In Golf More Than Anything - Keep It Simple Stupid!

I was watching Annika give a golf clinic and one thing she really stressed was to keep the same golf swing regardless of what club you are hitting. If you need more distance then use a less lofted club. If you need less distance then use a more lofted club - But keep the same swing.

One of the ladies asked a very good question: "...your swing is so effortless and I think I do the same thing but why does your ball go so much further..." Annika's answer was that she hits a lot of balls every day. She practices enough to be consistent and she has her timing down so everything is working in synch. Some people are good artists, some people are good business people...but in all cases, they didn't get those skills without a lot of hard work.

I am an occasional golfer. I try to get out once a week but that is all dependent upon business. So the truth is that I may get out every week and a half on average during the Spring and Summer and I don't hit any balls in between. So the chance of me being consistent is very slim. And when the off season comes, it is 5 months of not touching a club.

When you consider what goes on in the golf swing (balance, club back, club through, swing plane, swing tempo...) it is a true wonder, at times, that there is ANY chance of consistency. And after that off season, even trying to hit the ball is an effort. When I was much younger, it was easier to adapt but at my ripe old age there are too many kinks that need to be worked out before I can even think about consistency.

Today, there is an emphasis on conditioning, not only during the off-season, but even between rounds during the golf months. The idea is to keep your body mobile and flexible and that makes a lot of good sense. If you look at the typical golf professional today, you see just about every body type out there performing at a very high level. You have the Tiger Woods and Camilo Villega that are ripped but then you have a Jeff Oglvie or Charles Howell that are tall and thin with little definition. And then look at the lady professionals that are still averaging 265 yards a drive.

It is not bulk that gets the job done. Oglivie, Howell and Davis Love III are three of the longest drivers on the tour and they are far from ripped. Annika and Natalie Gulbis are clearly in excellent condition but they are not bulked up. In fact, in talking to club professionals, you have to be very careful in weight training when it comes to golf because many exercises can actually reduce distance because you tend to tighten up. Then your swing arc can be diminished and your body turn can be restricted reducing club head speed.

It all comes back to what Annika said at the clinic: Get a consistent swing with consistent tempo and then repeat that swing every time. Let the loft of the club do its work and keep that swing simple. Focus on conditioning your body so that your body can do the same thing over and over again. Then get to know each hole on each course intimately and take good notes so that in the end all you have to think about is making that same consistent swing each time you address the ball.