The Zone

It's only been ten years since I've been pursuing the 'perfect golf swing' by finding and testing a large range of golf theories and methods.

In fact, it's been ten years and one month, yet it was only last weekend that I finally concluded that I have a good enough swing to go it alone - that is, by not using someone else's swing theory or even swing thought.

This revelation occurred because I was trying to use Jimmy Ballard's idea (really one of his key moves) where the downswing begins with a conscious push off from a braced rear foot and knee. Something like this sounded so logical that I wanted to incorporate it into my swing. But it doesn't really work; focusing on this move upsets the rhythm of the total swing, which needs to happen as an organic whole. And that organic whole is one's own personal swing method or style.

This is not to say that fundamentals including, for example, a good athletic set up, good grip, good alignment, calm mind and, hopefully, some rhythm, are not important. These are things that can be developed, even taught in some respects. But each golfer needs to develop their own set up etc. and if in some respects there are faults, sort them out. Slicers, for example, can reduce the degree of curvature simply be not aiming so far left (right handers), not playing the ball so far forward, etc. It's not, as they say, rocket science.

And the reality is not everyone can drive the ball 300 yards. One has to be realistic about one's physical capabilities. If a golfer is not particularly strong or young, or both, then accuracy and short game must take over as priorities. There is a lot to be said for getting a drive on the fairway and hitting decent fairway woods or pitching and putting well.

I am now convinced that if a golfer doesn't know how to grip the club, align, set up and so forth, they should find out - there is general agreement in the golfing industry on most of these things, unlike the lack of agreement on swing mechanics and methods. Even copying the set up and pre shot routine (not the time taken) by any conventional but good golfer is not the worst approach to take. But after that, we must swing at our own speed, and with our own style and, perhaps most importantly, our own expectations for any golf shot.

Last round, I was speaking to some colleagues about this issue of having swing keys or swing thoughts and we all agreed that 'not thinking' over a golf shot is the hardest thing to achieve on a golf course. Yet, and I read this just the other day, 'not thinking' is the only way we can even get close to that holy grail of golf - 'The Zone'. Because it is only when we are in The Zone that we can play the golf we are truly capable of playing.

Years ago, I read an interesting fact in what was probably a book on the mental side of golf - possibly 'Golf in the Kingdom', but I'm not sure. The writer said that the average club golfer has over time probably parred or birdied every hole on their own course, proving that they have the potential to do this. However, apart from scratch golfers they will rarely par or birdie more than a few holes in any one round. The writer then suggested that it is this inability to find and stay in the zone that is preventing most of these golfers from reaching his/her full potential.

This reality is at once depressing and exciting. Even if we can't find and stay in that elusive zone, we can at least give ourselves a better chance of playing golf at a higher level by cutting out the intrusive and destructive thinking (and I don't just mean negative thoughts, it's ANY thoughts) that we currently do. I'm excited about my next round of golf - I'm hoping I can approach The Zone - I just hope it's not The Twilight Zone.

I forgot

When I posted recently, I forgot to mention connection, which is still a fundamental for me in the full swing. By connection I mean that feeling of the left upper arm (for a right hander) to stay close to or connected to the upper left chest or side. This is a slightly restricted feeling that is fine for someone with a short or shortish backswing and it helps with consistency.

However, the main benefit of this connection relates back to the upper and lower body sequencing mentioned previously. It makes it much easier to turn everything together on the downswing, that is the lower, middle and upper body, as against the separation of these areas that makes it harder to time the downswing and can create timing problems.

The other good thing about this connection principle is that it does not compromise the KISS principle, since it is a very simple and easily implemented action, after a short period of adjusting to the slightly constricted feeling and shortened backswing.

Speaking of short backswing, I've also been happier lately with my short putting now that I've adopted a pop stroke for short putts. By this I mean the adoption of a very short backswing for putts in the 2 to 5 foot range. The idea is that since very little power is needed for these putts, the main objective is to keep the putter blade square at impact. And the easiest way to do this is to only take the putter back a very short distance, i.e. 1 to 2 inches, and pop the ball into the hole. It's working for now anyway.

Amazing how one can forget for most of a round of golf a technique or principle that has worked well previously. I hope to remember connection in my next round.

Steady as she goes

In my most recent post, I cited two areas of my game in which I intended to simplify my approach, that is, to do away with almost all of the technical thinking about the golf swing and game.

The first of these was about the full or almost full golf swing. My intention was and is to think only about starting the downswing simultaneously with the upper and lower body, as per Adam Scott's advice in an article I read quite some time ago. The sequencing that is so important to generating decent swing speeds in the golf swing will usually happen automatically. This basically means forgetting about the backswing, the positions, the transition, etc. and just concentrating on that one synchronised move. It works, not all the time, but enough for me to know it is my best plan.

The second idea relates to putting and in particular to my putting woes. I am working on smoothness, of the kind that is evident in the putting stroke of Jason Day. I'm trying to forget about all the technical issues that can come into putting theory. I am a reasonably good green reader and I have a fairly good imagination, so I don't leave all my putts on the low (so called amateur) side, though I do have distance control issues and short putt issues and this has plagued me somewhat in recent years. However, if I can channel some of Jason's putting prowess, and accept that 'you can't make 'em all, I'll be quite happy.

That's it, for me it's steady as she goes. The KISS principle in action. I'm liking it.

Bit of a rethink

I love a good theory and a good golf theory in particular. I've tested and rejected many of them over the past ten years. As a result, I know more about the golf swing, but mostly I know more about why most of these theories are a waste of time.

Everyone is different, yet every pro golfer does some things well that weekenders don't. And all pros hit the ball much better than the average golfer. Why is it so?

The answer is basically that pros know certain ball flight laws. They know, for example, that you must hit down for the ball to go up (driver excepted). They also know that the club face to path relationship will determine the direction and spin of a ball. The fact that they are fitter, more flexible and generally younger (at the top levels) than the average hacker is a bonus.

However, it is not too hard to learn these ball flight laws, that is, to know these things. The hard part is to know them and put them into practice. There are many reasons why we have trouble with either or both of these tasks; sometimes it's just ignorance or indifference and sometimes it's lack of athletic ability or hand-eye coordination.

There is another major reason why the performance of the average golfer stagnates and that is the famous 'paralysis by analysis'. This has been a biggie for me, of course. There are so many theories, so many methods, so many gurus preaching their golfing gospel, that suckers like me get sucked right in.

So, and I'll keep this brief, I'm taking a new tack. It's an approach that I have actually been warned about taking, not least by one of the founders of 'modern' golf teaching, Percy Boomer, whom most golfers have never heard of. But no matter, he was good, very good.

Against his advice I am going to do two things in coming games, as follows:

1. I am going to follow the simple advice of Adam Scott, a consummate ball striker: start the downswing with upper and lower body together. This goes against much of the teaching about sequencing, rotation, lag, etc. etc., but it works. It keeps the full swing very simple. Forget about the backswing (at least don't sweat it) and then just let it all go as fast and hard as you can manage while keeping your balance and making decent contact.

2. I am going to copy, actually that is 'channel' the putting stroke of Jason Day. He has the smoothest and arguably most effective putting stroke in the pro game. Just thinking about the way he hits his putts is helping me with my putting. Nothing technical about grip or stance of swing arc or whatever, just one thought: 'keep it smooth'.

Let's see how this re-think works.