SWING LIKE A “10”

By Greg Schulze, PGA Master Professional

 

 

From an early age, we become aware of the “rating” scale of 1-10. It has been used in everything from attractiveness to truthfulness. “On a scale of 1-10…” How can you use this scale for your golf development?

“If you could swing perfectly, what would it feel like?” Hmm… Intrigued? In order to make a “perfect” swing, I/we must have a mental image or sense of what “perfect” must feel like.

Consider this… If I watched you making full swings on the practice range and after each one, I asked you to rank it on a scale of 1-10, I bet you would have an immediate answer. I’ve done this hundreds of times with my clients so I know this happens. Perhaps after the first swing he/she turns to me and says “that was a 6”. My reply could be “how did you come up with that number?” If your instincts KNEW it was a 6 and not a 10, then you MUST “know” what a 10 should feel like! You ranked it a 6 because deep down you knew there was a 10 somewhere inside you.

When on the practice range, do you attempt to make “perfect” swings or awful swings? Now before you think that was a strange question, consider that many studies claim that the only reason we “know” hot is because we can compare it to cold, good from evil, a 1 from a 10, etc. We need to be aware of both ends of any spectrum. So, is there any downside to practicing “awful” golf swings (1’s)? NO!

Have FUN with this. I have gone through this with many clients during lessons. This exercise has 3 requirements; first is that each swing must be FULL SIZE, second, is to “think of nothing”, no trying to do such and such in your swings, and the third requirement is to make some contact with the ball for each number. I ask them to start with a “1”, demonstrating the WORST and GOOFIEST swing possible. How far do you think a full-sized “1” goes? A foot or less? YES!

I then ask them to continue with the scale, swing like a 2, then a 3, 4… and finish with a 10. You and your instructor will giggle and laugh, the people in the range stalls near you will start to stare and whisper to each other… but who cares.

The key is to try and FEEL every INCREDIBLY SMALL difference each swing; building your instincts gradually towards feeling an efficient swing (a “10”). Wouldn’t it be AMAZING to be able to even detect the difference in feel between a “7” and a “8”? It’s incredible how quickly you can develop a very efficient swing with this “one number at a time” drill, and eventually you might end up SWINGING LIKE A “10”.