Free Golf Swing Tips And Instruction For Experienced Players
New tricks to an old dog
Experienced players are usually the hardest to teach. They think they know it all, they have played the game for a while and their habits, both good and bad, are more ingrained. Experienced player are also more skeptical because they have been promised great results and improvements in the past that didn’t materialize.
Another factor is that Improvements also become more incremental the better a player gets. A low handicapper might improve only one or two shots per round, while a beginner player can shave 10 shots off of his game with one swing change, or by being able to get the drives in the air or by not flubbing chips anymore.
Good players mainly need to relax, let go and stop getting in their own way. There is no doubt they have the ability. They have hit plenty of balls over the years but the problem of overthinking prevents them reaching their potential.
The pre-shot routine
Good players also need to develop a pre-shot routine, the same movements every time. A good pre-shot routine will help a good player get out of his own way and let the unconscious take over. Here is an example of a pre-shot routine:
- Pick the club out of the bag - don't hesitate, go with your first thought,
- Stand behind the ball and visualize the shot
- Walk into the ball and lay the clubface behind the ball and square to the target line
- Set your feet parallel to the target line
- Get your posture right and feel comfortable over the ball
- Take one last look at the target and go
Having a grooved routine like this will help good players achieve "unconscious competence". They will forget about technique and only think about the target, this will make their swing more fluid and free. Many professional players even use their pre-shot routine when they are practicing.
What Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan practice
Good players can also benefit from the same advice given to beginners - Groove the fundamentals. The fundamentals of golf are the GASP: Grip, Alignment, Stance, and Posture. Even great players such as Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus in their prime would practice these most of the time. Even after they had won major and reached new heights in the game, they would obsessively go over their grip, alignment, stance and posture.