One of the things that has held me back I believe has been the lack of structure when I do go to practice. On top of that I have spent too much time moving from swing thought to swing thought and as a result on the golf course I have been playing golf swing, instead of golf. There’s a big difference there as playing golf swing you lose focus on the conditions that the shot calls for. One of my goals with theProcess.golf is to help clarify what it is that I am actually working on. That way I can develop structured practice sessions.
In the description of my golf swing I identified what I believe are the keys to my golf swing. Those keys should be the basis of what I’m working on and practice should be structured around those keys.
Full swing:
- Sitting at a desk all day has limited my flexibility. As a result my setup has gotten sloppy. A proper set up gets your body into an athletic position and primes it to move in the way it should to make a functional golf swing.
- Balance, temp, and tension (BTT). When you are off balance, swinging too fast, or you body is too tight this throws your swing off. Your body wants to stay upright despite the fact that it should be hitting the golf ball. If your Balance, tempo, and tension get off then the body attempts to save itself from falling over. Doing BTT work at the beginning and end of each session will help to ensure those parts of the swing get the necessary attention.
- Making a fuller more centered turn. A few weeks ago I had the idea to focus on my impact position. This was really eye opening for me in my golf swing as the only thing that matters to the ball is impact. I noticed that in the back swing I was moving off the ball causing me to have to move back to it on the downswing. As a result the club was getting behind me and I was “scooping” at impact. Turning more centered around my body will help me get into the proper impact position. The proper set up combined with good BTTs help to promote a better turn.
Chipping and Pitching:
- Set up and BTT are key here as well.
- Trail arm drill. This has been a game changer for me. In the past my arms and hands have been overactive and the body has been under active. This drill helps me to feel the body rotate through while keeping connection. Always something to keep an eye on.
- While the trail arm drill has helped thus far, one area that I know I need improvement on is trajectory control around the green. Working on hitting different trajectories, one high, low and medium to the same pin will help me develop more touch around the green.
Putting:
- Keeping my head still. A fundamental skill of putting. Should be touched on in every practice session.
- When I start putting bad, especially on shorter range putts my setup is usually off. This causes my hands to get over active.
- Speed control. Speed is the most important aspect of putting. You can not determine a line that you want to roll the ball on without determining the speed. Controlling the speed of your putts will help you make more putts.
Non-Technical:
- The practice tee is great for learning to swing the club better, but often the improvements in our golf swing don’t translate to the golf course. This is because they are in two different environments and in order to shoot lower scores, we need to replicate the golf course environment a little better. Practicing our routines helps us do this. Your routine should be the one constant on the golf course. It’s the process you go to before every shot and it deserves considerable attention. Because if we do not practice our routine, how can we expect to replicate it on the golf course or in a tournament round.
- Similar to practicing our routine, a practice session should not consist of hitting one club to one target. Switch it up, change clubs, change targets, change shot shape. Try to replicate the variability of the golf course.
Knowing what you’re working on is the first step to developing a practice plan. You will not break through to the next level if you simply go hit a large bucket of balls with no plan. Trust me I’ve tried this, it doesn’t work. If we want to get better at this game, we need a plan and then we need to trust the Process.
The Process 