The wisdom of the ages

There is a principle of learning to which many golf players and teachers adhere. This is the principle of not taking mechanical or mental swing thoughts to the course.

Put another way, it is about not trying out new swing methods or keys whilst actually playing. Needless to say, this is exactly what I've been doing (wrong) for the past umpteenth months and years. I know I should be testing all my (borrowed and reinterpreted) theories out on the range, but if you don't go to the range …

Anyway, the principle of not experimenting with or testing theories came to the fore (an appropriate word) just the other day. I realised that my obsession with maintaining a flat wrist was interfering with my ability to actually hit shots. I was too 'position' conscious; too mechanical, lacking freedom.

This realisation came to me after a few bad holes, when I decided to forget any mechanical thoughts and just hit the ball. The interesting thing was that my ball flight stayed virtually the same as when I was striving to keep my left wrist flat. As far as I know, and I don't actually know, my wrist must therefore have stayed relatively flat.

Now, this might mean that I have grooved my flat left wrist position sufficiently for it to have become automatic, without me forcing the wrist into this position. It could, however, be a temporary condition, so that I will soon return to my old wrist-cupping, over the top swing.

Anyhow, I have a plan. I intend to do as I think good golfers do, and that is rehearse that flat left wrist, one piece takeaway, etc. on my practice swing, and then set up and just swing away to the target, free as far as humanly possible from any mechanical thoughts.

That said, I also intend to stick with my stated keys of no swaying, no dipping and no bashing. I think these are not the kind of mechanical or technical thoughts that will disrupt a swing. These keys are more about taking a sensible approach to the game, which after all deals in very fine margins of error. Positions are not involved with these keys, they are more attitudinal, and are more closely related to finding a good rhythm or tempo.

The weekend looms large. The next round should be interesting.

Hard yakka

The process of changing and then grooving a new swing is not trouble free. One of the main challenges is developing trust in the new swing and swing keys. This requires patience; not necessarily one of my strongest qualities.

However, I believe I now have enough evidence to be sure that I'm on the right path - swing path, of course. I am now hitting the ball relatively straight, sometimes with a very slight fade and sometimes with a slightly less controlled draw. This is actually pretty much what I aimed to achieve, except for the occasional hook shot.

One of the most important keys to good golf is consistent centre club ball contact. This is where I am still struggling, mainly because I am still very conscious of my wrist position (flat wrist, that is) on the backswing. And I am probably still a few weeks away from feeling confident that I have grooved that position and able to concentrate once again on shot making.

This hyper-consciousness of the backswing and my left wrist position is causing me to lose rhythm and upsetting my balance a little - just enough to compromise that ideal consistent ball contact that is characteristic of really good players.

One of the consequences of this loss of rhythm and balance is losing the bottom of my swing position. I'm sometimes hitting thin or fat shots, particularly with my irons. As I've mentioned previously (one of my keys) I think it is essential to avoid swaying for consistent ball striking, but it is obviously just as important to keep one's body angle or vertical plane consistent - no dipping or lifting - unless the dip or lift has been grooved as per Paula Creamer or Natalie Gulbis.

When I hit fairway woods or bunker shots I am very conscious of the need to avoid raising or lowering my swing plane, but I think it's something I've neglected with some other shots. Anyway, this no dipping or lifting will now be a corollary to my no swaying key, and we will see what happens.

In the meantime, I still struggle to avoid trying to hit too hard, for example, when I'm between clubs and take the lesser club. I'm also thinking a bit about an article of Adam Scott's that I read recently where he said he doesn't think about sequencing his swing (start from the bottom concepts), but thinks only about starting everything together as smoothly as possible, regardless of what actually occurs in the sequence of his downswing moves. Incidentally, in the same article, Adam said he sometimes works on his tempo during a round by channelling Inbee Park's swing. Who would have guessed that?

Golf is fun, but it can also be hard yakka for a swing theory tragic like me. I wouldn't change it for the world.