Rhythm reboot

There is no doubt you can find rhythm by swinging at three-quarters of your maximum effort - as discussed in my previous blog. The problem is how do you identify or quantify three-quarters if you don't know what one hundred percent effort feels like. Three-quarters of what?

The reality is it's impossible to think about a number or a percentage of something when that something is an elusive and moveable entity - think cold mornings versus warm afternoons, bad backs versus feeling flexible, or just good confidence days and bad confidence days.

My conclusion is that you simply find your rhythm by 'swinging within yourself', which you could also call 'swinging in balance'. This will vary from person to person and from day to day. The arbitrary three-quarters might actually be close to correct, but it's not needed.

I've also had to modify (read abandon) my 'grip down' on driver hypothesis because when you grip down on a club you alter the swing weight or balance of the club. This is not optimal. Far better is to use a club that is properly fitted at a shorter length - eg. a driver that is 43 inches long rather than 46 inches.

I'm not a big fan of buying a game via fancy equipment, but there is something to be said for using equipment that suits your size, strength, age, etc. Gripping down on clubs is for specialty shots - extreme slopes and so forth - not for general golfing.

I want to reiterate that it is also important to own your own swing - unless you want to put in thousands of hours changing it. I've accepted that I'm a fader, not a slicer, because my set up fundamentals are sound. I also hit a lot of dead straight shots, so why would I want to tinker with my swing?

The main thing is to find a swing that works and then work on finding a good rhythm for that swing.