Do you want a prettier golf swing or an improved golf game? It’s a distinction many amateur golfers fail to make or lose sight of when they head out to practice.
Often, it can be tempting to head to the driving range for an hour or so and spend the entire time working on what you think is your technique. It’s a habit that helps convince people they’re becoming better golfers. But does any of that time and effort actually help them shoot lower scores on a weekend?
From my experience coaching golfers over the years, I know how easy it is for them to become overly obsessed with how their swing looks. They then forget to reconnect with what they were trying to achieve in the first place – what they initially wanted to work on.
Too much of golf improvement, in my mind, is people working on their swing without ever measuring whether things are getting better. I see it all the time. People smashing god knows how many balls at the range without ever really scratching the surface of their flaws. They get caught up with the latest training drill they see when scrolling Instagram.
All for what? What do they actually achieve? Are they hitting the ball more consistently? Did their dispersion improve? Are they now more likely to find a fairway or hit a green?
If you don’t know the answers to those questions, how can you be sure you’re improving?
Obsessed with your golf swing? Make your practice measurable
I think the first thing golfers need to do is understand what is actually going wrong with their game. If somebody comes to me and says they want to improve their driving, I don’t immediately get the driver out, film their swing and start looking at their technique. I want to know what bad driving actually looks like for them.
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Once we understand this and any irregularities in the swing or ball flight, it’s then a case of assessing what’s happening at impact and working backwards from there. In this instance I think amateurs would benefit greatly from understanding the relationship between the club and the ball.
Another big issue I have with most people’s practice is the lack of using measurable targets. With this being a digital age, some golfers believe they need to have access to technology to measure their practice. That absolutely isn’t the case.
Range sessions should mostly be made up of using this like yardage flags, target greens and nets to be able to get a greater gauge of how each shot is performing. When I worked at Rudding Park, there were some rugby posts at around 110 yards. I’d get someone to hit 10 drivers towards them and see where the balls finished.
The first session I always do with new clients if someone wants to put a plan together to help them improve is all about collecting data. We do a testing session, or we might play nine holes on the simulator just to get a gauge of where their game is at.
The point of the session is to get to grips with any correlations or patterns between their misses. Whether that’s constantly missing the fairway to the left or the right, or hooking approaches or slices with short irons. It’s all useful information in finding the core problems within someone’s game.
I appreciate that not everybody wants to practise. Some people play golf because they enjoy being outside, spending time with their friends and hitting a few nice shots. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Not everyone needs to be obsessed with improving.
But if you are somebody who genuinely wants to get better, you have to be honest with yourself about what that involves. So start by judging your practice by how good your shots are not how good your swing looks.
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What does your range and practice sessions like look? Do you follow a specific training plan from a coach? How often do you practice? Let us know in the comments or by getting in touch with us on X!
- NOW READ: Amateur golfers need to stop hitting so many golf balls – it’s not going to improve your game
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