What do you think is the biggest golf swing myth?

[mdl]

"Let the club do the work."

I don't like this one not because I don't agree with what I think the point of the advice is: don't over swing on the backswing and don't do a sort of jerk start to the down swing trying to get to 100% club head speed as early as possible.  Not that anyone's really trying to do the latter, just that I sympathize with that thought because it took me a really long time to overcome the baseball instinct of as soon as you decide to swing, you max out, swing as hard/fast as you can cause you gotta get the bat to the ball before it flies by you!

My problem with this advice is that it's a weak teacher's replacement for actually teaching a better swing.  If you've got swing flaws that get you too long of a back swing and with a bad position at the top, and then your down swing is all out of sequence with some parts jerking and others left behind or out of position, then sure, just swinging at 60% of your potential good swing speed will allow you to compensate for some of those things manually through the swing and get somewhat better results (i.e. more often near where you want, though shorter and still not consistently good).

But that's not actually fixing your swing or helping you improve on a long term path.  It's just accepting your crappy swing and swinging slow so you can successfully compensate a bit more often.

[jsp9999]

"Let the club do the work."

I actually like this one a lot due to my tendency to overextend and go crazy.  It's a good mental set-point for me that a club in my hand will carry certain distances even I don't go all crazy with swings.

[BENtSwing]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BENtSwing32

"Let the club do the work."

I don't like this one not because I don't agree with what I think the point of the advice is: don't over swing on the backswing and don't do a sort of jerk start to the down swing trying to get to 100% club head speed as early as possible.  Not that anyone's really trying to do the latter, just that I sympathize with that thought because it took me a really long time to overcome the baseball instinct of as soon as you decide to swing, you max out, swing as hard/fast as you can cause you gotta get the bat to the ball before it flies by you!

My problem with this advice is that it's a weak teacher's replacement for actually teaching a better swing.  If you've got swing flaws that get you too long of a back swing and with a bad position at the top, and then your down swing is all out of sequence with some parts jerking and others left behind or out of position, then sure, just swinging at 60% of your potential good swing speed will allow you to compensate for some of those things manually through the swing and get somewhat better results (i.e. more often near where you want, though shorter and still not consistently good).

But that's not actually fixing your swing or helping you improve on a long term path.  It's just accepting your crappy swing and swinging slow so you can successfully compensate a bit more often.

Exactly . . .totally agree.

[BallMarker]

Rotate the hands

IMO, golf instructors should not command you to do something like "hinge your wrist" or "shift your weight" or "square the club face".

I think they should use the word "ALLOW" more often.... as in ALLOW the correct movemments to happen, instead of "making" it happen.

You can't consciously make something happen when the whole think take less then 1.5 seconds.. But if you allow things to happen in correct sequence, you will get better result.

Think about a time when you hit it so sweet it was effortless and smooth.

Why was it feel so easy and sweet?

Because, somehow, you allowed things to happen without thinking much about it in the right sequence..

[14ledo81]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kieran123

Rotate the hands

IMO, golf instructors should not command you to do something like "hinge your wrist" or "shift your weight" or "square the club face".

I think they should use the word "ALLOW" more often.... as in ALLOW the correct movemments to happen, instead of "making" it happen.

You can't consciously make something happen when the whole think take less then 1.5 seconds.. But if you allow things to happen in correct sequence, you will get better result.

Think about a time when you hit it so sweet it was effortless and smooth.

Why was it feel so easy and sweet?

Because, somehow, you allowed things to happen without thinking much about it in the right sequence..

While I think we all have hit that one good shot without "thinking", for most it is not the norm.  IMO we need to "think" about swing changes to make them.  Until we make those changes, the good shot will not become the norm no matter how much we try to "allow" it to happen.

[Reval14]

This. One of friends usually comment something like "I didn't keep my head down" so the ball went so and so.  Doesn't sound all the convincing to me given how inconsistent his swing was.

I made exactly the same experience. And really weird is (I saw this a few times) when some people (no Pros) teach beginners to keep their head down... Awful!

[BallMarker]

While I think we all have hit that one good shot without "thinking", for most it is not the norm.  IMO we need to "think" about swing changes to make them.  Until we make those changes, the good shot will not become the norm no matter how much we try to "allow" it to happen.

Ok. than it must be just me.

Once I'm taught what I should do, I usually try to execute the new movements without thinking.... I guess muscle memory is what I"m trying to get at.

.

I wish I did this 35 years ago.... what could have been.

[14ledo81]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 14ledo81

While I think we all have hit that one good shot without "thinking", for most it is not the norm.  IMO we need to "think" about swing changes to make them.  Until we make those changes, the good shot will not become the norm no matter how much we try to "allow" it to happen.

Ok. than it must be just me.

Once I'm taught what I should do, I usually try to execute the new movements without thinking.... I guess muscle memory is what I"m trying to get at.

.

I wish I did this 35 years ago.... what could have been.

Don't get me wrong, I am striving for what you are saying.  A swing with no "swing thoughts" would be great.  I just am not at that point.

[Kieran123]

A swing with no "swing thoughts" would be great

I don't know if that exists.....or is even possible.

[Hardballs]

Compress the ball by trapping it between the club face and ground! Surely it's the speed and impact that compresses the ball? And keep ya head down? Surely they mean still?

[Aguirre]

Yeah, keep the head down popped into mind immediately.

For most high handicappers (and many low handicappers) the problems with the golf "swing" start before the club even moves.  Grip and stance.

[Golfingdad]

Biggest swing myth for me is "keep your head down".

And keep ya head down? Surely they mean still?

Yeah, keep the head down popped into mind immediately.

I know this is a popular one, but I don't see what's so bad about it.  I think that perhaps if people take it too literally it could turn out bad (but that could be true for tons of things - think about if people took "flat left wrist" literally and to the extreme) but if you just take it as a reminder to "keep your eye on the ball," what's so bad about that?

---

We all know the old saying "Those who can, do ... and those who can't, teach," yet it seems like way too many people out there add their own extra line to that phrase that goes something like "and those who can, can also teach because they obviously know exactly what they are doing because they're doing it."  That's what I believe is the biggest myth:

That pros have knowledge of the golf swing simply because they can perform it well.  Too many people will take every word out of Phil Mickelson's mouth as gospel (hinge and hold, hinge and hold!!) because he obviously knows of which he speaks, even when there is demonstrable evidence to the contrary.

This carries over to a lot of the things on this thread.  Old ball flight laws, for example, will always carry weight with some people as long as revered pros like Nick Faldo (not saying he still does, just remember that he was one of them) still believe them and teach them.

[rdsandy]

The ball starts along the swing path, not where the clubface points.

I think this new axiom needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Try this with a putter. Close or open the blade radically from the swing path. Putt with a slow swing speed. Observe the ball path. Putt with a faster speed, observe the ball path. I think you'll see, the slower the swing speed the more the ball path is aligned with the face, the higher the swing speed the more the ball path aligns with the swing path. Never 100% inline with the swing or face, but somewhere in between. Recalling my old days of physics class, resolving the force imparted on the ball as a component inline with the swing path and one perpendicular with the club face should reveal the resultant ball path at impact, spin is another matter completely.

[saevel25]

I think this new axiom needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Try this with a putter. Close or open the blade radically from the swing path. Putt with a slow swing speed. Observe the ball path. Putt with a faster speed, observe the ball path. I think you'll see, the slower the swing speed the more the ball path is aligned with the face, the higher the swing speed the more the ball path aligns with the swing path. Never 100% inline with the swing or face, but somewhere in between. Recalling my old days of physics class, resolving the force imparted on the ball as a component inline with the swing path and one perpendicular with the club face should reveal the resultant ball path at impact, spin is another matter completely.

Not as much as you think. Even for a driver, the swing path only accounts for about 20% the direction of the ball flight. The ball flights starting path is NEVER majority influenced by the swing path.

[Reval14]

I know this is a popular one, but I don't see what's so bad about it.  I think that perhaps if people take it too literally it could turn out bad (but that could be true for tons of things - think about if people took "flat left wrist" literally and to the extreme) but if you just take it as a reminder to "keep your eye on the ball," what's so bad about that?

I think it's more about keeping the body in balance to avoid swaying to the right side - just keeping the eyes on the ball won't help a lot. When you keep your head down and the eyes on the ball in the downswing you might get problems moving your weight towards the target.

[inthehole]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsp9999

This. One of friends usually comment something like "I didn't keep my head down" so the ball went so and so.  Doesn't sound all the convincing to me given how inconsistent his swing was.

I made exactly the same experience. And really weird is (I saw this a few times) when some people (no Pros) teach beginners to keep their head down... Awful!

Maybe keeping the head down isn't exactly what should be taught ... HOWEVER ... keeping the eye on the ball through contact should always be tought (which pretty much entails keeping the head down, and not lifting it prematurely).

[iacas]

Maybe keeping the head down isn't exactly what should be taught ... HOWEVER ... keeping the eye on the ball through contact should always be tought (which pretty much entails keeping the head down, and not lifting it prematurely).

I disagree. How would you explain the golf swings of Sorenstam and Duval?

I don't know that "keep your head down" is the worst myth, but it's up there IMO. I've never said it to a student, and likely never will. If anything, I've had to encourage golfers to let their heads swivel a little bit, both in the BS and mostly in the follow-through.

I doubt that it's your bugaboo, truly, either, but you don't have a My Swing thread so we can have a look.

[inthehole]

Quote:

Originally Posted by inthehole

Maybe keeping the head down isn't exactly what should be taught ... HOWEVER ... keeping the eye on the ball through contact should always be tought (which pretty much entails keeping the head down, and not lifting it prematurely).

I disagree. How would you explain the golf swings of Sorenstam and Duval?

I don't know that "keep your head down" is the worst myth, but it's up there IMO. I've never said it to a student, and likely never will. If anything, I've had to encourage golfers to let their heads swivel a little bit, both in the BS and mostly in the follow-through.

I doubt that it's your bugaboo, truly, either, but you don't have a My Swing thread so we can have a look.

Im not going to argue with a pro, but I know for me and for other high hcp's I know - if we lift our head prior to impact in anticipation of watching the ball flight, nothing good happens.    Lydia is an example of what I'm talking about ... keeping the eyes on the ball and not prematurely lifting the head