A lot of golfers are constantly caught in the “is the grass greener?” cycle with making a swing change, or staying put. Adam Young and I just recorded our second podcast episode, and I wrote an accompanying article on the process it takes to make a successful swing change. Enjoy!
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Great article @jon. I’ll be sure to listen to the podcast. Super excited to hear the chit chat from both sides and get a glimpse into your collective minds.
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My swing seems to change daily, it’s (mostly) unintentional though.
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Currently working on some things. I have a few observations that line up with the article but I will put into my words:
- Walk before you run
- If you cannot make a body movement, you don’t need to be holding a club
- If you cannot make a slow motion movement correctly in a mirror while holding a club, you don’t need to be hitting balls
- If you can’t make a movement correctly in a hitting station (obstructions, alignment aids, gates), then you don’t need to be doing target practice- short term in golf is 6 months
Probably the number 1 impediment to my progress is trying to run before I can walk (well maybe #2 behind wife, kids and job)
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Feedback, feedback, feedback
- Get some hitting stations you like, and make sure you can make the movements/results you want in that hitting station with 1/2 swings or 3/4 speed
- My favorites are 1) gate drill and 2) putting a plane stick about 6 inches outside target line, about 3 ft behind the ball… this is an impediment to coming OTT… you can google milo lines favorite drill and it should come up
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Dry drills - most of us do not have 1 hour a day to hit golf balls to ingrain motor patterns. You have to find some stations you can set up in the back yard or slow motion feels to rehearse in the mirror. Fifteen minutes per day of focused movement in mirror or with impediments or with impact bag can make a huge difference. Additionally, as the article mentions, there is big benefits to taking the golf ball away while you are trying to get new motor patterns going… you still need to hit golf balls (2x per week would be great) but you should be getting way more reps in a mirror or in the backyard or just rehearsing feels
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I liked the podcast and will be listening in the future. However, one question about the entire topic: what do you consider “a swing change?” For example, I have a swing coach at my golf club that I see at least once a month just to look at my swing and let me know if he sees any issues. He nearly always has some comment (even if it is something he has told me 20 times before). Do you consider that constantly changing my swing? Would you recommend I stop going to my coach unless something is really wrong? It does seem like I am NEVER just swinging the club - I am always working on something.
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Thanks for listening! I think what you’re describing is what I’d consider a “refinement” which is totally reasonable IMO. I think I mentioned this, but I view golf as a successful series of micro-adjustments with the swing we have. So seeing a coach monthly for a check-in is a great idea. Now if your coach was having you completely change directions in your swing from one month to the next, that could be a problem!
Sometimes we get caught up in word meaning in golf, but the way I viewed the discussion about swing change was making a major change to your pattern. For example, I spoke about what I went through to go from a vertical, out-to-in swing to a flatter, in-to-out path. That was a major adjustment and took time to get it right.
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