62. “Great looking swings can hit bad shots and bad looking swings can hit good shots.”

Here’s a statement to make you sit up and think! “Great looking swings can hit bad shots and bad looking swings can hit good shots.” There I told you so. Before we go on, this has nothing to do with luck, either good or bad. Golf is not one-dimensional; neither is it black or white. Any decent coach can demonstrate a dodgy looking technique but still hit a good ball and likewise, he can then make a visually great looking movement and totally duff the shot; both on purpose I hasten to add.

One of the saddest spectacles on a golf course is the man who mystifies everyone in that he has regular lessons, has a great looking swing but hits very poor quality shots and plays off an 20 or 22 handicap. This poor soul is simply lacking one element in his technique that makes the difference.

So what defines a good swing? A great swing is one that gets the club head into the back of the ball, right on the button, consistently. If you have a slightly eccentric loop or an extra couple of movements somewhere but regularly strike the ball solid and in the right direction, don’t, whatever you do, change it, or let anyone else try either for that matter.

Many a decent player has tried to make big changes to his swing in order to lower his handicap and ended up sending his game backwards. For many players wanting to lower their scores they would be better of spending more time on the practice green working on the 60 yards and less shots rather than going on the range hitting full irons and woods. What’s that statistic? Is it something like 55% of the shots we hit are played from less than 100 yards out?

Have I missed anything out on this subject? Has anyone thought, “Hang on a minute, how do we learn how to get the club head in the right place at the right time? ” That’s a difficult one but there is a great drill that can have a dramatic effect. Find a qualified Pga coach who can give you a session with an IMPACT BAG. It’s easier to be shown the drill rather than me explain it because don’t forget, it’s the feeling you want. This drill is not a new idea; in fact it was very much in vogue back in the 60s when they used car tyres instead for the same purpose. Things move on but nothing changes.

I must stress again, find a qualified Pro to show you the drill because done incorrectly can have painful consequences. That’s another reason why I would rather you be shown in case you mis-interpret what I write.