Why I Hate Golf

I had an interesting e-mail from my golfing buddy, Steve.  It came under the heading, Why I Hate Golf.  Steve is struggling with a hook and a pull hook.  He has also been occasionally a victim of my tutelage.  Here's what he wrote:

"It's the inconsistent advice from admired and trusted golf aficionados who are always giving  you their interpretation of the golf bible. You read their writings and/or listen to every pearl of wisdom that they so graciously impart. In one article they say one bad shot begets another then you read another of their articles where they have had many terrific shots after hitting a most terrible shot. They talk about how the left hand is THE hand in golf then you read where they wrote, yup I did what Jack always did, used the right hand and arm. It's obviously a game that can only be enjoyed by a Scot or a Greek ( includes the Russians and Ukrainians ) I hate it!!!!  ��"

Of course Steve has a point.  There are more conflicting statements, ideas, and theories out there about the golf swing than you can shake a stick at.  Golf can be as confusing, or as simple, as you care to make it.  But the real crux of the matter is that we all struggle with the game at one time or another; and sometimes we struggle more often than not.  Golf is a difficult game.

I sent Steve the following reply:

"Exactly!  It's a case of do as I say, not as I do.  Not every swing thought works all the time.  Eventually you get to exaggerating one thing at the expense of another and have to find another thought or feeling that helps.  Ultimately it all comes down to the strike.  The more you can focus on making the strike, the more your swing looks after itself.  The more you read all the books from all the great players the more you realize that this game is about "finding what works, losing it, then finding it again."  That's the nature of the beast unless you are hitting thousands of balls like Hogan or Moe.  It's a hard old game.

Sorry you are struggling again."

I guess we all have to either give the game up, deciding to hate it because we just can't ever master it, or just accept the good with the bad--even when the bad shots are more plentiful than the good ones.  Golf is difficult and it isn't always fair, but it's the same for everyone.  Even the great Jack Nicklaus had days where he couldn't hit his hat.  

As for Steve's comments about Scots, Greeks, Ukranians and Russians; that was a reference to some of the company he keeps on the course.  Some of the characters who love the game despite it's ups and downs.  Steve will likely send me an e-mail in the next couple of days saying, "I've got it!"  Then the cycle will begin again.  The only consistent thing about golf is its inconsistency.  It rarely gets to be boring.

Height

Watching the men play at that brute of a course this week, I was reminded of the importance of being able to hit the ball high and stop it quickly for top echelon players.  Length matters, but height is really important, especially on most championship courses in the States.

I was reading Jack Nicklaus' book, Golf My Way, and he felt that the ability to hit the ball high was his biggest advantage.  Someone had remarked that his advantage was being able to hit a six iron over a tree that most other players would need a nine iron to clear.  Jack remarked that his real advantage was being able to hit a one iron over a tree that most players needed a six iron to get over.  

At Bethpage Black, with all those front pins tucked over bunkers and fescue, and greens that ran away from you, you were in for a long day without a high, fast-stopping ball.  Jack would have loved it, with his long, straight driving and his long iron game.  

I'm starting to work on getting more height back in my game.  As for hitting a high one iron, I'll stick to a 22 degree six wood!  I couldn't hit a high one iron to save my life!

Choosing a Method

While the only thing that really counts in this game is impact, there are obviously many ways to get there.  Goodness knows I've tried just about every method of swinging the club.  And at one time or another, I've played reasonably well with all of them.  But eventually we all really need to choose a method of swinging the club that works and feels the best and then stick with it.

I was raised watching the great Jack Nicklaus.  Naturally, I tended to imitate him.  My swing was long and upright, and my miss was always a pull, or a slice, but never a hook.  And, as Lee Trevino said, "You can talk to a slice, but a hook won't listen."  Any method that doesn't eliminate the hook is a dangerous one.  I seem to be coming full circle, after years of experimenting, and am going back to Jack's style of swinging.  

Jack wrote about different methods in his book, Golf My Way, and explained why he preferred his method.  After explaining that any method had to have as it's goal achieving the perfect impact position, Jack wrote:

    "My own means of achieving this goal (perfect impact) are, of course, distinctive.  I have a very personal method of swinging the club.  For example, although my method is designed to achieve the same objective as Arnold Palmer's and Gary Players' and Lee Trevino's--to name three of my favourite adversaries--it is different from each of theirs, both in over-all form and in particular components.  It is very different, too, even from the methods of the two golfers who, as idols in different ways, most influenced my development as a player, Bob Jones and Ben Hogan."

Jack described two basic ways that the game is played: the open-to-closed method and the closed-to-open method.  Lee Trevino was one of the few greats of the game who employed the closed-to-open method, as did Arnold Palmer early in his career.  A modern example is Zach Johnson.  In terms of the greats of the game, Jack noted that history favours the open-to-closed method.  Harry Vardon, Sam Snead, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan later in his career, and Byron Nelson were all open-to-closed players.  Jack wrote:

    "What I will say, however, is this.  There is a relatively easy and a relatively difficult way to achieve the common objective at golf--which let me remind you yet again, is not a particular pattern of swing but proper impact of club on ball.  I believe that my style is closer to the relatively easy way than it is to the relatively difficult way.  I think that my style is easier to learn initially and to play with fruitfully as the years advance.  In that sense I'd certainly be happy for my game to serve as a model--but only as a rough model, mind you, not as a working blueprint."

Once again, the key is impact.  If whatever method you choose allows you to have the clubface square to the target line through the impact area, it is a good method.  But, as for me, I'm with Jack.  It was how I learned the game and it is easier on my body than many of the other methods I've tried.

I highly recommend that you seek out a copy of Golf My Way.  Even Brandel Chamblee believes it is one of the best instructional books on golf ever written.  And Brandel may be opinionated, but he knows his stuff.  It was the book Vijay Singh used to build his game.  

How Impact Should Feel

Jack Nicklaus made no bones about the fact that impact was all that really counts in the game of golf.  You could break every so-called rule in the book on your setup and your backswing and, provided you arrived at impact correctly, you would still hit a good shot.  Obviously, a sound and simple swing makes arriving at impact correctly easier.  But there is plenty of room for individuality in the swing.

Speaking of impact, I like what Jack has to say about it in his book Golf My Way.  He writes:

"IMPACT.  By now the 'lever is unhinging' as my wrists and right arm start to straighten.  The clubhead, fully 'released,' is whipping toward the ball at maximum speed.

     My preplanning for this critical moment will have centered on four factors:  1.  Keeping my head where it's been all along--behind the ball.

2.  Swinging the clubhead through the ball toward the target--not to the ball.

3.  Keeping the left arm straight and travelling directly toward the target.

4.  Avoiding any independent turning or twisting of the club with my hands and wrists.

     And at impact itself?  Well, I am still accelerating, still hitting.  I am 'down' on the shot.  I am trying to deliver the clubhead solidly and accurately to the ball..."

I find this description of impact, and Jack's four factors, very enlightening.  I can see in my mind's eye Jack, in his prime, delivering the clubhead at impact.  It was a thing of beauty.  That poor ball knew it had been well and truly thumped when the Golden Bear hit it.  

Be Ready

In Golf My Way, Jack Nicklaus stressed the importance of setting up properly to hit a shot.  To Jack it was imperative, when hitting any shot that meant anything, that he feel exactly right before he pulled the trigger.  In his early days this led to him being accused of being a slow player.  

Jack was definitely a deliberate player who took great pains to ensure he was in a position, mentally and physically, to make the shot.  But he argued that he walked to the ball and was able to analyze the situation and select the shot he desired to play quickly.  It was only in his set-up that he became so deliberate.  He was simply incapable of playing an anyway-shot--the shots we mere mortals are so prone to hitting; where we know we aren't set up correctly, or we aren't really ready to hit the shot, but we hit it anyway.  If Jack didn't feel set, he wouldn't pull the trigger.

Jack wrote: "I feel that hitting specific shots--playing the ball to a certain place in a certain way--is 50 percent mental picture, 40 percent setup, and 10 percent swing.  That's why setting up takes me so long, why I have to be so deliberate.  In competition I am not simply trying to hit a good shot, but rather the perfect shot for the particular situation... unless I can set up exactly right in relation to the shot I have pictured, I know I have no chance of executing it as planned.  There I must get perfectly set--it's almost a compulsion--before I can pull the trigger.  My mind simply will not let me start the swing until I'm "right," no matter how long it takes... The point I'm stressing is the vital importance of setup on every shot you hit.  This includes picturing the shot, aiming and aligning the clubface and your body relative to your target, and placing the ball relative to your intended swing arc, assuming your over-all address posture, and mentally and physically conditioning yourself just before pulling the trigger."

Jack said he was strongly against slow play.  His advice differs from some who consider certain "rituals" as being important to the pre-shot routine.  He simply advises us to be "ready" before we take the club back.  This means we might take more time over some shots than we might over others.  The pre-shot routine isn't a ritual to follow, in the sense that we always make certain we take so many practice swings, look at the target so many times, tug on our shirt sleeve, or open and close the flap on our glove.  We simply want to make certain we are prepared, mentally and physically, to hit the shot.  Every golfer has the right to do that.

More to come from the greatest Major champion the game has ever seen in future articles.