If you do the exact opposite of what you are currently doing in your golf swing, you will improve. It sounds bizarre but it is absolutely true. I spend my day on the lesson tee diagnosing swing faults and figuring out what the opposite is to come up with the correction. I am all for fast results. I don’t believe in my students getting worse before they get better. If they are able to rehearse the opposite move of their mistake, they are on their way to improving their swing. There are many drills and exercises that I may prescribe but they all have the same intention, to get the student to feel the opposite of what they are currently doing until they get to a neutral impact.
John Jacobs, a famous English golf instructor, explained that the sole purpose of the golf swing was to make a correct impact and that the method employed was not important as long as it was repetitive. The bottom line is that anything you do in your golf swing will affect your impact. If your impact is too steep causing fat shots, toe hits, pulls, and slices, you need a shallowing move to neutralize it. If your impact is too shallow causing thin shots, heel hits, pushes and hooks, you need a steepening move to neutralize it. The good news is that you don’t need to remake your entire swing to hit the ball well.
Those of you who have endeavored to fix your swing understand how difficult it is to change. You have to exaggerate the correction in order for it to appear in your swing. This is one of the reasons why video is a teacher’s best friend. The student may feel like you are making a drastic swing change, but when viewed on video, the change appears very subtle. You have to feel like you move a mile to move an inch. The body likes to revert to old habits and subtle change does not break a habit. If I show you what a correct position is during a swing, and you rehearse to that position, the change will come very slowly, but if I exaggerate and show you the opposite, you will arrive at the correct position very quickly. Fast improvement is a student’s best friend. I may show you what I want the swing to look like in the end so you are familiar with the goal I have in mind, but I will get you to that goal by making you rehearse the opposite.
The key to this process is to get the correct diagnosis of your swing fault. Once you determine what it is, the opposite move will get you to the correct position in the shortest period of time. Do not be afraid of overdoing the correction. If you do, it is a lot easier to get back to neutral. I like to get my students who slice to hook it right away. From there, hitting a straight shot is easy. Most of you have full time jobs and practice time is precious. This method will get you to your swing change faster. Get on the road to a correct repetitive impact!
