Golf Myths Running Topic

[iacas]

I've started posting some golf myths on Twitter recently, and I'd like to save them here for a few reasons:

• To help me not re-use a number accidentally.
• To further educate people here who may not be on Twitter.
• To discuss other possible myths you'd like to see me expose.
• To collect them all in one place.
• To discuss the myths I do publish, and your thoughts, feedback, and opinions on them.

Here are the first three. I'm sure I've published some in the past, but these all fit the format I have in mind going forward.

 

[Vinsk]

#271 "You can have an effortless golf swing". Yeah no. This is such a common phrase used all over the internet on 'tip' style sites, YouTube videos. Hell it's a primary theme of Paul Wilson's teachings. 'Effortless' may be something to stress when you are trying to get a student to do something slow and meticulous rather than barreling down at full speed. But as for a real functioning golf swing, effortless just simply isn't a reality and I think it can be misleading. PW is often quite winded after he does a couple of his 'effortless' swings on his videos.

I think what is actually happening is the golfer is learning how to use his core rather than peripheral muscles to generate speed along with proper timing. Being out of sequence and using biceps and wrists can be quite fatiguing compared to a synced up swing using your core muscles. So while it may 'feel' effortless it really isn't. It would be like breaking a board with a straight jab then breaking the same board with a well timed round house kick. The kick may feel like it was effortless and broke the board much easier than the jab but all that actually happened was you used stronger muscle groups to perform the same task.

[iacas]

 

[Puttin4Dough]

The "effortless" swing is how someone feels about their swing.  When Tom Brady throws a 50 yard pass....it's hardly effortless....though outwardly his motion may look effortless.

[iacas]

8 minutes ago, Puttin4Dough said:

The "effortless" swing is how someone feels about their swing.  When Tom Brady throws a 50 yard pass....it's hardly effortless....though outwardly his motion may look effortless.

Still a myth, and there are instructors out there that actually tell you they can teach you an "effortless" swing.

Fred Couples looks like he swings "effortlessly," but he's said from the top he's swinging as hard as he can.

[alleztom]

I love the effortless myth. So funny. I think it is balance, but balance is hard, and boring, while effortless makes you think you can hit it as far as Ernie Els without trying very hard.

[Puttin4Dough]

7 minutes ago, iacas said:

Still a myth, and there are instructors out there that actually tell you they can teach you an "effortless" swing.

Fred Couples looks like he swings "effortlessly," but he's said from the top he's swinging as hard as he can.

Agree.  This is why I don't bother to mimic a pro's swing.  

[DeadMan]

Easy myths to do would be how close PGA Tour players hit it. Whenever an announcer says someone is expecting to make a birdie from 140 yards, my eyes roll back in my head. Could also do putting stats from the PGA Tour, because there's a ton of myths about how good at putting these guys are. PGA Tour players making 50% of their putts from 8 feet blew my mind when I heard it the first time. I would have figured 15 feet or something.

[iacas]

2 minutes ago, DeadMan said:

Easy myths to do would be how close PGA Tour players hit it. Whenever an announcer says someone is expecting to make a birdie from 140 yards, my eyes roll back in my head. Could also do putting stats from the PGA Tour, because there's a ton of myths about how good at putting these guys are. PGA Tour players making 50% of their putts from 8 feet blew my mind when I heard it the first time. I would have figured 15 feet or something.

In due time. 🙂

[Vinsk]

If you haven’t listed this already, this myth needs to  die as I still read/hear it today:

’Johnny Miller’s 63 on Sunday at Oakmont was done on super wet greens.’

I actually thought this was true until @iacas informed me otherwise. 

Edited December 6, 2018 by Vinsk

[Buckeyebowman]

On 12/1/2018 at 9:19 PM, Vinsk said:

#271 "You can have an effortless golf swing". Yeah no. This is such a common phrase used all over the internet on 'tip' style sites, YouTube videos. Hell it's a primary theme of Paul Wilson's teachings. 'Effortless' may be something to stress when you are trying to get a student to do something slow and meticulous rather than barreling down at full speed. But as for a real functioning golf swing, effortless just simply isn't a reality and I think it can be misleading. PW is often quite winded after he does a couple of his 'effortless' swings on his videos.

I think what is actually happening is the golfer is learning how to use his core rather than peripheral muscles to generate speed along with proper timing. Being out of sequence and using biceps and wrists can be quite fatiguing compared to a synced up swing using your core muscles. So while it may 'feel' effortless it really isn't. It would be like breaking a board with a straight jab then breaking the same board with a well timed round house kick. The kick may feel like it was effortless and broke the board much easier than the jab but all that actually happened was you used stronger muscle groups to perform the same task.

I think when most people refer to an effortless swing what they are trying to refer to is a "tensionless" swing, even though some tension is still involved. Heck, it takes muscular effort and tension to merely stand upright! But, we don't really notice it. I remember, back in the day, Tiger saying he didn't want to feel any tension in his body when he set up for a shot. Well, of course there was tension or he'd have just fallen over! 

On 12/4/2018 at 11:20 AM, iacas said:

 

I don't like "fat" grips, but one of my buddies does. Plus, he's a "club builder". We were playing and he was having trouble with a driver he had just built. After another bad tee shot by him, I asked to try it. Yes, it had a fat grip, but I smacked it right down the middle! I handed it back to him and said, "Nothing wrong with that club!" 

I'm the same with putter grips. Traded a buddy an A wedge for his old Oddysey putter last year. It had one of those huge "Super Stroker" grips on it that was getting a little slick. I went to the golf store and pulled every putter grip they had! I finally picked a slightly oversized Lamkin paddle that feels great in my hands! 

[boogielicious]

10 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

I think when most people refer to an effortless swing what they are trying to refer to is a "tensionless" swing, even though some tension is still involved. Heck, it takes muscular effort and tension to merely stand upright! But, we don't really notice it. I remember, back in the day, Tiger saying he didn't want to feel any tension in his body when he set up for a shot. Well, of course there was tension or he'd have just fallen over! 

I don't like "fat" grips, but one of my buddies does. Plus, he's a "club builder". We were playing and he was having trouble with a driver he had just built. After another bad tee shot by him, I asked to try it. Yes, it had a fat grip, but I smacked it right down the middle! I handed it back to him and said, "Nothing wrong with that club!" 

I'm the same with putter grips. Traded a buddy an A wedge for his old Oddysey putter last year. It had one of those huge "Super Stroker" grips on it that was getting a little slick. I went to the golf store and pulled every putter grip they had! I finally picked a slightly oversized Lamkin paddle that feels great in my hands! 

I use standard grips with 3 more wraps and can play midsize with no issue. But it really depends on your hands. I have long thin fingers, so standard grips feel like pencils in my hands.

[Dean Walker]

On ‎12‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 4:20 PM, iacas said:

 

Couldn't agree more with this one. I use slightly thicker grips (midsize) purely because they feel lovely in my hands not because they'll stop me from hooking the odd shot. Which they don't 🙂

[ChetlovesMer]

On ‎12‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 11:20 AM, iacas said:

 

I still hear this one all the time. Just this year I was on a course with a couple of guys who were discussing how the larger grips size were helping them hit a draw. 

I will say this. I regrip more often than most of my playing partners. But I just really like new grips. 

[iacas]

 

[308 Ragin Cajun]

REgarding the " effortless swing", I just re read Harvey Penick's " Little Red Book", and one of his first lessons was to "Hit the ball hard".

[Puttin4Dough]

The term "effortless" means not muscling the club and instead maximizing club head speed with efficient movement.  Watch Malaska videos, he talks about effortless in terms of efficiency as well as Paul Wilson demonstrates similar in some of his videos. 

The #1 myth in golf is "swing hard".  Penick misled about 10M golfers with that quote.

[iacas]

22 minutes ago, Puttin4Dough said:

The term "effortless" means

The term has a definition, and I've seen countless instructors who will actually mean what the definition says, including Paul Wilson several times on this site and in his videos.

So again, no.

And I disagree that Penick was wrong on that. I'll tell a good number of my students to swing at it, stop trying to baby it or guide it or anything… but swing back and then smash it. Power is a huge advantage. I've talked with a lot of Tour pros on the ranges at Tour stops, too, and particularly with the driver, they're not holding back - they're going at the ball hard. No question. Speed kills… in every sport.