Developing a repeatable swing

[Big Don]

I have a question for all you low handicap golfers out there:

To what extent do you attribute your reliable swings to natural sporting talent and god given hand-eye coordination?

Or alternatively do you primarily attribute it to practice and instruction?

Are you generally good at sports requiring good hand eye coordination?

[iacas]

I have a question for all you low handicap golfers out there:

I'd like an option for "both."

[cbe_golfer]

I hope I will qualify to answer your question in a year or two.
And No.. I did not vote to screw up your result percentages.

[Gregormendel]

I have a really good hand eye coordination and have acceled at all sports, but I also practice my butt off, so yes I would also like an option for both.

[CG031]

Yeah, I mean, I'd choose both too. I've always been pretty good at sports and good athletic talent runs in my family (my dad played college golf, my sister's both play division 1 tennis in college) so that has a lot to do with good hand-eye coordination but I also play everyday too...So it's not like I just walk out on the course and can shoot a 80 once a month...

I have only been playing "serious" golf for about a year now. I used to have really bad clubs and played 2-3 times a year with my friends just for the fun of it...

[fusioncal]

I'm not sure if driving a car quite fast are considered as good hand-eye coordination.

Well, for me it's a little bit of the hand-eye coordination and a lot of practices and instructions.

[$2 Nassau]

I've excelled in all sports except golf. So I have to opt for the "work my butt off" response. I'm not even close to having a reliable swing, but I won't stop until that mission is accomplished.

[i-Guy]

I have always thought I have good hand/eye coordination and I have excelled at almost every sport I tried. You know one of those people that picks up a tennis racket and within two weeks is hitting powerful forehands across the net etc.. Anyway golf is different. I took lessons once from a very reputable teaching Pro here in Florida and he immediately saw my keen hand/eye coordination as he said more then once "I have no idea how you just hit that ball as you were so out of position (stuck). It must be your hand/eye coordination." So with that he decided and we started working on a swing as follows:

1) Consistent swing that when my hand/eye coordination is on that day I am hitting near the pin
2) Consistent swing so that when my hand/eye coordiantion is off that day I can still have GIR's

End result made me realize that having good hand/eye coordination can help with this game but at the end of the day hitting good golf shots is still a skill that needs to be learned and then you take advantage of your hand/eye coordination. Come on you know those days when you are just stripping it at every target. That is when it is ON . And then there are those days when you feel like you never had a club in your hands before. That means it is OFF

[cbe_golfer]

After looking at many responses to the poll, define 'low' handicap please.

[doublesuited77]

for me, ball striking came naturally. i could hit a 5-iron 160 yards the first time i ever touched a golf club. (Admittedly, it was a huge inside out swing but i could hit the ball rather consistantly when i first started).


My short game is blood sweat and tears. 80% of my practice is in this area and the improvment comes much slower.

[Leek]

The golf swing is counter intuitive for me. I was a good athlete growing up, but when I took up golf, the swing was a mystery to me. I continuously work my butt off to improve mine.

[fuzzyjr]

Well i really like this question. I think hand eye coordination is a key role of the game, i feel as if mine transferred from baseball, i played at a collegiate level for a couple years......... but i feel golf is a motor function of body and brain. If you make 10,000 swings over time including range, your body creates a memory system there, how else can you make a swing on the same plane swing in and swing out. I may not be a LOW handicap but i think theres more to it than just seeing and hitting the ball, you have to develop a swing and over time your body will memorize the swing, thats why when tiger took his new swing at the end of 1999 it took him a year or so to be well in comfort with it. Butch Harmon told the press a few years back when he took Adam Scott that Adam had one of the squarest impacts he'd ever seen on some occasions within .009 percent of a degree. His only problem was one swing could be totally opposite of the next, and they spent nearly two years on the same swing before he finally felt at ease with that swing. I read that article in a golf journal not too long ago, it was talking about Plane Precision, swinging on the same plane every time. Just my thoughts

[Leek]

Well i really like this question. I think hand eye coordination is a key role of the game, i feel as if mine transferred from baseball, i played at a collegiate level for a couple years......... but i feel golf is a motor function of body and brain. If you make 10,000 swings over time including range, your body creates a memory system there, how else can you make a swing on the same plane swing in and swing out. I may not be a LOW handicap but i think theres more to it than just seeing and hitting the ball, you have to develop a swing and over time your body will memorize the swing, thats why when tiger took his new swing at the end of 1999 it took him a year or so to be well in comfort with it. Butch Harmon told the press a few years back when he took Adam Scott that Adam had one of the squarest impacts he'd ever seen on some occasions within .009 percent of a degree. His only problem was one swing could be totally opposite of the next, and they spent nearly two years on the same swing before he finally felt at ease with that swing. I read that article in a golf journal not too long ago, it was talking about Plane Precision, swinging on the same plane every time. Just my thoughts

I couldn't agree more- Great post!

[allin]

Prior to my stroke I was a pretty good athlete, more of a jumper, I never have had great eye hand coordination. I think that eye hand cooridination is over rated, I do think it is important, but I think the timing of movements transitioning from the top of the back swing and moving the feet, legs, turning the torso shoulders and extending the arms, releasing the hands in the correct order at the right time is the key. In plain english tempo and the ability to let your hands and body respond to the club on the downswing instead of making the club respond to your hands matters more. How you get there can be icredibly varied.

[Big Don]

After looking at many responses to the poll, define 'low' handicap please.

Certainly single figures.

[Leek]

Certainly single figures.

In my mind, low handicap is 5 or 6 and below.

[itzzzberny]

I used to play hockey, baseball, basketball, skateboard, snowboard,etc.
hockey and baseball i guess help a bit in the swing and weight transfer (from right foot to left like when your at the plate). snowboard and skateboard helped me w/ my balance (when weight transfers to the back its like an ollie, odviously without going up in the air)and feet position (when i look at the feet set up with the slight knee bend, reminds me of riding a skateboard, just adjustments to width apart from each other). i also used to breakdance in high school, i like to thank thats where i learned about how flexible i could be. but when it comes down to it, you gotta practice but more important, don't give up... and have fun with it

[jowlar]

I work about 2 miles from a public course with a putting green and a driving range. So alot of days I go to the range to hit a few or putt on my lunch hour. They know me so well out there they keep a half a bucket for me. So I would say for me it is hard work, I love to practice.

I think it would have to be both. Look at John Daly, he has all the talent in the world but readily admits that he doesnt practice or prepare like he should.