The Way Golfers Screw Up: Lessons
March 21, 2008 – 9:07 am | by GolfdirtOriginally Published in HumanGolf.com
By Martin Vousden
PREVIOUSLY: Equipment
We should: Regularly visit a PGA-qualified professional; building a relationship and trust, knowing that someone with an experienced eye is familiar with our swing and the old habits into which we can fall if not careful. In addition, we should have lessons in all areas of play — bunker shots and putts, for example — and not just the full swing. Finally, it’s often a good idea to have a lesson when you’re playing well, to reinforce what it is you’re doing properly.
We do: Listen to advice from anyone on the course, no matter how many strokes higher than ours their handicap happens to be. And we only go for a lesson when our game has deteriorated to the point where it is virtually beyond all help. After the lesson, by the third hole of our next round we find the changes we’ve been told to incorporate are too difficult to master so abandon them and go back to all our bad habits, happily muttering: “Better the devil you know.”
NEXT: Ambitions
Martin Vousden is a freelance golf writer, a former editor of Today’s Golfer and launch editor of Golf Buyer and Swing magazines. His book, With Friends Like These; A Selective History of the Ryder Cup, was published in 2006 by Time Warner. He edits the RareBirdie.com website.
