In the words of Roberto DeVicenzo, “What a stupid I am.”

When I started this journey, one of my goals was to resume golf lessons. I had taken many in the past, prior to my back trouble a few years ago.

When I made the decision to try and become a pro, I had been reading, learning, and studying everything about how to play better golf. To me, it was a given that I’d engage in this continual learning and take it to the driving range and dig a great swing out of the dirt, like Ben Hogan did.

A year later, I’m still seeing my potential out there on the course, but wild inconsistency has left me floundering.

Finally, I decided that this isn’t something I can do all by myself, so I scheduled a series of lessons with the head professional at my club.

I went in there with a swing that feels foreign to me, a consistent snap hook, consistent off-center contact, and a bushel of frustration. In a half hour, with a single correction to my takeaway, he had me hitting straight, beautiful 7-irons, on-target, down the range.

I could hardly wait to get to the range over the next two weeks and groove this thing of beauty. I knew that while I was working on it, my swing was likely to get worse before it gets better. I was prepared for that.

Actually, I wasn’t as prepared as I thought. In my first full practice session, I was hitting the ball poorly. I started to try and “fix” myself. More weight on the right. Shoulders a little more closed. Stance more square. Posture more upright. And on and on. I mired myself in a geometry puzzle.

Unfortunately, in the two weeks between my first and second lessons, I was under the weather much of that time, but I managed to get in a few range sessions and nothing was improving.

I went in for my second lesson yesterday, dejected to say the least.

Within a few minutes, three minor corrections had me moving in the right direction. First, I was standing a bit far from the ball. Second, I was taking my eye off the ball a little before impact. Finally, I was gripping a bit tight. But those were just small corrections.

The real eye-opening thing came next. That, my friends, is when I discovered the secret of golf.

I was just about back to hitting the ball straight and pure. I just need more practice time to reel my swing back in. I can promise you this: there will be no angles and planes in my next practice session.

What’s the secret? Well, I can tell you that it has nothing to do with planes or angles or anything like that. I guess I can’t keep you in the dark. I’ll reveal the secret of golf on Tuesday. It’s something each of you has heard dozens of times.

Can anyone guess what it is?

Did you like this post? Get free RSS updates!

Leave a comment | Comment Policy | Trackback URL