One of the biggest areas that students can fall down in and that we've all been guilty with at some point in our golf development, is the seduction of looking at a quick-fix instructional videos or clips. Now sometimes you may have stumbled on the right thing at the right time for your swing which gives you immediate results. But as you have discovered this can be short-lived and often end up in a worse place than before you started your new swing tip.
The biggest example is when someone slices the ball and they see somewhere that the answer is having a closed stance (alignment to the right) and swinging around the body. Yes this may work in the short term but over time if you overdo this feeling of swinging around the body, you could end up too flat on the downswing causing 'duck' hooks or eventually coming even more 'over the top'.
The best way to use instructional videos is for tips on basic fundamentals such as grip, ball position, set-up and alignment. You can use it as a swing guide only if it's to gather information on how the overall swing works. I would use explanations of top-end coaches and then start to look at tour players' swings to see if they are making the swing moves as described in the videos.
Golf unlike other sports really does need proper personalised coaching. I've had students come to me who have never had a lesson for 40 years of golf and then once I've described what they should be doing, they immediately laugh or sometimes cry lol and wish they had commenced this way earlier. Once you know exactly what to do with your swing, you will realise you only need to hit a very small amount of balls to get the results. You will also enjoy the game more knowing wat you need to do to succeed. No matter what anyone says, golf is far more enjoyable when you play better.
As mentioned in previous posts, there are three stages of improvement. The first one would be start having lessons on a weekly or fortnightly basis trying to pick the coach's brain on exactly how the swing works. The next step is then understanding what you need to do for your own swing which becomes part of your practice. The third step is then over time having your body do what you want it to do. Once you know these steps then there's nothing wrong with watching instructional videos as long as it's in line of what you're trying to do with your own game. For example if your swing is too steep and the coach has you working on the first position of the golf swing, start to have a look at Tour Players' first position so you can compare and understand more thoroughly.
If you need any further help, I'm located at Emerald Lakes Coaching Centre on the Gold Coast working under the banner of David Waters Golf.
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