Someone recently asked me at a clinic if I thought I’d seen everything in golf. It’s a tough question, but one of the things I know I see too much are golfers who try too hard on the range or course rather than letting things flow in a natural way.
My take is that golf is built around the notion that the less you try, or the more you let it happen, the better you play the game. For example, I was recently brought in to consult with a golfer who had the yips, which occur when someone gets off track mechanically and rhythmically and can’t pull the trigger on a putt because they try too hard. I’ve seen it plenty of times, and the fix is to untie the mechanical knot and get things back to neutral, relaxing and in good rhythm. If a player can do that, and take the overactive mind out of the equation, the yips can be cured.
We often get our students in their early years, so we grow up with them as they learn the game. The more we develop in those players a mentality that allows them to be free, think clearly and be comfortable in all situations, the more effective they become. The task is making a 7-, 8- or 9-year-old grow up understanding that golf is a game of minimum effort. The less they try, the more successful they’re going to be.
The hardest player to teach is someone who tries too hard every day. They can’t get it and don’t realize that golf is really a contest of poise and comfort. The best thing you can do when teaching players is to take them to a professional tournament when they’re young and let them watch the players without saying anything.
Let them see how effortless the elite players make the swing and overall day on the course look. When you go to a football game and watch players hitting each other, it doesn’t look effortless; in fact, it looks painful and like a lot of work. The same is true for hockey and even baseball. But when you walk up to the first tee at a tour event, you see a guy who makes it look so effortless. He seems totally relaxed. He steps up, brings the club back, lets it come down through and the ball and launches it straight down the fairway.
Whether you’re starting the game or have been playing it for a long time – and even if you’re trying to play golf for a living – it’s my advice that the less you try the more effective you’re going to be. All the other stuff – the money you make and the trophies you win – will take care of itself.
But the only way that happens is if you let it, rather than trying to force it. Our minds aren’t made to do that. But most amateurs let their mind race out in front and get in the way. So, the next time you’re on the tee, think of the fairway as a clear path: take the club back, swing it through and do it again. You’ll likely be surprised at the score you pencil in and how much fun you relaxingly had.
