Four Critical Mistakes to avoid When Choosing Golf Instruction

The game of golf has always been difficult to learn and master. Golf has
been around for hundreds of years and other than technology advances,
the basic golf swing has remained rather constant. Through the years
there have always been one or two dominant players. Those dominant
players have had an impact on the players of their eras. Golfers have
always tried to mimic the great players of their day. Vardon gave us the
grip. Bobby Jones taught us to "turn in a barrel."

Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus dominated the game in their time but
each had a distinctly different swing and playing style. If you look at the
PGA tour closely you'll see many different golf swings. Although they are
different, the golfers using those swings are able to remain on tour and
compete; no easy task these days. How can all of those golf swings be
effective?

What golfer hasn't dreamed of playing on the PGA tour? The question I've
always posed to myself has been, "Why can they do it, and not me?" If
you've asked yourself this question and you really want answers, or if
you just want to stop making those few shot that seem to ruin every
round, you have to look at the differences between the professionals' golf
games and yours. You have to look at what the pros practice and how.
You have to look at their approach to the game vs. your approach.

If you're going to play better golf, the logical first step would be to get
good instruction. I believe that this is the biggest and most difficult
hurdle to overcome if you want to play better golf. Why? Because of the
wide variety of instruction theories and methods out there, it's difficult to
know what will work for you and how far any method will take you.

Probably the most heartbreaking situation I see is a golfer who spends

countless sums of money and time learning the latest "system"
guaranteed to make them a better golfer only to see limited results that
wear off with time. Many golfers around the world are skeptical and
bitter from this kind of instruction. Remember, if a "system" was really as
good as they say, the tour pros would be using it. If they're not, don't
bother with it.

Unfortunately, many of the "systems" you see on TV are the product of

great marketing. Good marketing can sell anything and make money
until the general public realizes the real value of it. By then, the marketer
has made his money and moved on to the next project.

Many golfers go to see their local pro for instruction, but you have to
wonder what he's teaching you. Is he just teaching you his own swing?
How did he learn the game, and more importantly, how did he learn to
teach the game. I say this because many local pros end up teaching
 Four Critical Mistakes to avoid When Choosing Golf Instruction

others merely on the merits of their own playing ability. Teaching

anything requires advanced communication abilities that probably aren't
learned just by being able to perform a task well.

Teaching is more than knowing something. It's the ability to adapt that
information for your students and communicate the information so that
they understand it and so that it works for them. Teaching itself is an art
form. Teaching a complicated sport like golf takes that art form to an
even higher plane. That's why there are so few effective golf instructors in
the world. Too many of them just tell you what to do based on their own
personal knowledge of what works for them. As we already know, what
works for them may not work for you.

Ask your pro some questions before you part with your hard earned
money. If he gets nervous, he may not be well qualified to get you where
you wish to go. I say this for a reason.

When I was teaching in Myrtle Beach, there was a Golf Learning Center
that just seemed to spring up near our driving range. I wound up re-
teaching many of their students who came to us because of our growing
reputation. The shame was that they didn't even learn the basics of the
stance during the lessons they received prior to coming to us for
instruction. We had to start from scratch and the students' previous
instruction turned out to be a waste of time and money. One student had
actually injured her back from the instruction she had been given at the
other "Learning Center". Be careful who you trust your golf swing to.

If there isn't a really good or affordable local pro around, what is your
next option if you wish to learn from the best? Well, you could attend a
Golf School by one of the world's top instructors. If you can afford it, it is
a good start, but there is a drawback. Most golf schools are two, three or
five days. The effects wear off after a while.

If your objective is to play like the pros, you have to train like the pros.
Believe me, they spend much more than five days in front of their golf
coach. At the golf school, you may or may not see the "big" instructor.
You may receive instruction from his trained assistants, which is
definitely the next best thing. I hear from golfers all the time raving about
how much they learned from the golf schools, but later complaining
about how much they forgot or that they can't get it to work anymore.

So the answer is to get in front of the big name instructor on a regular

basis. If you can afford it, it's still not likely to happen unless you are a
child phenom or a tour player already, and you would still pay through
the nose for the instruction. It's kind of a catch 22 situation.
 Four Critical Mistakes to avoid When Choosing Golf Instruction

If you can't see the famous instructors in person, you could always get
their books or tapes, which you probably already have. When I started
playing and quickly developed my aspirations to play on the PGA tour, I
realized that this was the avenue I had to take. I bought everything and
followed their advice to the letter. My frustration began there. Most of the
instruction media is aimed at helping average golfers improve. It's not
designed to give you the information you need to play as good as the
pros.

If the instruction in the books or videos doesn't work, there's no

recourse. You can't pick up the phone and ask the author for
clarification. Combined, my extensive library of books and videos did
help to a point, but there seemed to be important information missing
from all of it. I couldn't fill in the information missing from one book with
information from another either. Believe me, I tried.

So what are we left with? Swing training gadgets. Swing gadgets can do
wonders for your golf swing but there are limits. If you have an irregular
body build, these gadgets will probably not work for you. If you do find a
training device that helps, what happens on the golf course? My
experience is that the "grooved" swing wears off during the round and the
shots once again go wild. The bad thing about golf is that it only takes a
few bad shots to ruin a round.

So, is it hopeless?......Yes!....I mean No! It's only hopeless if you keep

reverting back to the methods that don't work. That's the definition of
insanity. Doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.

Let's look again at the professional golfers. They all have different swings
and they all see swing coaches. Many of them see the same swing
coaches. They all work on the same principles; principles that apply
universally to any golf swing, adaptable for any body type. Learn those
principles and apply them to your swing and you will play great golf.

Wait, I didn't say "instructor", I said "coach". There's a difference.

A golf instructor is there to teach you how to swing the club and hit the
golf ball. A coach is there to monitor your swing and to give you
feedback. There's a huge difference between the two and this is what
separates the professional golfer from the struggling amateur golfer.

The difference is the fact that the professional golfer already knows and
understands his own golf swing. The key words here are, "his own".

When he goes to see his coach, they talk about what the golfer thinks is
going on and what he feels isn't quite right. The coach watches for these
 Four Critical Mistakes to avoid When Choosing Golf Instruction

points and tells the golfer what he sees. The golfer makes minor
adjustments based on the feedback from the coach until the golfer is
satisfied with the results. The rest of the practice session is programming
the swing change by monitoring muscle feedback and feel while the
coach monitors for consistency.

David Duval has gone from #1 to struggling on tour. I'm not picking on
him, rather using his circumstance to demonstrate my point. His swing
is unique because he is one of two professional golfers in the world who
isn't watching the ball when the club strikes it. Other than injuries, his
current slump stems from erratic driving. The rest of his game is as good
as it ever was. The reason it's a slump is because he is missing
something. He doesn't have the information to correct the problem
himself without a total swing change. I'm sure there are other
circumstances involved here and I hope he gets it all back, but it is a
demonstration that truly understanding your golf swing is one of the
keys to golfing success.

Tiger Woods is #1 for quite a few reasons. First, like Jack Nicklaus, his
mental game is one of the best. Through the years, Tiger has worked
harder than any other professional to understand the complete game of
golf, including fitness conditioning, history, strategy, and the golf swing.
Of all of the professional golfers I have read, I would say that Tiger
understands the golf swing better than anyone. I'm not just talking about
his own swing, but the principles that make any golf swing work. I
believe that is why Tiger has one of the most effective golf swings in the
world.

If the average amateur were to try to mimic Tiger's golf swing, they would
probably only succeed at injuring themselves. There is much more to his
golf swing then meets the eye. Tiger makes use of many natural laws and
principles to make that swing work.

I'm getting away from my point which is that you won't play well until
you develop and understand your own golf swing. I want to use one more
famous example to make my point.

Nick Faldo was #1 in the world for years. Prior to his rise to fame, he was
a struggling European tour professional. He found David Leadbetter and
the two of them developed a golf swing that won and continued to win for
years.

The one part of this story that always bothered me when I watched Nick
play was that his swing was very mechanical and didn't look natural. He
worked long hours with David Leadbetter on his game and it paid off
handsomely.
 Four Critical Mistakes to avoid When Choosing Golf Instruction

Just as quickly as he rose to fame, Nick Faldo seemed to return to

average tour player status. I noticed at the same time that he stopped
seeing David Leadbetter. I'm not an insider on this story but my
observations tell me that as good as his swing was, Nick Faldo's golf
swing was not his own. Without the constant eye of his instructor the
swing quit working for him.

I want to give Nick credit. He learned a great deal about the golf swing
during his time with David Leadbetter and I believe he finally developed
his own swing which he still uses today. I have to say that watching the
current Nick Faldo swing tells me that it is his own natural golf swing.
He is playing better these days than he did shortly after separating with
his former instructor. He also smiles a lot more on the golf course. I'm
sure that if he visited David Leadbetter today, it would be in the capacity
of a coach instead of an instructor.

So step one of playing your best golf is to do so with your golf swing.

The first step is to learn as much as you can about the golf swing...and
therein lies the problem. For all of the information about golf that is on
the market today, very little of it will ever explain the process of the golf
swing. I have found from experience that there is no shortage of
information telling you what to do to hit the golf ball, but it doesn't
explain why it works. If you do exactly as they say every time, you'll be
successful, but unless you understand how it works and why, the results
won't be permanent.

Have you ever taken a golf lesson and after an adjustment to your swing,
you hit the ball great, but it was not there the next day? It happens to all
of us. Have you ever gone back to the pro and asked for your money
back? Of course not, but if you go back to him, he'll point out what
changed in your swing that affected the instruction he last gave you.

And of course you're back to hitting the ball well again until the next
time. This process can go on forever because the third or fourth change
affects the first change and you're back to square one. This happens
because the pro is telling what to do to hit the ball, but not explaining
how the change affects your swing or the real reason you had to make
the change to begin with.

"Do this" instruction doesn't last. Why? Because the brain has no reason
to remember or even a good way to remember what you learned during
your lesson. Think about the things you remember. Why do you
remember them? How do you remember them?
 Four Critical Mistakes to avoid When Choosing Golf Instruction

Which is easier to remember?

"If you straighten your back leg during the golf swing, you will hit
the ball fat."
or

"Straightening your back leg during the swing will cause your body
to tilt towards the target because the body's auto-response mechanism
will try to keep the body in balance. The result of that tilt will be a steep
downswing that will most likely cause a fat hit."

In the second instance you know why the action happens and you can
picture the action in your mind, which makes it much easier to
remember. Not only do you know why you have hit it fat, you understand
the cause, making the second instruction easier to remember. Once you
picture that process in your memory, you can recall it at any stage and
fill in the rest.

For example, you may only remember that it was a steep downswing that
caused the fat hit. If you picture the deep downswing, you may picture
the body tilt with it and remember the right knee as the cause. If you
take a practice swing after correcting the problem, you'll know for sure
whether you were correct.

In the first example, there is no logical sequence to remember the

connection of the straight back knee to the fat shot, so if it happens to
you on the golf course, you're lost.

OK, I have a challenge for you. Go to the instruction material you already
have and review it. Every time you can see the instruction explained as
to how it works or why it works, hi-light the instruction. Don't hi-light it
if it tells you what happens during the swing, only if it tells you why it
happens or what makes it work.

Were you surprised? Very little instruction explains the process. The
result is that when something doesn't work, you want to find out why,
but the information out there only tells you a way to fix it, not why or
how it fixes the problem.

Discouraged yet? Don't worry, there's still hope.

Think about the standard explanation for the setup. Bend at the waist,
bend the knees slightly, let the arms hang down. The question in your
mind is, "How much bend?" Instructors can tell you if your stance is
balanced by looking at it. They can tell you to either bend your knees
more or less, but ask them why the stance has to be that way and the
 Four Critical Mistakes to avoid When Choosing Golf Instruction

most you'll probably get is that you have to be in balance. Does that help
you on the golf course?

Ask an instructor to explain balance and you'll probably get an

explanation of what the stance position looks like. It's not likely that they
can tell you how the body senses balance or how you can tell without
someone telling you if you are in balance. Still no help.

What you are left with are more questions. How much bend is enough? If
you knew why, you would know how much.

Balance is one of the main principles that can make or break a golf
swing. It can add or seriously subtract from the power in your swing.
Balance can either help you or keep you from hitting the golf ball in the
center of the face. Doesn't it make sense to know as much about balance
as you can?

Most of the professional golfers naturally have great balance, but many
of them could not give you an in depth explanation of balance. They just
know from experience when they are not balanced. It could be why you
don't read much about it in their books.

What is the hardest part of the golf swing to master? The transition from
backswing to downswing, but look in your instruction media and see
how much time anyone gives it. Not much. Why? Either nobody
understands it or they don't believe that it's important. Again, a proper
transition can make or break the golf swing. The pros make this move
without thought. Amateurs who can't get it right fight it all the time.
Sometimes a certain tip will work for a while, but until you understand
transition, you either have it or you don't.

The problem with instruction today is not what is being written, it's what
is being left out. I spent many years and lots of money to find the
answers to the question of what makes the golf swing work and how can
I use it so that I am not relying on anyone else to keep my golf swing
working for me.

I wanted to develop the information to maintain my swing when the chips

were down. I found that a benefit of this information is the reduction of
practice time from hours per week to minutes per week.

If you want to develop your own golf swing and understand it so that you
don't have to run around looking for answers every time your swing
leaves you, there are some basic principles you must understand.
 Four Critical Mistakes to avoid When Choosing Golf Instruction

Balance is the most overlooked principle. Your body will automatically

balance you during any movement. It's because of the body's auto
response system. It will happen whether you like it or not, so if you're out
of balance at address, it's not likely you will hit the ball square due to the
constant adjustments the body is making to try to put you back in
balance. If you stay well balanced during the swing, you can take
advantage of the extra power that comes from good balance. There is a
simple routine to insure good balance at set up.

Dynamic balance is balance during movement. Although it is controlled

by the auto-response system, you can use the feedback from this process
to control the golf swing and shape your shots.

Below are some points you probably won't find in other instruction,
but are very important if you want to have an effective consistent
golf swing.

The positions at address all have a purpose. It's much more than
balance.

For example; if your arms don't hang down properly at address, it could
flatten out your swing and cause a hook. Reaching can also cause back
pain and it restricts hip movement.

The amount you bend your knees controls whether or not your leg
muscles can control the movement of your hips. Not enough knee bend,
you spin out, too much and the hips can't turn.

Hip control during the swing is important to keep the swing timing
between the upper and lower body and deliver maximum energy to the
ball. If you feel sometimes that your hips are turning too fast for you
upper body to keep up, it means that your leg muscles aren't in position
to control the hip turn.

The angle that you bend at the waist sets up the hip joints so they don't
jam and limit the backswing. Many golfers complain that they can't
make a complete backswing turn when it's merely their stance that is
stopping them.

Your spine angle is also important to help set up your hips for the
backswing and to prevent a slide during your swing. There is a simple
routine to find the right stance without having to wonder whether it is
correct.
 Four Critical Mistakes to avoid When Choosing Golf Instruction

The direction your elbows point will either help or hurt the swing path
and can cause either a hook or slice depending on how they point during
set up.

The position of the club during the backswing can be obtained simply by
monitoring the balance of the club during the swing. Without looking,
you can always know where the club is and whether the position is
correct.

The hips are the center of the golf swing. Proper hip movement can
generate massive power. The golf swing relies on the hips being in a good
position during different parts of the swing. During the backswing, it is
usually the hips and not the muscles that keep golfers from making a full
turn. Proper set up will solve that backswing problem.

During the transition from backswing to downswing, the biggest mistake

golfers make is that they don't set the target side hip in place to make
the downswing before starting the downswing. This one mistake robs
power from the swing and can throw the club path off, causing hooks,
slices, topped shots, you name it.

Why does this simple move get overlooked? Most of the pros do it
naturally, so they never worry about it. Since they never worry about it,
most instructors don't worry about it. When instructors don't worry
about it, it doesn't get mentioned. It's a "What you don't know won't hurt
you" mentality.

Making and controlling transition isn't an easy task for those who don't
do it naturally. I have found a way to make it feel natural by teaching
"feel points" to look for during the swing that can keep everything in
sequence without having to have someone tell you if it was right or not.

In other words, using "feel points", you can monitor your own swing,
keep it in balance, and keep it in time on the golf course. You'll know and
understand every part of your golf swing, just like the professionals.

Here's the bonus you get when you learn the transition. With a balanced,
stable, stance, and a proper backswing, the transition will start the
downswing and make it automatic. It will happen before you know it.

How does it work? If you're not thinking about hitting the ball, the
muscles never tense up. Tension in muscles is good for holding things
but it slows down muscle movement. When you simplify the golf swing to
Stance, Backswing, and Transition, the downswing uses muscle
elasticity rather than tension to transfer the energy created during the
 Four Critical Mistakes to avoid When Choosing Golf Instruction

backswing to the golf ball. Since relaxed muscles can move faster than
tense muscles, the result is higher club head speed and more distance.

What about swing path? Remember balance? Well, another reason

balance is so important is that a balanced swing will return the club
back to the ball on center, which removes yet another worry.

The Golf Swing is a process.

The golf swing is a process. One part must lead into the next for the
whole swing to work. As you swing the golf club, there are forces of
nature that affect your swing. Forces like Gravity, Dynamic Balance and
much more will affect your movement throughout the golf swing whether
you like it or not.

If you ignore these forces that act on your body, you become victim to
them, often wondering what suddenly happened to throw your swing off.
On the other hand, if you learn about these forces of nature and use
them to enhance your golf swing, you have a decided advantage over
your opponent.

When you learn about all of the natural forces acting upon your golf
swing, you will find that you have a complete understanding of the
mysterious changes in your swing that happen from day to day.

The payoff is that you need only to understand and become aware of
those forces to gain control over your golf swing. There's no swing
change, just an understanding and control over your golf swing.

If you want to play your best golf there's more, much more.

The second biggest factor to take your game to the top is visualization.
Movement is controlled not by the thoughts in your mind, but by the
pictures those thoughts create. The reason so many golfers hit it into the
water is because they think about the water.

Here's what happens. You step up on the tee and you see the water. You
look at the fairway and think, "Just get it in the fairway." You set up to
hit away from the water thinking, "Don't hit it towards the water." Which
of the two targets presents a better picture? You see, the mind doesn't
relate to negatives. Both phrases, "water" and "not the water" both create
the same picture of the water, so that's where the ball goes.

To combat that, you have to create a better picture of the landing zone.
The trick is to picture the landing zone in great detail. It helps to picture
 Four Critical Mistakes to avoid When Choosing Golf Instruction

the ball landing there and imagine how it will bounce and roll. This
picture will keep the picture of the water away because it involves the
mind more with the details. The landing zone visualization gets the
process started and can be taken all the way back to also control the
swing to shape your shots.

I could go on and on but if I did, you would have my instruction course

in your hands, but I want to ask you one more question.

How much of what you've read here have you seen or heard in this
much detail from any other instruction?

I've only scratched the surface of what it takes to play great golf, but
what is most important; all of these techniques I mentioned can be
implemented into any swing with a few simple routines without changing
the overall swing. The only difference is that the swing will be more
efficient, consistent, and accurate.

This information is the product of twenty years of research that I initially

embarked on just so I could play better golf. I am a perfectionist and I
don't settle for average. I am also one of those people who just has to
know how things work. The result of that research is Golf Swing Control,
which I wrote when I realized how many other golfers were out there
starving for the same information.

What's the difference between Golf Swing Control and other

instruction?

I don't teach the golf swing, I show you how to maintain and control
the process of the golf swing. You can incorporate Golf Swing
Control with any other instruction to improve the results of that
instruction.

If you would like to read more about my instruction you can sign up for
my Free Newsletter by going to
http:// www.interactivegolfswingbook.com.

If you've read enough and would like to learn more about my online
instruction course, Golf Swing Control, go to:
http://www.golfswingcontrol.com

Thank for your time,

Tracy Reed
www.interactivegolfswingbook.com
www.golfswingcontrol.com
 Four Critical Mistakes to avoid When Choosing Golf Instruction

Author of Golf Swing Control, the information you need to play your best
golf.

This material is copyrighted.