After meeting with all 50 of you, reading through your questionnaires, watching your swings and setting goals for the winter, one common desire exists amongst all of you, “I want to get more consistent!” While I believe that goal is achievable for all of you, I also feel that it is important to understand what consistency is and the process needed to attain it.
First, consistency does not mean hitting every shot perfect, shooting under a particular score every round, or finishing high in every tournament. Consistency means having a golf swing which produces a miss which goes to one side of the course the majority of the time and being able to trust that particular shot pattern. The truth is, whether you like it or not, most of you are already consistent. Almost everyone has a miss which goes in one direction and is playable from shot to shot, with the exception of a few swings. Next time you’re watching golf on tv, try to follow one player and watch when that player hits a shot off target it is usually to one side of the golf course. In general, tour players tend to miss shots to the right, for right handed players because it is usually less penal. They spend countless hours on the range trying to eliminate one side of the golf course and narrow their miss distribution to increase consistency and efficiency in their games. So, as we move forward, ask yourself, which side of the golf course can you play from, which direction do you want the ball going if it is not at the target and learn to commit to hitting shots that direction.
Achieving this does not come easy and there are a few things that will play a big factor in achieving more consistency in your golf game
1.) Adjust your thinking – Like I mentioned before, being more consistent doesn’t mean hitting every shot perfect, it means creating a miss pattern that we can live with and play from.
2.) Watch out for advice – We all watch golf shows, read the magazines and listen to friends hoping to find that one swing key that will fix everything. When we are trying to be more consistent, be careful with the advice you take. Something may work for the short term, but you have to realize there are long term effects as well. In general, if a get a tip for something in your set-up, it will affect every position in your golf swing. If you take a tip for something closer to impact, it won’t have such a pronounced effect on your overall swing, but can change things.
3.) Perfect the fundamentals – If you can’t set up the same, you can’t hit it the same. Tour players tend to focus much of their practice time on their set up positions and getting them perfected. If you follow their lead, you will see gains.
4.) Trust your swing – Your golf swing is more consistent than you think and the more you learn to trust what you have, the better the results will be. If we are constantly tinkering, we have less chance to hit shots consistent. Take what you got and use it.
It hope this little article helps and will serve as a guide for many of you as we progress through the series. Follow these four suggestions and focus on the light at the end of the tunnel and I’m positive we will see great results for you all!
Have a Happy Holidays and I’ll see you in two weeks!