There's Madness in My Method

Those of us who set out on a search for a better way to hit a golf ball are destined to encounter innumerable ideas on the best way to do this.

Sometimes the ideas we hear or read about come to us in the form of 'tips', and at other times we are seduced by somone touting a method, often a new 'secret' method, that they will reveal to us for a very reasonable price.

From time to time we come across an idea or a theory that resonates, and from which we learn something. It might be about the creation of clubhead speed, or the importance of using the lower body or some other technical or mechanical aspect of the golf swing.

Nothing wrong with listening to these ideas per se and tucking them away in our brains for later use. But the dangers of information overload and 'paralysis by analysis' are extreme, especially for the typically inconsistent and often frustrated average amateur golfer.

I believe there comes a time when this golfer should call a halt to the acquisition of golfing knowledge and put into practice what they've learnt as best they can. The alternative is to go on tinkering forever; a danger for many amateurs and professionals alike.

The difficulty is in knowing when you have reached the point where you should say enough is enough. Some weekend warriors reach that point long before they have developed a good golf swing. That's fine if you are content to play 'social' golf, and don't aspire to play 'real' golf. It's not fine for players, like me, who are invested in improving their golf and lowering their handicap.

Several times in the past year or so I've come to believe that I had the answers, that I was now ready to take the final step to a sustainable better standard of golf - nothing special - just good solid A / B grade golf. Unfortunately, each time, I was wrong.

What I lacked was a realistic golf swing method. By realistic I mean a method that I could implement, that is, play with, without having to think about all the do's and don'ts I'd been studying. Too often I would go out to play with several 'keys' that I was going to use that day. Just as often I had to abandon most of these ideas before the second nine as the hacking set in.

I've come to realise that these so called 'keys' are only good for so long or in certain situations (as Sam Snead once said). What we need is a method or a set of keys or fundamentals that work together, and that we stick with and work on concertedly for a period of time.

We arrive at this method by trial and error, and hope that the errors are gradually replaced by the right answers. We have to stay with this new method unless or until we are absolutely sure that it is wrong. And I emphasise method, an integrated whole, not a collection of interchangeable keys or ideas or tips.

One thing is certain, someone else's method is unlikely to be absolutely right for us. Elements of it might be, but we need to take these elements and combine them with other ideas that we think are right for us, and develop our own integrated method for the golf swing.

This is very hard to do. The temptation to add just one more thought or technique is extremely strong, especially for the expert player whose expectations and standards are higher than ours. The will to say 'that will do' and to work only on our integrated method is out of reach for many of us.

Anyway, I think I am finally at a point where I have a set of fundamentals, an integration of ideas and techniques, that I am satisfied qualify as the minimum requirements for a good golf swing. In the next blog, I will summarise these fundamentals (my method) and report on any recent golfing experiences. There's method in my madness.