Unfortunately, I missed publishing an article last week. I became absorbed in diagnosing why my ball striking turns from consistently pure to pathetic seemingly as instantaneously as flipping a light switch. Fortunately, I happened across Philip Moore's book "The Mad Science of Golf - On moving past golf industry hype and learning to play better golf". Phil refers to the science of golf as the detailed study of equipment and swing mechanics. However, when you get trapped into lowering your score by chasing better golf equipment or by continuously changing your golf swing, improvement becomes almost impossible. You have climbed aboard the merry-go-round of mad golf science.
I had already ruled out my equipment. For one thing, my equipment has been custom fit to my swing. Secondly, my historical golf scores prove scoring does not magically shift when equipment is changed (besides, look what it's done for the average golf score in the U.S.). But, due to my thinking of the golf swing as a process, a process that perhaps can be simplified and perfected, I became rooted into associating every missed shot with some type of flaw in my swing mechanics. The root causes, of which, needed to be determined and eliminated. I essentially had become a mad swing scientist.
Reflecting on my ability to hit balls purely throughout the majority of a practice session has allowed me to conclude my swing is fundamentally good and not the cause. It was the intense focus on swing mechanics that caused me to look at any shot less than perfect too closely under a microscope and, more often than not, misdiagnose the cause of the mishit. In turn, I would try to consciously correct a swing motion that can't be directly controlled because it simply moves faster than one can think. As a result, a golf session that started hitting balls purely with an in-balance swing, at my natural tempo, and without thought, morphed into an unrecognizable contortion rivaled only by the dancing of Elaine Benes.
Moving forward, rather than trying to control my golf swing directly, I will influence it indirectly by continuing to heed Phil's advice and control how I set up to the ball, my intention, how I initiate my backswing, and my tempo.
Thanks Phil!