You're Never too Old to Change Your Swing!

I'm too old to change my swing or I have too many bad habits is a

phrase often used to explain a player's struggle with their game. The

truth is you're never too old or too far gone with bad habits to

change your swing.  It is true that you will need to change your

thinking toward change and it is true that you will need a clear

direction with great drills and it is true that you will need to

practice.

 The first element is to regain mental control by realizing you're

not a failure.  You may hook, you may slice, you may hit it high or

hit it low.  The fact is tour players play with different trajectories

and different shot shapes.  Of course the primary difference is that

they hit it the same way the majority of the time.  So the message is

don't get discouraged if you're not hitting it exactly like a  tour

pro or good golfer you admire at your local club.

 One of the other aspects that ensures the tour pro hits it the same

way every time is that they understand their golf swing.  In order to

reach this level, a lot of balls have obviously been hit plus they

have constantly surrounded themselves with professionals that have

given them expert advice.

 Another integral part to the mental process is treating the game of

golf as a process of mastery.  As mentioned in previous reports, the

quicker you reject the notion that the golf swing is not cured by a

bundle of quick fixes, the better you will be.  Don't be in a rush to

strive for excellence. Focus on simple steps and short term goals

to not only ensure greater success but greater enjoyment.

 Correct drills for your swing along with a properly constructed plan

is the next step in regaining control of your game.  It is very

important that you not only know how to perform the drill correctly

but understand why your doing it. This last point is very important.

If you never understand why you're doing something, you will always be

reliant on someone else to give you the answers.  If you're in the

middle of a round and you suddenly start hooking the ball and then

notice the next hole has water all up the left side, then you better

know how to correct this action.

 Of course rather than trying this drill fresh on the course, it

needs to be done on the Driving Range.  Practicing drills beforehand

will give you that much needed confidence and assurance that you have

sufficiently planned for all challenges before reaching the course.

 Having a clear direction for your swing is another aspect vital for

effective change.  One such way is using a professional golfer as a

role model when using video analysis.  The other is setting handicap

or score goals that you would like to achieve by a planned date.  A

very effective way to monitor your progress is through doing stats on

how many fairways, greens and putts you hit through every game.

 Lastly as touched on previously, if you're not willing to practice,

then results will either be non-existent or slow.  If you're

playing

regularly then hitting a minimum of 1 bucket of balls per week along

with doing specific mirror drills will be sufficient in making steady

changes.  Mirror drills are very effective as the player can have

visual aid whilst changing their swing.  The ideal method of practice

is doing 5-10 min of mirror drills before hitting balls so that when

you're at the range, you already have a feeling of how the swing

should be.