Well had a shocker out on the course yesterday. So I came home, pulled the driving cage out of the garage and hit balls till it got dark (a good 4 hours). By the end, I was hitting them really well and it got me thinking, If I have a solid technique, will hitting a million balls a day help get me toward a more repeatable swing (assuming I practice with a focus on the correct technique?). As it is I hit about 70-80 balls on the practice fairway then play 18. Which is a better investment of time?

Thanks in advance,

Mr C.

Beware of ingraining a bad habit. Quality of practice is the key.

Yea thats a good point. But isn’t there always a risk of that? Perhaps going for fortnightly lessons is a safegueard against that?

This is where having a coach is handy. The lessons give you the right info (hopefully) and the practice putting it into place. Best of all is being able to practice where you can grab the coach for 5 minutes to ask if the motion is correct or not. If he says no, well you can decide if you need another lesson from him/her there and then rather than grind away in the wrong direction.

Yea good idea. Even if its swinging a club in the pro shop infront of him I guess its better than nothing. I am curious as to what defines a coach over an instructor (if you get my drift). And how one goes about getting a coach.

Guru,

Exactly how does one “beware” of ingraining a bad habit?

If hitting into a net, the results can’t be seen, only felt. I suspect that’s not enough. Does this mean we have to do it at the range, where we can see the result? What about a checklist of all the key elements? If each is given the required attention in turn, this would surely help at least, to ensure no major bad habits are fostered.

What are your thoughts?

Your instructor if he is a good one will seem more like a coach. Coaches inspire as well as just teach the ABC. Coaches provide a mental platform as well as physical.

How to find one? Find a teacher who you really can chew the cud with that is interested in you as well as your cash:) You will then never begrudge parting with pennies when you do see them.

Ahh so a coach is a good instructor who wants to see you do well and is willing to help you get there. Thanks guru.

One hopes all instructors are also good coaches. It’s not always the case as in any business. Think back to school and teachers who you enjoyed going to their class. I know I made the effort of going back to my old school to see a small handful of them to say thanks after 10 years away. I did not think that they would remember me amongst the 1000s of kids that they would have taught but they remembered soccer and hockey matches I played in that I had long forgotten. They taught me to hear, comprehend and apply. Now its my turn to do that to my students:)

And you do a pretty good job of returning the favor :-)

Problem Guru, I think, is from my experience about 15 years ago, even good instructors seem to be few and far between. At least in Sydney.

My faith in golf pros was shattered when I had some lessons from one of Sydney’s most highly regarded golf teachers, which I videotaped with his permission, only to find him contradicting himself from lesson 1 to lesson 3.

Needless to say I didn’t go back and ended up getting my h’cap down to 8 by a process of self discovery over about a year. Much of what I taught myself, I now see on this sight. Now, of course, knowing something and doing it, are 2 very different things. I clearly must have been playing in the 3rd dimension back then, and hadn’t even heard of the 4th dimension.

I don’t regard myself as a ‘natural’ by any standard, and my intellect demands I have a good understanding of what I’m trying to do, before trying to do it. So, I’m probably way to technical compared to many, and I don’t know if that may be part of my problem as well.

Is it possible to know too much for ones own good?

Guru,

Exactly how does one “beware” of ingraining a bad habit?

If hitting into a net, the results can’t be seen, only felt. I suspect that’s not enough. Does this mean we have to do it at the range, where we can see the result? What about a checklist of all the key elements? If each is given the required attention in turn, this would surely help at least, to ensure no major bad habits are fostered.

What are your thoughts?

If you have no choice but use a net, this may help, with the net set true and tentioned correct a well struck ball will fall the way of the spin that is a hook will fall to the left, a slice to the right a straight ball in the centre. The degree of angle can also indicate how much side spin was on the ball.
This is only a rule of thumb.
cheers peter

Very handy to know that Peter. Thank you. I really only use the net when I can’t get to the course for whatever reason.

practise!

practise!

Sounds like hitting a million balls a day is the go then :)

Problem Guru, I think, is from my experience about 15 years ago, even good instructors seem to be few and far between. At least in Sydney.

My faith in golf pros was shattered when I had some lessons from one of Sydney’s most highly regarded golf teachers, which I videotaped with his permission, only to find him contradicting himself from lesson 1 to lesson 3.

Needless to say I didn’t go back and ended up getting my h’cap down to 8 by a process of self discovery over about a year. Much of what I taught myself, I now see on this sight. Now, of course, knowing something and doing it, are 2 very different things. I clearly must have been playing in the 3rd dimension back then, and hadn’t even heard of the 4th dimension.

I don’t regard myself as a ‘natural’ by any standard, and my intellect demands I have a good understanding of what I’m trying to do, before trying to do it. So, I’m probably way to technical compared to many, and I don’t know if that may be part of my problem as well.

Is it possible to know too much for ones own good?

“If a teacher does not follow the Laws of force and motion then those contradictions abound in golf teaching not matter how high a platform they teach from.” Well know coach in the USA once told me that. There is no such thing as knowing too much so that you can pick the good from the not so good. Being technical just means you need to find someone to teach the real stuff that the techie side backs up so you get it faster.

Guru,

Exactly how does one “beware” of ingraining a bad habit?

If hitting into a net, the results can’t be seen, only felt. I suspect that’s not enough. Does this mean we have to do it at the range, where we can see the result? What about a checklist of all the key elements? If each is given the required attention in turn, this would surely help at least, to ensure no major bad habits are fostered.

What are your thoughts?

Indoor teaching is about learning mechanics without ball flight interfering with the process of learning a motion. It can and should then be taken to the range. Indoors you can also hear the pure quality (or lack thereof) of contact and compression better than outdoors.

Ask the Dart about Checklists! To get a good one you need to start small and work your way up the power food chain with precision.

No need to get greedy as we all have all the time in the world to get each bit right before moving on well after it has become habit. Gosh hands up who out there rush forwards to the next bit to see it crash and burn….back to the smaller bits:)

Hi Guru,

I have to agree with you 100% about teaching in a net or an enclosed area. It is great to be on a range and flush a shot trying something new or taught but the swing can be taught indoors with a net 5m in-front oneself. Through experience, I can close my eyes and know if a person has hit it good. One just uses their ears.
On the ship, I do get guests that are like, no way, how can I have a lesson but they change their mind, we go out on a course in whatever port, hit a few balls on the range before teeing off and the results show. (Well mostimes I will say) It is one common fault in most golfers…they want to get better…quicker… and to me it ain’t like that. You get better through patience and quality, not quantity. Like they say in life, the simple things are easier and they make the harder things easier in time.

Well all the time spent infront of the net is paying off. Went to the range on the golf course for about 4 hours today and worked out a lovely little draw for myself :). I always wondered if playing a draw made golf harder because it could always move different amounts in the air, whereas a straight ball flight goes where it started. Curious to know the thoughts of others.

Been wondering that too, Mate of mine plays off 9 and is always getting into trouble attempting to shape his drives and long irons. I wonder if he would be better off keeping it straight.

My preliminary test (80odd balls with a 7i) were actually quite consistent. There were some that went straight but on a whole they did the same thing. I think I’ll play a draw and get it as good as I can, then try straighten it out again and will hopefully have the ability to play both by the end.

Its gotta be easier to be consistant at the range with only seconds instead of minutes beween shots.
Will be interested to hear how you go with it in your next round.

Im interested because im at the stage where im able to start shaping but im not sure if its worth it. Prob a few months behind you Mr C im shooting low to mid 90s at par 72 courses with some shockers thrown in.

Anyone else here have experiance with shaping vs hitting straight shots?

Its gotta be easier to be consistant at the range with only seconds instead of minutes beween shots.
Will be interested to hear how you go with it in your next round.

Im interested because im at the stage where im able to start shaping but im not sure if its worth it. Prob a few months behind you Mr C im shooting low to mid 90s at par 72 courses with some shockers thrown in.

Anyone else here have experiance with shaping vs hitting straight shots?

“You’re not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on.”

Socks, I guess shaping shots may take your game to the next level. I’ve been as low as 4 and never really tried to master shaping shots. I guess I do it sub consiously by fully releasing or not releasing the club head through the ball. I try and let the wind dictate what happens to the ball.

There as so many things I do automatically in golf without thinking about it. I play on golf courses with undulating fairways and they often determine the shape of the shot for me. I’d love to have the ball on a string, however, I don’t have the time or skill to reach that level. Good luck to those who have the time and skill and can sink a few puts too:)

Learning to maneuver the ball is fun and can teach you a lot about your swing. I find hitting big hooks and slices easy; it’s hitting those tight five yard draws and fades that is so difficult. I won’t hit any shot on the course unless I’m 80% confident of pulling it off. There’s nothing wrong with playing your normal shot shape if that’s what gives you the most confidence.

bloody hell guys – even jack nicklaus talked of how hard it was to hit straight shots.

Jack hit shots that would fall to the left or right depending on which would be better.