinking too much about mechanics is a form of emotional attachment.
A friend of mine helps men meet and attract women. It’s not as seedy as it sounds. It’s a reputable business that teaches non confident men how to find a partner in a natural and real way. He is a real world version of Hitch and in a silly kind of way golfers face similar problems.
My friend went on to tell me that guys that struggle with dating think too much and over analyse. They will walk up to a lady worried about what everyone is thinking and usually try a cheesy pick up line, thinking that is the right thing to do. It isn’t.
The golf equivalent is thinking that you’re no good and relying on some quick fix tip to help execute the shot. This rarely works either.
Over thinking and emotional attachment seems like the right thing to do but it is holding you back – no matter what you’re trying to achieve.
The solution? I’m not going to offer you dating advice here, but if you want to improve your golf game then I suggest you take my three round challenge.
For the next three games you play allow yourself to swing with freedom and enthusiasm. Hit the ball in a way that feels good to you. Clear you head of technical thoughts and worry. Let go and stop thinking “how do I do it?”. Tee the ball up and hit the stupid ball!
You’ll have to put thoughts of score and results out of your mind. It’s the only way to make a breakthrough but is well worth the effort. I have found that keeping track of your “free” swings is better than keeping score. See if you can make a natural and free swing at least 75% of the time. This is a good aiming point.
Learning to let go of emotional attachment is not a comfortable thing to do. It will feel weired and even a little scary. But it is something that you have to do if you want to experience better golf. Better golf is just the beginning – after ‘better’ comes remarkable and this is something worth aiming for.
Good golfing,
Cameron
Many golfers spend so much time worrying about their golf swing technique that they have little or no chance of playing their best golf.
Traditional instruction focuses almost exclusively on golf mechanics so it really is not surprising that golfers place a high amount of emotional energy on their golf swing. They don’t know what else to do!
I have said that to play golf well you need to take counter intuitive steps – that is, you might need to do things that aren’t obvious or go against traditional concepts.
It might not seem obvious, but your routine is more important than your golf swing. Let me explain more…
A correct routine will enable you to work out what you need to do behind the ball (think) and then give you a process to walk to the ball and execute the shot automatically (and hopefully successfully).
Thinking about your golf swing while you are over the ball is NOT the right thing to do. This will almost always lead to failure.
It doesn’t matter how good your golf swing is – if you don’t get your routine right you will undo all of your hard work. If you can’t hit the ball instinctively and automatically you won’t enjoy the benefits of a good golf swing.
A good routine has two parts, the physical and mental. The physical part of your routine is less important. It allows some variance, for example you may choose to have a practice swing or you may not or you make take three waggles instead of four. It doesn’t really matter.
The mental part of your routine is less flexible. You MUST be consistent with your thinking on each shot. You will become a remarkable golfer when your mental routine becomes consistent over a long period of time. Here are the keys to a good mental routine.
- Work out what you want to do when you’re behind the ball. How far do you want to hit the ball? Where do you want to hit the ball? What club do I need to hit? These are questions that you need to ask each and every time. This process is done behind the ball before you start walking towards the ball. NEVER over the ball.
- Once you know what you want to do you must execute the shot automatically. Automatically should be interpreted as playing naturally or instinctively. This is allowing your subconscious to take control. Subconscious control leads to mastery and remarkable golf and is what I call golf’s vital skill.
Greg Norman was a master at the above steps. He spoke about Think, Choose and Do in one of his books from the 90′s. He thought about his options on each shot, he then chose one and then executed the shot without fuss or doubt. He then repeated the process over and over. I believe this allowed him to dominate golf for so long – not his golf swing.
If you want to be the best player you can be you must lose your attachment to your golf swing. Emotional attachment or believing your golf swing is a priority causes you to become tight and powerless. Your golf game won’t flow and you will be anything but remarkable. Over concern for golf technique and mechanics is the biggest fault in golf today. Let it go! It’s not that important!
A correctly performed routine will allow your game to improve naturally over time. You will continue to learn and make steps forward. You will get better with each round you play. By leaving your golf swing alone that too will get better. It’s like magic – it will improve without you knowing how. This is natural learning at its best and it certainly beats the alternative.
For more information about obtaining a better routine check out my book, Play Golf Your Way – I cover the steps above in greater detail.
Dear golfer,
A mate Andrew called a few weeks ago and asked if I’d join him for a hit in our club fourball event. A fourball is a popular game, with the best score per team counting, it allows you to have a bad hole or two if your partner can chime in at the right time. Some players are experts at this type of match – it seems to suit those that have their ups and downs but can find a consistent partner to steady the ship.
Everything was planned for Saturday, a late hit off was booked to ensure my man could get back from Sydney. Things didn’t get look good when he missed his flight but he managed to get another that would get him to the course just in time.
Come hit off time there was no sign of Andrew. A quick call to his mobile only found his voice mail. I had no other option but to start the match by myself. My plan was to try and stay with my opponents early, then hopefully when Andrew showed up we could play the match out in normal fashion.
Playing a fourball match by yourself is not ideal. There is no room for a bad hole and you can’t rely on a partner to play safe when you feel like pulling out all stops. This type of game can produce some very good scores because of the ability to use one ball as ‘security’ with the second player going for it. If the risk comes off you usually win the hole and if it doesn’t, hopefully the conservative player has manged to halve the hole.
To make matters worse I had to give these guys a total of 28 shots! Not an easy task.
Repeated calls to Andrew’s phone went unanswered. It was starting to look like I was stuck by myself for the day. Luckily for me I was playing well and was hanging in there. I lost the 9th hole to turn one down but I felt I had a chance if I could keep plugging away.
I birdied the 10th and 12th holes to halve those holes (tough game sometimes 
) and when I won the 15th hole I had managed to get the match back to square. Things started looking great when I birdied the 16th hole to take the lead for the first time. If I could snag one more birdie I thought I could pull off a big win.
The 17th hole was decisive. After a long drive and with both players in trouble I knew a par would put me in the box seat. My thinking was that at the very least I would take a lead to the 18th tee and maybe even win the match if they couldn’t recover. I decided to play a little conservatively. I opted to hit the middle of the green instead of aiming at a little pocket where the pin was tucked.
I thought I played the perfect shot, out to the left of the hole leaving a long, but fairly easy, two putt. To my surprise the ball didn’t stop on the hard green. It continued rolling into a back bunker. Now this was not an easy shot. Earlier in the day I had misplayed two other bunker shots so I didn’t feel that confident. I then made a huge error! I played safe. And this is probably the worst thing a golfer can do!
Instead of going through my usual process of automatic golf (a method that had served me well throughout the day!) I changed. I think it is a form of choking and I was (and still am) disappointed at myself. I tried to play that bunker shot correctly while at the same time making sure I didn’t leave the ball in the bunker and got it onto the green somewhere. My mind was racing, I felt my body tighten and the bunker shot was horrible. It came out fat (I half flinched and jabbed at the ball) with little spin. It ran way past the hole. When I missed the par putt I had lost a hole I shouldn’t have.
If I had approached that bunker shot the correct way, let go and played subconsciously, I know I would have hit a better shot. I may have still made a bogey but I wouldn’t have been so disappointed at myself. Playing safe seems like the right thing to do, but it almot always leads to failure.
My opponents both parred the 18th hole with a shot. When I couldn’t make a birdie the match was over. I had played well but felt I had let myself down with just one shot on the 17th. That one mistake left a sour taste in my mouth. I pride myself on playing every shot automatically. I look forward to the pressure shots and I love stepping up to the ball without any thought of conscious control. After years of playing this way I wouldn’t want to do it any other way. I also realise that I’m not there yet – that I still need to keep working at it. This is what makes the game so challenging and also so much fun.
I finally got hold of Andrew on Sunday morning. His second flight was delayed and his phone went flat. A good excuse I suppose and I learned a valuable lesson – one I hope will keep allowing me to improve further…
Good golfing,
Cameron
