CE Golf

Confusion On The Range

Your goal during a golf lesson should be to develop a basic conceptual understanding of the movement you will be trying to incorporate into your swing. This sounds simple enough, and it is.

But things become much trickier when you get out on the driving range to work on it. As you begin to practice the new movement, your body is absolutely, positively, completely resisting every attempt you make to improve your swing and what little amount you are actually able to change is wreaking havoc with your ball striking.

Your body and mind are in a struggle to control the swing, so what was perfect clarity of purpose as you warmed up has suddenly become utter confusion. Are you not doing it correctly? If not, what are you doing wrong? Did you not understand correctly? All of a sudden you're questioning whether you understood the concept at all, even though it seemed so simple during the lesson.

Stop right here! You understood just fine—hopefully you're using a good instructor. Don't let yourself get caught up in the turmoil going on between mind and body. Realize that the body is used to being in control of the swing, so when you try to take over with the conscious mind, things are going to get messy. The key is to make sure that the mind stays in control because the mind is where the swing improvement will come from—your mind stores the information you learned in the lesson and it is your mind that has to teach your body how to move correctly. This is done through practice—thousands and thousands of swings!

Remember focus and patience? This is when you need them the most. If you've just taken a lesson from me, you absolutely do know what to do, so just keep working on it for a month and then move on to the next phase of your cycle so you can shape your swing!

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Casey Eberting Golf Instruction