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 Golf instruction is filled with a variety of professionals who all think they have the answer to shooting lower scores. And many of them do. But because individual golf games are like snowflakes — every one is different — a principle that does wonders for someone’s game might mark the undoing of another. We’ve enlisted the help of some of Southern California’s top instructors to explain in detail some widespread beliefs that aren’t exactly beneficial for golfers seeking to improve. As counter-arguments, they’ve debunked those so-called myths and provided paths to lower scores.  MYTH NO. 1: Keep your head down or stillBy Bob Grissett, director of instruction at The Golf Academy by The Sports Club/LA Without a doubt, the idea of keeping your head down or still is the most damaging and dangerous golf instruction principle. Doing this restricts the pivot, hinders lower body movement, causes swaying and sliding and creates tension. Many common flaws such as scooping and chicken winging are caused by keeping the head down. Actually, consciously trying to keep your head down more likely will promote coming up and out of the swing too soon. The key to any great swing is not keeping the head down, it’s maintaining the spine angle. Losing body angles is the No. 1 culprit of inconsistency and poor contact. It’s imperative to understand that head and chin turning abilities are part of a great swing. Consider this — the average amateur turns his head four degrees to the left during the forward swing, while the average tour pro turns his head 19.4 degrees. A proper pivot will lead to the head and chin swiveling, allowing for incredible freedom of motion. TIP: On your downswing, try feeling like you’re skipping a rock or laying your right ear on a pillow as your head swivels to maintain your spine angle as you go through the ball.  MYTH NO. 2: Keep your eye on the ballBy Randy Chang, PGA director of instruction for the Aloha Academy of Golf at Talega Golf Club in San Clemente This isn’t necessarily incorrect, but when overdone or overemphasized this principle can lead to a lot of common swing faults. Golf is unlike other hand-eye coordinated sports where the object being hit is moving, such as baseball, tennis or hockey. In golf, the ball just sits there. Therefore, all you have to do is find a way to get the club back to where it started. The reason why it’s not necessary to use your hand-eye coordination to hit a golf ball is in the setup. Everyone starts the swing with a triangle formed by their arms and shoulders at address. If you can maintain that same triangle through the impact area and swing around a solid axis, the club should theoretically come back to the same place. The reason golfers cannot maintain this triangle through impact — a flaw commonly referred to as a “chicken wing” — can be attributed to trying to keep your eye on the ball too long. TIP: Keep your chin up and learn how to use your body properly and let your head go with it. Your eyes can truly stay on the flight of the ball as it travels to your target, not staring at an empty space on the ground where you think you hit it.  MYTH NO. 3: Golf is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physicalBy Jason Drotter, director of golf operations and men’s golf coach at Cal State-Fullerton, general manager at Super Sports Golf and Recreation Center in Orange This idea has been bantered about for decades but is only true for the best players, such as top amateurs and tour professionals. When players like Greg Norman (1996 Masters) and Dustin Johnson (2010 U.S. Open) notoriously squandered final-round leads, their mental games failed them — it wasn’t the physical aspect, as they have superb technique and numerous hours of experience in competition and on the practice tee. The average golfer has an 18 handicap. It’s safe to assume most of these golfers work and have families, meaning they don’t have countless hours to practice. Still, time and effort are required to develop solid technique, which can lead to better scores and lower handicaps. Better technique will produce better timing, the key to consistent ballstriking. Until that point is reached, don’t become bogged down by the mental side of golf. Think of the mental side as a sliding scale — a 20 handicapper should barely consider the mental side, maybe focusing on it 5 percent of the time. A golfer with a 15 handicap should consider it 10 percent of the time, a 10 handicap 25 percent of the time, a 5 handicap half of the time, and so on. TIP: Don’t think about sports psychology techniques unless your scores are consistently in the 70s. Until then, work hard on the fundamentals and have fun. |
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