How to Know When It’s Time to Change Your Golf Swing

After a long and frustrating round of golf, it’s easy to toss your clubs into the trunk of your car and declare that you are never coming back to the course. You lament that the game is too hard, and you are just going to give up.

Of course, you aren’t going to give up.

After you cool off for a bit, you realize that you don’t want to quit golf – but you might be ready to change your swing. After all, wouldn’t a new swing offer the kinds of results that you’ve been dying to see on the course? It’s certainly a tempting idea, but it’s not quite as simple as it might play out in your head.

In this article, we are going to talk about the idea of changing your golf swing. Making a big change can pay off and improve your level of play – or it can go all wrong and lead to even more frustration. We want to help you get this right, so let’s take a closer look below.

Look for a Long-Term Reason to Change Your Swing

This is not a decision to make with the short-term in mind. Why? Simple – you are almost certain to get worse before you get better. If you want to play better in the short-term, you should work on things like course management, your putting technique, etc. Making swing changes is not something that is going to lead to instant gratification.

Do you have a long-term reason for changing your golf swing in a significant way? This reason could come in a variety of forms. Perhaps you have aspirations of winning your club championship or playing in state-level amateur events.

Those kinds of goals may require a reworking of your swing, depending on what level you play at currently. Or, maybe you are just tired of being a 20-handicap and you don’t see a path to a single-digit index without altering your technique significantly. Whatever the case, make sure you have a specific motivation in mind for making this move.

Is the Problem Really Your Swing?

Before getting started, stop and think about what it is that costs you strokes on the course. Many golfers assume that their swing is to blame when they don’t play well, and sometimes that is the case, but not always. It might be the other parts of your game that are letting you down, and you may not be noticing because you are too worried about your swing technique.

Some possibilities include the following:

A Poor Short Game:

This is so often the case in the amateur golf world, yet the average player tends to blame his or her swing rather than putting and chipping. It’s very likely true that your short game is a bigger problem than your long game.

Bad Course Management Decisions:

The choices you make on the course have a huge impact on the scores you write down at the end of each hole. If you regularly make bad choices, it could be the mental side of the game that’s letting you down.

Problems with Pressure:

If you seem to consistently play poorly in competitions, you might simply need to gain more experience under pressure before your game will start to show up when it matters most.

To determine what parts of your game truly need the most improvement, take some time to chart your rounds over the course of four or five outings. Assess your performances honestly and determine where you are losing strokes. A detailed accounting of your game will make it clear whether it’s the full swing that is letting you down or something else entirely.

Finding the Right Time to Change Your Swing

If you do decide to go ahead with a dramatic swing change, you need to pick the right time on the calendar to get started with this process. As mentioned above, you shouldn’t expect quick results – so doing this in the middle of your golf season is only going to lead to more frustration. Instead, try to get started as soon as the off-season arrives in your area.

For instance, if you live in the northern half of the U.S. and the courses close down for the winter, October or November would be the perfect time to implement your changes. That will give you several months of indoor practice time where you won’t be tempted to go out onto the course prematurely.

A Few Helpful Tips

We aren’t going to pretend that this is going to be easy – frankly, it won’t be. That’s not meant to scare you, but you should have realistic expectations about the work in front of you. To set yourself up for success, consider the following tips –

Work with a Pro

We can’t say this one loud enough – it’s extremely helpful to work with a teaching professional in your area on this change. If you work with a local pro, you’ll have direct access to technical golf knowledge that will be hard to find otherwise. Even if you only take a couple of lessons at the start of the swing change to get moving in the right direction, those lessons will be well worth your time and effort.

Start with Small Clubs

Timing is going to be a big challenge early in the process, so don’t make things harder than they need to be by using the longest clubs in your bag straight off the bat. Start with wedges and gradually work your way up as you go.

Have Fun and Enjoy the Process!

This is golf, and it’s supposed to be fun. If you look at your swing change as just another chore on your to-do list, you won’t enjoy the journey – and isn’t that the whole point in the first place?

So, are you ready to change your swing? Whatever you decide, be committed to your decision and trust that you have made the right choice. We hope it works out for you, no matter which way you go, and remember to have fun out there!