40. It's said that Knowledge is power but for golfers too much knowledge can sometimes be a bad thing

Do you think only club amateurs suffer “paralysis with analysis” or swing thought overload? You can bet your last penny that they don’t.

A well known European Tour player and former Ryder Cup team member who was suffering with his game opened up to me one day and with a tone of exasperation said,“I can’t understand it, I know more about the swing now than I did 5 years ago when I was playing my best.”  He had got caught in the analysis trap. It's said that Knowledge is power but for golfers too much knowledge can sometimes be a bad thing.

I think it was Tommy Armour a well-known coach from yesteryear, who once said, “You need to know the game in its complexity to be able to teach it in its simplicity.” That’s a very astute observation but when it comes to playing, and I mean playing well, the emphasis is upon simple. From the player’s angle, there should be no room for complexities on the golf course, or on the practice ground come to that.

So the advice for you is this, never let a golf coach fill your head with too much detail. Find a coach who just tells you what you need to know to improve. Avoid coaches who give you “Don’t do” lists because you will end up doing what it is you shouldn’t be doing.

Some of the best players in the world got to the top by applying what it was that worked for them and kept it at that. Some of these players like Lyle, Woosnam and Ballesteros lost the “Magic” that got them to the top by tinkering with their swings in an attempt to stay there. Bizarre really that the best should fall foul of what us mortals suffer with. Find out what works for you and remember the old true saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”