One of the big questions of this golf generation seems to be…why are golfers as a whole not improving? The average handicap statistics have not improved much over the past 25 years despite better golf balls and clubs, so here is my take on the situation based on several aspects.
1. Only about 11% of the golf population takes golf lessons. I don’t know about you, but if I was struggling to excel in a sport that offered instruction it would make a lot of sense to go see someone who could help me! Perhaps many people think they can figure it out for themselves, and some can, but with so many parts and pieces moving in the golf swing many times it’s a struggle to fix it yourself. Fortunately, those of us who are golf professionals…well many of us, are highly trained at diagnosing swing problems and offering solutions.
2. Past experience. I realize that some of you have been courageous enough to take one or a few golf lessons and perhaps did not see the results that you expected. Sometimes that is the fault of the teacher, and sometimes the student. The golf swing is a complex motion that must be learned, analyzed and diagnosed correctly to make effective changes. Personally that is why I underwent my training with the Golfing Machine to better understand the geometry of the golf swing and with Hank Haney Golf to properly diagnose the swing. To put it bluntly, if the teacher isn’t sure what the problem is then the student has no chance! And also sometimes the student is given too much information or conflicting ideas and cannot process and practice correctly. At Augusta Golf Instruction certainly we do not pretend to be flawless 100% of the time, but I can guarantee that no one cares more about your golf success and without self-promoting I believe that is what sets us apart.
3. And finally the third reason I believe golfers do not improve….well actually it’s more than one factor, but I would say resistance to change and/or…you have TOO MANY golf swings!! I believe people resist the changes instructors want to make because they are afraid or either do not understand why and how they should change their golf swings. They take a one hour lesson and expect to hit the ball like Tiger Woods and when things don’t go right in their next practice session they revert back to exactly what they were doing before instead of being patient and respecting the process. A quality change to your golf swing requires time and repetition and that my friends is the hard truth. I have helped many people fix a slice in less than 30 minutes because….they listened and executed directions with patience and dedication to the task! And last but not least…some of you really do have too many golf swings! You will never be happy with your golf game trying Stack & Tilt one week, a One Plane swing the next, a Haney, Harmon and Leadbetter swing the next and on and on! While there are several effective methods out there, many of them are like oil and water, they just don’t mix! Your nervous system requires time to adapt to new movements which often feel strange and some of you are trying a new swing move every week from Golf Magazine or Golf Digest or the Golf Channel or YouTube! It took Tiger quite a while to rebuild his swing with Hank Haney, but he made the changes and became the number one player in the world. If the best golfer that we have seen in this generation took the time to learn and implement swing changes then you should too!
Whether you come see us or another instructor, we want to see you enjoy the game and play better. Get good information, respect the process, take enough time to learn the changes you need to make and stick with it and then you will improve!
AGI: play better golf.