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.
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