Simplified: In Search of the Easiest Way to Play

[ypshan]

Hi everybody,

I started playing over 3 years ago. Later I became more serious because many of my management consulting clients in Asia are golf nuts (though few are very good). Golf is probably the hardest sport that I’ve ever picked up. Took me more than 2 years to break 80. I had a lot of time to read and think about it on those long transpacific flights. I realized that most golfers like me have very limited time for practice . So the key to shooting lower scores and more enjoyment might well be in finding the simplest way to play (so one can minimize the needed practice time). It became a personal quest of mine. I tried to talk with pros wherever I traveled (both in and outside of the US). Have been learning a lot though that and through my own reading and trial and error.

What I am about to share is definitely a working progress, but I'd love to hear your thoughts since I know this forum has many knowledgeable members. In this thread, I will post the theoretical hypotheses of my thinkings. Additional pragmatic suggestions/method will follow. Please note that I am searching for the SIMPLEST way to play, not the BEST or IDEAL ways.

Since I am not familiar with the software behind the forum, it may take me a few trials to get the formatting right. I thank you in advance for your patience and any wisdom you can offer.

[ypshan]

This post is dedicated to recreational players around the world looking for the simplest and easiest way to enjoy golf

You will play in the 70's but you won't be Tiger Woods
The information herein is intended for recreational players only. It should enable you to break 80 with some practice but it is never intended to help you turn pro. Look elsewhere if that's your objective.

I define a recreational player as the following:

• You play golf because you enjoy it ( instead of making a living with it)
• You believe playing in the 70's is more fun than in the 80's or 90's
• You don't play on the 'tour courses' (e.g. super fast greens and 4" rough)
• You don't have a lot of time to practice

If you fit the profile above, read on!

Why the simpler the better?
Have you ever wondered why you had a good swing one day but you just couldn't reproduce it the next day? Even if you wrote down the exact swing thoughts that helped you on that good day and tried to faithfully repeat them, the perfect swing just disappeared or gradually faded away. I have an explanation.

Unified Swing Theory (UST) 1: A good swing requires many many things to be right. It will turn bad if only a few of them go wrong.

As illustrated by the green line in the diagram below, a swing is great when a high percentage of the things (such as grip, posture, swing plane, tempo, ...etc.) are going right. As more and more of them go wrong, the 'goodness' goes down drastically. A touring pro does most things correctly so he/she operates in the green zone. Even though a few things might go out of whack on a specific day, the 'goodness' of the swing is still pretty good.



Most recreational players (like you and I) operate in the yellow zone where the swing can go down hill fast if only a few more things goes wrong. This explains why we could feel great on one day and then very bad on the next day.

The reason we can’t repeat the good swing even though we followed the exact swing thoughts is not because the swing thoughts are no longer helpful and making the corresponding aspects of our swing correct. It is because the other aspects of our swing went wrong and brought down the 'goodness'. To make matters worse, different things could go bad at different times. This is why a good swing is so elusive.

Since a simpler swing has fewer elements, and thus, fewer things to get right and maintain right. It stands to reason that the simpler we make golf, the better!

Unified Swing Theory (UST) 2: The fewer the concerns of a swing, the simpler it gets.

In addition to finding a simple swing, we can further reduce the number of concerns by using ‘mega swing thoughts’ that combine the effects of several swing thoughts. An example would be the #1 Pressure Point by Homer Kelly (covered in detail in the swing section). It’s also worth noting that some swing thoughts are harder to execute than the other. When given a choice, the easier one is always better than the hard one.

Unified Swing Theory (UST) 3: Spreading the concerns of the swing elements across time makes the swing simpler to execute.

Besides reducing the number of elements, we can further simplify golf by taking advantage of the time dimension. The difficulty of getting multiple things right simultaneously increases exponentially with the number of things we need to be concerned with at once. Try juggling one ball. It’s easy, isn’t it? Now add another ball. It’s a bit harder. Add more balls. It becomes much harder.

A golf swing takes roughly 2 seconds. Asking our mind to handle too many swing thoughts (even though they help us get many elements of the swing right) during that time is futile. Most likely we can’t do it, and the cognitive stress makes us tense up and further hurt the swing. Instead, if we shift some of the concerns away from the actual swing phase to the pre-shot routines (or even the follow through), we effectively reduce number of things we need to consciously get right during the actual swing.

We’ve all heard the old saying: “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today”. In golf, “Don’t put off till the actual swing what you can do before it.” The putting section provides a good and simple example. The same principle, of course, applies to others as well.


Unified Swing Theory (UST) 4: Pushing the concerns of the swing elements to subconscious makes the swing simpler to execute.

When you don’t have to think about it and can do it right, it’s the holy grail of golf. Practice can push consciously controlled elements into subconscious. However, the right kind of practice is important for it to happen. There will be examples in the full swing section.

[Uber$winG]

At the risk of sounding like a dilettante… You call all that “simplified?”

Simplified is “grip it and rip it.”

[michaeljames92]

At the risk of sounding like a dilettante… You call all that “simplified?”

Yeah. Talk about making the game complicated!

[ypshan]

Sorry I might not be clear. Just because the swing it self is simple and easy to execute, doesn't mean that the science behind it is.

Let's use a car for an example. Driving an automatic is simpler and easier than driving a stick. However, the science (principle theories and applications) for automatic transmission is certainly more complicated than the manual transmission.

It's very hard to avoid some in-depth thinking in order to arrive at the simplified swing and be able to explain it. At the minimal, I need something to guide me on what "simple" means so I can seek it.

I am not suggesting that the users of the simplified swing need to understand everything behind it (similarly to a driver of a car doesn't need to know everything behind the automatic transmission). However, the creator/designer must.

By the way, this is the only dry part of the whole thing. I guarantee that I am not trying to do something like The Golfing Machine

Hope this helps.

[ypshan]

Here are a couple of videos of the simplified 7 Iron swing:

[Farm_kid]

ypshan,
I had another though that might help you explain the benefits of simplification or at least to goal of getting to complete simplification.

When you are learning to drive a car, you have to focus, focus, focus on all the fundamentals. pedal pressure, braking estimation, two hands on the steering wheel, etc. After you gain experience, these actions become second nature and the drive barely thinks about operating the car, and you are a better/safer driver.

I think you can see the parallel with a simple swing.

[ypshan]

Farm_kid,

Well said. Many thanks.

As talented as Tiger is, his practice day typically goes from 6:30 am to 7 pm , and he does it multiple days a week. Considering the average American golfer practices one hour and 11 minutes a week (latest Golf Magazine survey), it's a bit of a stretch to ask him/her to learn and maintain exactly the same techniques tour pros use. No wonder the USGA found that most golfers get to a level after 2 years of playing golf that they remain at for the rest of their golfing life.

There are three ways to improve the situation for us average Joes:

1. Increase talent level
2. Increase practice time
3. Make things simpler/easier

#1 is fixed when we were born. With our day jobs, family obligations, and desire to play more, #2 is often maxed out. Wouldn't it make sense to give #3 a try?

[WUTiger]

Unified Swing Theory + Reasonable Course Management (RCM) can help you out.

RCM starts on the range before you play. Warm up a little, and hit some full shots. The full shots tell you what will and won't work on a given day. If driver is grouchy on the range, leave it in the bag if you blow your first couple of D shots.

Also, determine if you have a feel or mechanical short game. A feel player does better on chip and run type shots, a mechanical person has set yardages he can hit with different swing lengths.

If you have a Driver on a tight, short hole, but feel tight-collared on your address, put away the driver and take a 5 iron off the tee. A 5i + 7i is better than knocking it OB while trying to drive the green.

Your medium irons are a little wild today, and you face a tight par 3 ringed with sand traps. Pay it smart, drop the ball short of the green, and try to chip or pitch up for a par. Better than burying a wild one into a deep bunker.

RCM involves realizing what you can do on a given day, and going for a more conservative shot if you can't get a mental buy-in on your first choice shot.

[ypshan]

Great post WUTiger. Know what you have on a given day and use it instead of fight it.

Your thoughts dovetails nicely with Unified Swing Theory (UST) 3: Spreading the concerns of the swing elements across time makes the swing simpler to execute. By figuring things out (including club selection) on the range before we play, we move concerns (and corresponding doubt) farther away from the actual swing.

Besides saying “Don’t put off till the actual swing what you can do before it.” we might also want to say "Don't put off till your are on the course what you can do before it."