What Comes Easy Wont Last. What Lasts Wont Come Easy.

I start most of my long-term students with putting.  The reason I do this is that it is the simplest movement and it holds within it all the major technique flaws for most of us as golfers.  Most amateurs stop the rotation of their body at impact and push their arms through, causing a flipping motion.  If I can get someone to set up well and learn how to rotate through impact without "hitting" at the ball, I find that we have a breakthrough moment and that person can begin to totally transform their relationship to the game of golf.  They begin to experience effortless power and just how "easy" and relaxed a golf swing can be.

That being said, eventually it will feel "easy" but the journey to get there rarely is easy.  We have to overcome many of our natural instincts and train ourselves to go in a circle to create a straight line.  We have to learn to hit down to make the ball go up.  We have to embrace that smooth, relaxed and easy rotation produces great power while great effort produces weak results. These conundrums feel far from "natural" at first and it requires some trust in the process that these adjustments will eventually pay off down the road.

If you are looking for a quick fix to your golf game, abandon ship now!  I saw a quote recently that sums my teaching style up fairly simply.  "What comes easy wont last.  What lasts wont come easy."

I have a master degree in counseling psychology and I often equate taking golf lessons to a first visit to a therapist.  When we make changes, any kind of fundamental changes in our lives, we will struggle at first.  The ways we did things in the past will no longer work and we find ourselves in a murky place of unfamiliarity and doubt.  This stage is not a ball of fun.  It is, however, totally necessary to produce lasting and fundamental change in our lives....and our golf games.

We start with putting because it is the simplest motion in the game of golf.  It allows us to take a baby step forward on the journey of completely transforming our perception of how to play the game of golf.  When we start with putting we are able to apply all of the fundamental principles of the game on a scale that is doable for anyone, at any level.

It is my belief that while not everyone will be able to hit a 300 yard drive, everyone can become a great putter, chipper and pitcher of the golf ball.

The journey to this place of mastery of the "wand" (putter) starts where all fundamental change takes place, in the fundamentals (grip, posture, alignment, ball position).