GOLF TIP by Casey Eberting
Teaching Professional
Indian Springs Country Club
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
www.CEgolf.com

"The More Things Change,
The More They Remain the Same"

Most golfers are constantly tinkering with their golf swings. The humorous thing about this (in a sick sort of way) is that even though these golfers feel that they are changing their golf swings, their swings actually remain the same.

Webster's Dictionary defines elasticity as the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation. I would say that pretty much describes what happens to the golf swings of those who are trying to change their swings on a daily or weekly basis.

Let me use an analogy to demonstrate. Take a soft and slightly elastic ball. If you press your finger into it and then release, the ball deforms inwardly and then slowly, almost imperceptibly, returns to its original shape. So each time you lift your finger to press elsewhere, the indentation you just made disappears. Ultimately, no matter what you do to it, the ball retains its spherical shape.

For the purposes of this analogy, let's assume that this ball has a special characteristic—if you put pressure on it for at least a month, it looses its elasticity where the pressure is applied—it will retain its new shape. If you press repeatedly in different places (again, at least a month for each press), the ball will eventually transform to the shape you desire.

The result of practicing something different on a daily or weekly basis is that a loss of coordination occurs, but there is no permanent change to the swing. This is why there are so many golfers who practice a lot, but never improve. When was the last time you practiced one single thing for at least a month?

In summary, if you don't have the patience to practice a single golf swing fundamental for at least a month, you shouldn't even attempt to work on your golf swing!