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Golfing with Chris Henderson
Everyone can benefit from a golf
lesson
Golf is a very difficult game to teach yourself.
While TV, videos, books, and magazines provide a lot of great
information, nothing compares to the personalized instruction you
get when you take a golf lesson.
There are a couple of things that make learning golf
on your own difficult. First, if the address position or swing feels
comfortable initially, it is probably incorrect. A good example of
this is the grip. When most people grip a club for the first time,
they hold it too much in the palms of their hands, because this is
where it feels comfortable. But holding the club in the palms like
this can cause an open club face at impact leading to a slice.
The second thing that makes learning golf on your own
difficult is that you can’t see your positions at address (grip,
posture, and alignment), or the motions you are making during the
swing. Because of this, there are times when what you think you are
doing is different than what you are actually doing.
Recently I had a student come for a lesson because
she was hitting a lot of shots that were ending up to the right of
the target. After a couple of swings we found that she thought she
was getting lined up to her target, but was actually lining up 8-10
yards to the right of her intended target. The incorrect alignment
was causing an “over the top” swing that produced shots that went to
the right.
At first, to get lined up correctly, she had to feel
that she was aiming 8-10 yards left of the target. We put clubs down
on the ground that she used as a reference to trust that she was
lined up correctly. With some practice, her perception changed, and
she was able to get lined up to her target on the golf course. With
better alignment, the “over the top” swing was eliminated, and her
shots became more consistent.
On her own, she had no idea that she was lining up to
the right of her target. And it would have been easy for her to
start making changes in her swing to compensate for the bad shots.
But fortunately, I was able to determine that her shots going to the
right were caused by bad alignment. And getting her back on track
did not take too long.
I use video with many of my students. I don’t use it
to pick their swings apart inch by inch. I use it to show them their
address position and their positions in key parts of their swings.
When you can see what you are doing and you can relate it to a feel,
you learn much quicker. And when you see the “before and after” you
trust the changes you are making and are able to make them much
easier.
Everyone can benefit from taking a lesson. Even Tour
players have instructors that they go to for help. And most of the
time, they are going to have their basic fundamentals checked. They
work a lot on their grip, posture, alignment, ball position, and the
basic motions of the swing with their instructor. Because when those
are off, it can lead to problems in their swing and the developing
of bad habits that lead to inconsistency.
Videos and magazines provide a lot of great
information. And there are a lot of ways to swing the club that
produce good results. But you have to be careful not to mix ideas.
Think of it like all of the diets that you can try. If you start
mixing them, you might end up with no weight loss at all. So if you
see or read something that you think might help your game, discuss
it with your instructor. They can help incorporate new ideas into
your swing, and to make sure that the new motions don’t work against
anything that you are currently working on improving.
Whether you are looking to get started playing golf
(I like it when beginners come for a lesson because they haven’t
developed any bad habits), or someone that has played for a while
that is looking to improve, take a lesson with your local PGA Pro.
They can determine what you are currently doing incorrectly, and
help you to develop a plan to improve. And it will be much easier
than doing a self diagnosis and trying to make changes yourself.
Chris Henderson, Director of
the Lake Lanier Islands Golf Academy.
has more than 15 years of teaching experience at clubs and resorts
including Walt Disney World, Lake Nona, and Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill
Club. For more information on academy programs, contact Chris at
706-380-1415 or
chenderson@pga.com, or visit
www.lakelanierislands.com.
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