Kelli Kostick, PGA Professional, LPGA Director of Instruction

Brae Burn Country Club, W. Newton MA

Fix Me But Don't Change Me

Do you ever feel like you are on the edge of shooting your best score if you could only just be a bit more consistent? Are you fairly happy with your game, you trust your swing, but yet you have a few blow up holes or a few strange golf shots that appear from nowhere? If you could get these under control, you’d finally have it!

Well, you are not alone. Consistency is one of the most frequently requested fixes by a golf student, and one of the most challenging issues for their teacher to provide. Usually, the golfer is reasonably happy with their game and in their opinion; their swing is not the issue. They believe that with just one little tweak things should immediately get better. It shouldn’t require a lot of practice time, it should immediately be transferable to the golf course, and the fix certainly shouldn’t feel any different than what the golfer is already doing. Right? Does this sound like you?

In the process of discussing consistency and observing golf shots, I find that students are usually quite consistent and that their golf swings do produce certain, predictable golf shots. They just don’t like what the shot pattern is. I also find that any subtle “tweak” that feels different is often viewed as uncomfortable or incorrect. The challenge for me lies not in changing the shot pattern, the science behind that is quite straightforward; however, it is changing the student’s perception of reality and guiding them through a process that gets them to the outcome they desire. The smallest correction can be the right one and ultimately produce terrific results but at the same time can feel so drastic that the student may abandon the idea for the safety of what they already know. What’s really disappointing is that the retreat to their comfort zone is satisfying enough to keep them there! The consistency they recognize now becomes the desired goal.

Consider these following ideas when you are asking for consistency:

1. Define

What consistency means - are you willing to do the work to achieve something other than what you already know?

2. Determine 

What you do well. Build your game around that. Dwell on the good shots and let go of the bad. Some less than perfect shots will happen. It’s how you recover that counts.

3. Set

A realistic course of action and hold yourself accountable for the results. Spend time working on the range as well as on the course. Recognize that the range is flat and the course is not. Both can be the same and yet so dramatically different.

4. Realize

That if you want to stay the same, you will. If you want to improve, you need to do things differently to get the desired results.

Four Key Areas of consistency:  Which category are you?

When evaluating what areas of your game you‘d like to make more consistent, look at how you perform in the following areas :

1. Directional issues

Are you unhappy with the direction of your golf shots? We need to look at in what direction you are swinging the path of your golf club and what the clubface is doing at impact.

2. Contact issues

Are you hitting the ball fat or thin, topped or popped ? We need to look at the angle of the club as it’s approaching the ball. Is the club too shallow or too steep? Is it releasing too early or too late?

3. Power issues

Are you playing golf in balance from a stable base or do you lack stability and mobility? How does this affect your tempo?

4. Confidence issues

Do you plan your shots well, taking into account the lay of the land? Do you visualize yourself making good shots? Do you have a pre shot routine that you stick to? Have you practiced shots from less than perfect conditions?

Summary:

Golf doesn’t need to be played with perfect swings; we need predictable swings with repeatable results. Obviously, the fewer moving parts there are in a golf swing, the easier it is to repeat. Consistency will come if you are realistic about what it is, and where you are compared to what you want. Be willing to risk a topped golf shot on the first tee on Saturday morning, for a long term reward and habits that will hold up under pressure. Fixes are changing behavior. Work to make your consistency the kind you want!