So many times, I had come back from the range scratching my head, knowing I was missing something.....thinking that maybe my DNA was more suited to tiddlywinks. I had to find something that made sense to me, because I had read all the books, and watched all the videos, if there was some significant info contained in all that, I hadn’t found it, or it went over my head. Many times its ran through my mind, that if I practice diligently, hit lots of balls and still cant get better, then at least a part of the approach is wrong. I thought I needed to do something different. Something about my understanding of the game, and how its played was faulty. Golf instructional books and magazines articles, are written by teachers and top players.

All players  have ball striking issues of course. Even the best of them have times when they aren't striking at their best...….and even though every player is looking for greater consistency, it doesn't mean the same pill fixes all ills. Mine were about the amount of foul balls I constantly hit. Often I would get a sudden rush, at some swing thought or other that I used in a session where I hit it particularly well. Only to find on the next session, it was not the case. It happened all the time, and I was fully engaged in repeating the process …..all the time. Like the hamster on his wheel.... round and round, and going nowhere.

I never had lessons, so I was learning by mimicking. I copied the ideas & images I saw in books and on video. …I didn’t know any better. This approach got me so far, but I hit a plateau, a striking pattern that I could break through. My bad contacts were off the charts bad, (tops and hosels) while my good contacts (which there were far more of) were really good. I just never knew, whether the good or bad would appear on any swing. So, I began to ask myself the question, ‘if I disregarded golf books, video tips, drills and body actions what was I left with’? The answer was pretty clear. I was left with a club and a ball, and a reasonable ability to be able to make the chrome one contact the white one.

I decided to strip away everything that did not include the specifics of club-ball contact, and see what happened. I began to think, only of the contact that the club had to make with the ball. Changing my intention to that of club-ball contact, made such a difference to the striking quality and consistency very quickly, and I am certain it can do the same for you. I began to think of the line through the ball, and clubface direction at impact, and my accuracy grew. Then, when I miss-hit, it could only be because I missed the center of the clubface by too much, and not because of some faulty swing key or body motion.. Simple eh? Why didn’t I think of that before?

So then when I hit the ball, thin or fat, instead of thinking about adjusting my ball position or leading more with my hands, or some other way to ‘not hit fat’, I instead, thought about how I wanted the club to pass through the ball…. and tried to replicate that. I visualized it, I ball first, ball first and the downward angle I needed to make it happen. I even focused hard on a specific dimple. I cant emphasize enough what difference this approach made. So I decided to try to describe it, in case is was helpful for others who were struggling with the game like I was. I began to practice with that very specific intention. How close to the sweets pot was I on the shot. It was a new concept for me, and I attacked it with plenty of passion.

Soon I would notice a sensitivity to the face of the club, that I never observed before. It happened because I was so zeroed in on the contact. My motor function seemed to filter the information from the previous shot, and compare the result against the intention. I didn’t really have to think, I just felt where the face hit the ball, and then confirmed (or not) with the location of the ball mark on the face. All miss hits are because contact with the ball was too far away from the sweets pot. My striking tendency, is to hit closer to the heel instead of right on the sweets pot. Previously I would set up with the ball nearer the toe if I started to hit a few (and this worked well), but now I address it off the hosel, and expect my body to adjust mid swing and it does. It felt like I was ‘listening’ and then making adjustments.

Previously, when I practiced with body cues and drills, I was demanding and directing the action. If there is one overwhelming difference from playing all those years back and this time, it was this. By the feedback of vastly improved striking, it seemed far easier for my body/mind to cope with the complexity of ball striking. I was making the same intention every time (center of the clubface contacting the ball). Accurate ball striking is very complicated (don’t we all know that). I found out that whatever my natural abilities to hit the ball well were, they were disrupted when asked to do too much at once. Our motor function cant find a pattern, if we ask it improve contact, shape the shot, and hit it in a required direction all at once.

This overload also affect the nerves. If the golfer is also trying to direct proceedings, by concentrating on turning their shoulder this far, and leading their hands through the ball………. whilst I keeping their swing plane stable. Its much too much. As unbelievable as our motor function is, it has its limits. However, in smaller bits, and with the least amount of variables possible it copes really well. Consistency of strike improves very fast. We have to help this delicate, and immediately responsive function.

By knowing it responds to intention, and is hard wired to carry out the most dominant thought (center club striking), to the best of its abilities. I think the skills are easy to identify, and easy to define.... there seems to be only 5 of them. Every one was as important (to me) as the next, so I called them 'imperatives' (definition: absolutely necessary or required)… and here they are.