Know Your Swing to Make In-Round Corrections, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles
Know Your Swing to Make In-Round Corrections, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles

One of the things I often say to my clients is that if I’m doing a really good job of teaching and I’m doing a really good job of understanding, ultimately they almost become their own golf coach. They understand their swing so well from the tips and the things that I’ve shown them either on the video or the way I’ve described it to them in their lessons that when they hit some mistake or hit a bad shot they understand the mistake before I’ve even told them or shown them on the video system. So they can understand their swings so well they can self-diagnose and self-correct and that's fantastic because when they're out on the golf course, they hit a bad shot like we all do from time to time but they understand how they hit a bad shot, why they hit a bad shot and, most importantly, how to not hit that bad shot again. There’s nothing worse than a golfer coming back for a lesson with me and saying, "I’ve hit 18 sliced tee shots in a row." I think, "Well, did you understand what you were doing wrong and try and correct it?" I would rather actually see them slice the first one and then hook the second one because at least they were trying to find out the reason why. They were trying to find out the problem and the fault and self-diagnose and self correct.

As you progress on and you start to understand a little bit more about your golf swing, try and get to a position where you can self-diagnose and self-correct on some of your mistakes. It might not be all of your mistakes but if you have a classic bad shot which might be a topping shot or a fat shot, understand what causes the top shot. Is it because you're pulling your arms in? Is it because you're standing up in your posture? Is it because you're leaning back too much? Understand what causes your general top shot and then when it happens on the golf course at least you can alleviate that problem and you won't have the same thing persistent habits and persistent problem over and over again. Remember, if you're good at understanding things and you're learning correctly, you should ultimately become your own golf coach where you can understand your swing and diagnose it mid-round and make in-round corrections to stop making the same mistake over and over again. It's a very satisfying approach to playing golf with that in mind.

 2012-09-18

One of the things I often say to my clients is that if I’m doing a really good job of teaching and I’m doing a really good job of understanding, ultimately they almost become their own golf coach. They understand their swing so well from the tips and the things that I’ve shown them either on the video or the way I’ve described it to them in their lessons that when they hit some mistake or hit a bad shot they understand the mistake before I’ve even told them or shown them on the video system. So they can understand their swings so well they can self-diagnose and self-correct and that's fantastic because when they're out on the golf course, they hit a bad shot like we all do from time to time but they understand how they hit a bad shot, why they hit a bad shot and, most importantly, how to not hit that bad shot again. There’s nothing worse than a golfer coming back for a lesson with me and saying, “I’ve hit 18 sliced tee shots in a row.” I think, “Well, did you understand what you were doing wrong and try and correct it?” I would rather actually see them slice the first one and then hook the second one because at least they were trying to find out the reason why. They were trying to find out the problem and the fault and self-diagnose and self correct.

As you progress on and you start to understand a little bit more about your golf swing, try and get to a position where you can self-diagnose and self-correct on some of your mistakes. It might not be all of your mistakes but if you have a classic bad shot which might be a topping shot or a fat shot, understand what causes the top shot. Is it because you're pulling your arms in? Is it because you're standing up in your posture? Is it because you're leaning back too much? Understand what causes your general top shot and then when it happens on the golf course at least you can alleviate that problem and you won't have the same thing persistent habits and persistent problem over and over again. Remember, if you're good at understanding things and you're learning correctly, you should ultimately become your own golf coach where you can understand your swing and diagnose it mid-round and make in-round corrections to stop making the same mistake over and over again. It's a very satisfying approach to playing golf with that in mind.