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Aesthetics vs. Efficiency in Your Golf Swing

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Aesthetics vs Efficiency in Your Golf Swing

Just recently, Frank (host of The Golf Podcast) and I were chatting about his golf swing.  Frank had posted a driver review on YouTube and received a lot of scrutiny about his swing.  Frank reached out to me.  He said that not only is he hitting the ball really well but he is hitting it straight and for a comfortable distance.  He did not understand why he was getting these comments and when this scrutiny happens we tend to lose confidence in what we are doing.

I was really shocked and dumbfounded because of what people have been conditioned to think.  This has become a big thing in golf and has hurt a lot of people’s games.

I believe golf is the greatest game because of its challenge, strategy, and integrity.  These are huge aspects of the game that attract people to it.  Golfers are too focused on how their swing “looks” – “how do I look,” “how does my swing look,” “I don’t want to ‘look’ bad,” etc.

People tell me in lessons that they are worried about looking goofy.  The reason I use video in my lessons is to demonstrate to people what their swing actually looks like.  This leads into Frank’s concern about his swing.  Frank’s swing is efficient.  Efficiency is so much more important than how the swing looks.

What is efficiency?  Let’s dive in.

First, nobody can see where the ball goes or the club face on Frank’s video.  The funny thing to me is that Frank hit those drives right down the middle of the fairway.  So what is happening?  Why are people criticizing without knowledge of his handicap, the flight of the ball, how often he made solid contact, or his body mechanics?  I could really go on and on with different factors but at the end of the day, it is how repeatable your impact is.

Repeatable impact will result in consistent ball flight.  Knowing where the ball is going, time and time again is the most important factor in golf, period.

Golfers have become more concerned with swing mechanics than accuracy.  People have been conditioned to worry about how good their swing looks and that should define you as a player.  I get a kick out of all the people on the range with their phones video taping their swing.  What are they looking at?  People are looking at the video of their swing but not the flight of the ball.

Here is the truth.  Great players watch the flight of the ball.  Does it go straight, hook, or a slice.  Great players know how to get the ball to the target.

If you look at the Web.com Tour, you will see everybody with a cookie cutter swing.  There are more aesthetically pleasing swings on the Web.com, or even the lower tours, than on the PGA TOUR.  Again, why is that?  The best players in the world worry about the flight of the ball and how to get it to the target.

Here is something to think about: The majority of golfers slice the ball.  That is common knowledge.  The majority of those players spend too much time trying to fix that slice.  However, when they fix the slice, they do not score any better.  The reason is they have no idea how to get the ball to the target.

Players that slice usually know it’s coming so a lot of times, they work with it and score better.  They know how to setup and what the outcome will be so they can strategize.  When they fix the slice, they don’t know how to compensate.

The truth is the average handicap of men and women golfers has not changed in the last 20 years.  I track the handicaps and scoring averages of my players to always assess what I am doing.  My students had an average drop of 5 shots this past year and I am very proud of that.  I do not say that bragging, but as mere proof that my students didn’t do that with video of their swing every day or with the help of an expensive Trackman.  They did that by learning to score better.

I am not in any way saying that a slice is the best way to play.  The slice does cost you distance and accuracy but it takes time to change by just working on mechanics.

You must learn how the face affects the ball and learn to control that.  If you think it’s about how your swing looks and then watch some players named: Jim Furyk, Jack Nickalaus, Matt Kuchar, Ryan Moore, Bubba Watson, Ricky Fowler, Brooks Koepka, and many more.  These players’ swings are not perfect.  Without an argument, they are all very different.

I believe Tiger Woods is a great example.  When Tiger Woods first showed up to meet with Butch Harmon, reportedly Butch asked him what he thinks about when he hits the ball.  Tiger replied that “he hits it as hard as he can and he just knows it’s going to the target.”

When Tiger was young and dominating college and the US Amateurs, he wasn’t thinking about his swing, he was thinking about playing golf.  Unfortunately for Tiger, that aspect of his game is something that has gone away in dramatic fashion.  Hank Haney claims he had Tiger on video less than 10 times through their tenure together.  Less than 10 times in 5 plus years!  Now Tiger has gone on to be one of the most technical players in the game and it has cost him.

I know I wrote an article saying that I believed Tiger would win again because of what he has been working on.  He is doing great things and he showed improvement at end of the season.  My prediction was wrong this year, but do not be surprised if next year he is in the winner circle again.  Tiger is learning to play golf again.

In summary, we have to learn that playing better golf and improving your game is more about: heart, character, and work ethic which will lead to better scores.  Your mechanics are about 10% of the game yet we spend 90% of our time on the course thinking about how the swing looks.  Consider that when you’re assessing your golf game.


Cover Photo by Chris Kuga on Flickr

Kiel Alderink is the Senior Instructor at The Todd Sones Impact Golf School in Vernon Hills Illiniois. Impact Golf Schools is ranked the #1 Golf School in the Midwest by Golf Magazine and has been ranked as high as 4th in the country. Kiel is also the Owner and Creator of The Grind Golf App. The only app in golf that teaches players how to practice for their maximum improvement. www.thegrindapp.com.

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