The golf industry has boomed over the past several
decades, and along with this growth, the golfing public has become
entranced with the mechanics of the golf swing. Swing gurus have
emerged on the professional tours, and club players have sought out
instructional advice in record numbers. Although the search for the
perfect golf swing is an admirable endeavor, this pursuit is not
without some detrimental side-effects.
Probably the #1 detriment of the search for the ideal golf
swing is "tinkering." Tinkering can be defined as "a player's
trial-and-error testing of swing keys in an attempt to find a
quick-fix." For some, "tinkering" and "practice" are one in the same.
However, for touring pros, these two terms differ significantly.
While practicing, pros work on swing keys that are pre-determined
during lessons with their instructors. In contrast, tinkering
involves guesswork and a pursuit of a cure that may only be
short-lived. This search for the magic move typically occurs when
players become dissatisfied with their performance, grow impatient,
and lose faith in their ability to play their way through a slump.
Tinkering is very attractive to those who tend to be
perfectionists or high achievers; it certainly seems better than the
alternative. The alternative is "patience" and "tolerance of
short-term slumps." And who wants to wait around for a couple of
holes to find out if their slump is temporary or ever-lasting?
Tinkering can happen any time - during a practice round, during a
pre-round warm-up, and unfortunately, even during a tournament round.
Furthermore, tinkering often proves to be a double-edged sword.
Players may find some short-term gratification. However, since
tinkerers are easily tempted by new concepts, tinkerers tend to
abandon a swing key long before it ever has a chance of becoming a
habit.
To compound the problem even more, tinkerers can find a "fix"
almost anywhere these days - Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, the Golf
Channel, the Internet, videos TV commentators - even one's playing
partners are easily accessible sources of a "fix". The abundance of
information available to most golfers today have turned a population
of once-focused and loyal golf students into a group of tinkerers. If
you're not a tinkerer yourself, you're bound to know one.
My father comes to mind. He is an avid golfer and is clearly "a
student of the game." Not only does he love playing golf, he loves
working on his game. Like many, he enjoys practicing and taking
lessons almost as much as playing. Pure bliss for my father would be
spending each week at a different golf school, talking with a variety
of instructors about how they would improve his swing, owning every
golf instruction video and book in the industry, and then working on
his newfound tips while playing a round of golf with his friends.
Yes, tinkering is a way of life for my father - as well as numerous
other golfers.
One day, my father was sitting in on a seminar that I was
giving at a country club. During the seminar, I was outlining the
hazards of tinkering and encouraging participants to find a pro that
they trusted, take lessons, and strive to master one approach to the
game. We discussed how shifting from one instructor to another and
experimenting with every published tip or training aid can be quite
detrimental to their game. Following the seminar, I asked my father
if he understood what I had presented regarding how tinkering can
hurt his game. He said, "Oh yes!" I then asked him if he had noticed
that his handicap had basically remained unchanged over the last 10
years, even though his knowledge of the game had grown exponentially.
He responded, "You're certainly right."
"Dad, why do you continue to tinker when you know that it is
keeping you from playing better golf?"
He looked me straight in the eye and said, "I LOVE TINKERING."
"Even more than playing better?" I asked.
"Most definitely," he answered. "If I were playing better, that
would be fine, but I get much more pleasure out of testing out all of
the different things that are out there. It's fun!"
This discussion with my father was quite insightful. I now
recognize that not only are many golfers in search for that magic
move, but some love the process of analyzing their games and testing
out different solutions just as much, if not more. So who am I to say
they should stop? The key is that those who tinker understand and
accept the consequences.
The problem with fulfilling a desire for learning about the
game via tinkering is that one may become a "jack of all trades and
master of none." In other words, you can easily spend your life in
search of the perfect swing, and in the process, never develop a
swing that is repeatable, predictable, and reliable under pressure.
Keep in mind, change is not synonymous with improvement. Constantly
changing one's golf swing can actually inhibit improvement. How many
times have you attempted to improve your swing, only to find out that
your scores stayed the same?
So, the next time that you catch yourself tinkering, take a tip
from the pros. Find a method that you like and stick with it. Touring
pros recognize the value of mastering one model as opposed to
searching for the magic move. Think about it - Jack Nicklaus trusted
his game to Jack Grout for years, Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite relied on
Harvey Penick, Nick Faldo has David Leadbetter, and Tiger Woods turns
to Butch Harmon. Great players stay away from tinkering by relying
and trusting their teaching pro.
This is one time I recommend taking the advice of those
all-too-familiar TV spots - "Consult your PGA Professional." Find the
one that you can trust, and stick with him or her through thick and
thin.
Dr. Rick Jensen is President of the Performance Enhancement
Center of Boca Raton and the Director of Sport Psychology at the
Academy of Golf, PGA National Resort and Spa. He works extensively
with touring pros on the PGA, LPGA, Nike and Golden Bear Tours, and
is a frequent lecturer at golf clubs nationwide. He can be reached at
561-852-3603.
