More golf basics...

Let the club head be itself.

Habit ‘Seven’

Let the club head do the work

If I had been given a dollar for everytime I heard or saw this tip, I would now have a good bank balance. We all nod in agreement when we hear this and rightfully as we have all experienced the great feeling when the club head does all the work.

There are of course more golf basics that spring to mind but none seem to hit home better than this one. It is however unfortunate that actually letting the club head do all the work is quite an elusive move or technique.

As a coach I could point to quite a few drills to achieve this but none measure up to just taking a length of rope with a knot at one end and swinging with it. On another page I will be going into the many more golf basics that can be learned from this drill.

For now we are going to notice how the weight of the knot, which is the substitute for our club head, seems to function dynamically with very little physical interference. In fact the more we interfere the jerkier it gets.

It is also important to notice that the knot wants to swoosh fastest past our feet at the bottom of the swing arc. When we try to increase the power at this point, it must be done smoothly.

So go on get yourself a 4 foot length of heavy rope and tie a double knot on one end and swing with it until you can feel these basics.

Remember you are trying to feel the knot almost controlling its own flight. Once you get the feel then try to adapt the same feeling with a golf club.

The rope makes the loudest and fasted whoosh when the hands do nothing and guess what...

Yes you guessed it, the club head does the same.

Habit ‘Eight’

Who are you kidding?

I have always been interested in learning more golf basics and have spent endless hours putting them into action on the course. There isn’t that many shots I have trouble executing and I am a little standoffish if you want to show me anything new.

I qualified, as I mostly do, for the scratch competition and strolled through to the last eight, where I came up against a young whippersnapper from a kindergarten golf club somewhere.

I can’t remember his name and shall refer to him as ‘Sonny-Jim’ and to be honest that’s exactly how I addressed him under my breath that day. “OK Sonny-Jim follow that then” and “You asked for it Sonny-Jim”.

To cut a long story short he had me beat by the fifth hole that day even though he was only two-up. Sonny-Jim had cut me deeper that day than anyone had in my whole life.

It all started on the first tee when he (innocently?) commented, “I saw you coming down the 18th yesterday and was surprised to hear that you had won.” This couldn’t be ignored so I asked, “Sorry, what do you mean?”

“Well you are the oldest qualifier and playing 36 holes a day can’t be easy. The guy I beat yesterday pointed you out to me and said you’ve never been the same since the change.”

“The change?” I demanded, “What change is that then?”

The little 'pain in the neck' almost sounded magnanimous with his reply, “You have never been the same since you changed from being just like me.

It immediately occurred to me just what he meant.

I was watching a younger version of myself in action and didn't like it one bit. He was in the prime of his golfing life, at the stage where everything was still possible. Oh how fearless he seemed, just like I was back then!

That's it!

If I needed to learn more golf basics then I had to learn to be myself. What I am, what I was and what I am going to be.

I am a middle aged golfer who is no longer driven by scores or results.
I was once this cocky lad with a spark and arrogance for playing without fear or boundaries. But...
I am going to be the person I was when I started playing this game. A person who enjoys life and is relaxed, friendly and honest.

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