A Swing of My Own

There's no doubt, the swings of the vast majority of tour level players are things of beauty - rhythm, balance and controlled power. Little doubt also that the swings of the average (and worse) weekend warrior are less than elegant. But there are a couple or three factors at work.

The first is probably that the 30 year old pro has been playing golf for 25 years and has groomed (if that's the right word) their swing. The second is that they have hit millions of golf balls and found a way to power their swing in an efficient, balanced and powerful way.

The third reason why the pros look so much better is definitely that are younger, fitter and more flexible than the average Joe or even Jill. Mind you, there are many more elegant, fluid swings in the women club golfers' ranks than in the ranks of the gents.

However, there is no reason that, provided a golfer is not actually injured or seriously unfit, most weekend hackers can't develop a swing that looks and is rhythmic, balanced and controlled. The only barrier to this is trying to copy some position or other, trying to hit too hard, or even making some (inevitably) futile last second correction of a perceived fault in the swing.

The reality is that the unconscious mind (yes, golfers do have minds) is much more powerful than the conscious mind - especially when it comes to repetitive tasks. Your unconscious mind knows how to hit a golf ball. It knows what feels right and what feels wrong. The unconscious will not take kindly to the conscious thoughts (swing thoughts) interfering with the golf swing. Usually this battle ends badly.

When, for example, you throw a ball of paper into a wastepaper bin, your mind, through your eyes, has calculated what is needed (direction and strength of throw). All you have to do is follow that guidance - almost like instinct - to have a decent result. If the calculation is off a little or the throw is not perfect, the result will not be perfect. But if you try consciously to calculate the amount of arm backswing or body movement required, will the result be any better - it will probably be worse.

There is a place in golf for some fundamentals, like grip or alignment, and even club and shot selection, because they do have some bearing on the result of the swing or shot. But focusing on body positions, weight distribution, elbow and wrist position at the top or during the downswing and a score of other bio-mechanical elements, are more likely to be harmful than helpful.

Our unconscious minds know how to hit a golf ball, and what worked in the past and what didn't. We need to give our unconscious the opportunity to work, not be always consciously trying to control our swings.

This means making sure we are swing-thought free when we address the ball, at most thinking 'swing with freedom', allowing our 'sense' of what a good golf swing is like. Unfortunately, most of us have for years been trying to take conscious control, trying all the latest tips or techniques, certain that we can find 'the answer'.

There are the lucky few, either at the top echelon of golfers or at the truly social and relaxed end of the spectrum, who don't have the 'paralysis by analysis' problem. I would like to join these ranks and end up with a swing of my own.