Making golf instruction understandable

WHEN www.nationalclubgolfer.com asked me to write these articles they mentioned that the average handicap of their members is 11. Remarkably low given the average is around 18.

So, I want to talk to you, and anyone with a higher handicap or anyone just starting to play the game of golf, in a way that is both easy to understand and effective.

Just the other day I was reading an article on the web about posture. Well, it was fine if youre a doctor or osteopath and may well have had some value for the scratch amateur or budding tour pro. To me, it looked like another example of an expert showing off his mastery of a complex subject rather than advice from a sensitive coach trying to help the lay person to get more enjoyment from the game.

My experience demonstrates quite clearly that every golfer has a good swing in him or her. It is the coachs responsibility to help the player find that swing or that way of playing a particular shot.

In this over-technical modern world we have slipped into an abyss of complicated jargon and intricate detail that, in my opinion, only serves to make life more difficult for the average human being to play the game to his or her potential.

Positive Impact Golf is based on an understanding of how simple the golf swing is, what the true fundamentals are, and what the things that prevent people being able to put them into action really are. My articles are intended to shed some light on these issues in a way that may be surprising to you but will be easy to understand and relate to.

As I said to my sister, Brenda, at the start of her first golf lesson as a beginner only a year ago, You can do this! Swinging a club and hitting a ball are simple affairs.

Of course, a year later, she has found it relatively easy and has enjoyed her golf. But also, she hasnt had any of the damaging unsolicited tips such as you lifted your head or you took your eye off the ball.

In the next article I will tell you more about the Deadly Don'ts, the classic bits of advice that are so destructive. In the following article I will reveal the 6 simple basics to a good golf swing. See you next month.

Brian Sparks gave his first golf lesson as a 16 year-old in 1967 and soon found himself confused by the complicated and technical style of writing in golf books and magazine articles. He made himself the promise to always use everyday language and simple terminology with the aim of reducing the complexities of the golf swing to an understandable level for the average golfer.

Brian, who played the European Tour himself in the early 1970s, has over 40 years experience in helping golfers of all levels and was a PGA Swing Instructor in the 1980s. He gained a Diploma in Performance Coaching in 2005 and started Positive Impact Golf the following year at the Manston Golf Centre near Ramsgate in Kent.