It’s been quite a while since my on and off student Stan has made his way over to Woodmont for a lesson, so I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed his name in my book for a couple hours last week. If you have read any of my articles recounting my various forays with Stan (Click here) you know that he is endlessly entertaining as he searches for any and every way to get better without having to do the work and practice that I always insist he needs. Stan really wants to believe that the game is “90% mental”, and that if he can just conquer his inner demons and focus on the target he could become the player he longs to be. When he does show up he always wants to talk first, and even after I encourage him to hit a few shots while he is yapping away he rarely does, so we spend a bunch of time not working on his swing, but rather working through the ideas he has come up with since the last lesson (the things he believes will help him avoid the physical work required to overcome the technique problems that I will eventually show him when I can get him to hit a few shots and analyze his swing). Until then, however, I will have to listen to Stan go on about how he is now going to be a “feel” player, which is his topic du jour, and he starts right in on it as soon as it is his turn.
Stan: Hey Wayno, how’s it going? Long time no see. You ready for me?
Wayne: Of course I am: I’m always ready for you my man.
Stan: Well, I think I’ve got it this time, so I wanted to run it by you and see what you think. I know you want me to hit some so you can take my swing apart and destroy my confidence but can we just talk first?
Wayne: Now why would you say something like that? Yes, we can talk but I’m not out to destroy anyone’s confidence. It’s just a matter of looking at what’s really going on in the swing and then trying to come up with ways to make it better. I’m only giving you my honest take on why I think you continue to struggle.
Stan: Yeah, OK, fine, but let’s talk first. Now, I’ve come to the conclusion that I have to be more of a “feel” player. All this mechanical stuff is too technical for me. I can’t remember what I’m supposed to do and there are too many mistakes to correct. It’s overwhelming and I just get fried out there whenever I think too much. If I just try to focus on the target and let my swing happen it feels much better.
Wayne: OK, so is that working out for you? Are you getting better and shooting better scores?
Stan: Well, not really. I feel fine over the shot and I try to just let it go but the ball doesn’t really go how I want it to often enough.
Wayne: Hmmm. So you’re not thinking about the swing, and when you just swing without trying to do anything specific you’re not hitting it any better. Is that right?
Stan: Yeah, I guess so, but it’s so nice to not be out there grinding all day.
Wayne: Sure, but wouldn’t it be nicer to be playing better? If you’re not thinking about your swing and it is making the same old mistakes, how are you going to make it better? It’s not like you can think about less than nothing.
Stan: But Bob Rotini says to just concentrate on the target and swing naturally.
Wayne: It’s Rotella, and that’s fine if you’re Fred Couples or Bubba Watson, but you aren’t, and when you use your “natural” swing it isn’t all that great, and you still hit the ball and score like a 15 handicap. You could be a 5 if you would improve you technique, and that means everywhere on the course including short game and putting.
Stan: I know I’m supposed to practice this stuff on the range but isn’t it different on the course? I seem to be paralyzed standing over the ball trying to remember what to do.
Wayne: Most people have too many things to work on and fix up to be able to think about all of them before or during a swing. But that’s not the idea anyway. The idea is to practice the specific things you need to incorporate into your swing, and then boil them down to a usable few things you can use while you’re playing. Nicklaus has stated that he hit every shot with two swing keys, and that while these thoughts changed he always had two. I call this the law of “back and through”, which states that if you can’t get your swing thoughts to sound as simple as back and through then you need to reassess and simplify. For example if your takeaway cuts inside with your left wrist bowing you might say to yourself “in and cup”, meaning pull the hands more toward your body and bend the left wrist inward to open the face. Even that’s a bit too complex for one thought so as you practice you work on combining the two items “in and cup” into one, which would probably be just “in”, or “hands in”. The part about the wrist would be assimilated into the initial movement thought so that you would do two things with one thought. In the forward swing you could choose a transition thought if you wanted to, an approach thought, and impact thought, or a follow through thought. It would be best to form a precise general idea of what the shape and feel of the downswing is, then give it a name that would suggest multiple things. You could say “hands out”, or “hands forward”, or “arms squeeze”, or you could concentrate on impact the ground in front of the ball. It is always better to pare down the thoughts to single words so that the back and through has a rhythm that flows through your head and suggests something that is fluid and not rushed. You don’t have much choice but to pare down the thoughts in this fashion, and if there are too many things to pile in there then you just have to leave some out.
Stan: Ok, but what do I do when the thoughts don’t work?
Wayne: You have a couple of choices. You can just stick with what you brought to the first tee and hang in there with it, or you can go back to things you know and understand and change it up a bit. It is not a good idea to try something new unless it is the first thing you try and you have prepared for the round by using those thoughts in the days leading up to playing. If you are playing in an event you pretty much stop adding items to work on a few days in advance, and concentrate on taking the stuff you have been practicing and simplify it into a usable “back and through” mantra that will help you focus on the general swing you want to make and attack the specific faults that are chronic and plague you every time you play. Remember that this, too, takes a lot of work and that the more you can practice and become familiar with the specific things you are working on the easier it is to hone them into something more general and playable.
Stan: Yeah, I get you. So, is that what they mean when they talk about being a “feel” player?
Wayne: If all you ever feel are shots being hit poorly it won’t be long before you’ll be trying to change your “feel”, which means you will be working on your swing technique. Like I said, good players who try to get better work on their swing mechanics. One of the big things that helps them be good in the first place is that they understand that to use specific technique thoughts on the course you have to combine and simplify the thoughts so that they flow in your head and meld with the rhythm of your swing. This requires practice and a conscious effort.
Stan: So do we really need to dissect my swing with the video?
Wayne: We have to know what actually happens when you try to incorporate different thoughts. You know what your “feel” is and what you think it might look like, and then the video shows you what you are really doing, so you can then figure out what your “feel” is and how to modify it in the event that it doesn’t look the way you want it to.
Now, can you hit a few for me so we can figure out what you need to be thinking and feeling?