If there is one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that the majority of golfers are simply unwilling to put in the work necessary to improve their games.
I’ve had plenty of students come to me with a gung ho attitude, but as soon as you show them what it takes, they look for another, easier solution.
This is why there are so many industries geared toward golfers… they’ll buy anything if it means they will shave a few strokes off their scores. Here are a few examples…
Golf Swing Models
When I first started teaching 2009, Hank Haney was at the top of the instruction world, which is why I went to his teaching seminars. Hank has a theory he works off of to help golfers of all abilities get better.
Because he was working with Tiger Woods, and arguably had great success with him, he rose to the pinnacle of the teaching world.
However, his methodology isn’t suitable for many golfers.
Around that time, some other teaching pros were becoming more well known, as they were starting to employ a more scientific methodology to teaching.
Most famous of these is Sean Foley, who was known to be a proponent of principles written about in “The Golfing Machine” by Homer Kelley.
Tiger split with Haney in 2010 and went immediately to Sean Foley. He worked with Foley for a few years, but never came close to achieving the results he had under Butch Harmon and Hank Haney.
You could blame his back issues on that, but it is also arguable that the back issues were a result of Foley’s coaching.
There was also the Stack’N Tilt crowd pushing their theory onto the masses, as well as the Single Plane golf swing crowd, etc.
You could buy books and attend expensive golf schools to learn the latest new swing techniques that would propel your game to the next level.
Trouble is, nobody ever tells you how much work it really takes to change your golf swing.
Yet, the greatest golfer the world has ever seen, Tiger Woods, has indicated that it would take about 18 months for him to incorporate significant changes to the point where he was comfortable.
Golf Equipment
There is no doubt that the golf equipment manufacturers rule the game. They’ve created clubs and balls that help everyone gain more distance, and hit the ball straighter.
Yet, it could be argued that the average golfer hasn’t improved much at all. Most of these changes have benefited better golfers, as they can now overpower most golf courses that don’t have the room to increase their length.
You can see this in the USGA graph of handicap distributions. There are actually more golfers with handicaps better than scratch than those who have a handicap of 1 to 2.
The average handicap index is 14.2 for men. In years past, it was about 16. The changes in equipment have clearly helped, as they have effectively shortened the golf courses. But, I would argue that this has not resulted in golfers getting better.
Anyhow, golf club costs have soared dramatically. I remember buying a beautiful custom made persimmon driver for $60 back in the mid-1980s. To get the equivalent now would cost me over $500 among the high tech drivers we have today.
$500 seems to be more painful to me than that $60 did back when I was a college kid.
Golf Training Aids
Naturally, the business of golf training aids has exploded as well. We have those cheap gadgets that you might attach to your wrist to help you with your chip shots, on up to the golf simulators you can put in your home for upwards of $50,000.
Personally, I love the golf simulators, and if you know what you are doing, they can be an amazing training aid. You really don’t even need to buy the tour pro style simulator to get great benefit.
Again, though, you have to put in the work to get the results. That was easy for me when I owned a simulator… I was addicted to using the driving range feature and swing analysis to get the best results I could.
But, hitting a lot of golf balls has always been fun for me. Not so for many golfers.
Anyhow, there are alot of crazy gadgets out there that will purportedly take your game to the next level, and golfers are willing to buy them.
However, after a few sessions, and lack of improvement, off to the closet they go.
Golf Fitness
Last, but not least, is the golf fitness industry. It’s been amazing to me to watch this industry grow in reaction to Tiger Woods training like a professional athlete.
You now have coaches and personal trainers who offer their services to golfers looking to improve their games with the latest and greatest exercises geared toward golfers. They’ve become part of the entourage of many professional golfers.
You even have golf instructors seeking to add a boost to their business by getting “certified” as golf fitness trainers. They learn “golf specific” exercises to teach to their instruction clients as a way to help them make changes to their golf swings.
Yet, many golfers are simply unwilling to put in the work that is really necessary to becoming fit enough to improve their games.
It just seems logical to me that if you want to be a better golfer, getting more fit should be part of the process. But, you don’t get more fit by doing just golf specific exercises.
You do it with an overall fitness plan that makes you stronger, maybe leaner, and more flexible, so that you can perform the golf swing.
And, you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on personal training to do this. But, many will anyway.
Final Thoughts
I decided to post this rant mainly in response to a recent episode. A golfer contacted me looking for help, indicating the desperate desire to break 90 for the first time.
I rarely take on a new student these days, because I don’t believe in the idea of the “golf lesson.”
People seeking golf lessons are generally golfers who are looking for a quick fix, because they are in some sort of a rut. They never really want to learn.
Therefore, I’ve considered myself to be more of a coach, than instructor. I offer coaching, rather than one off golf lessons.
But, this person suggested they were willing to do what it takes.
I met them, watched them hit some balls and chatted with them for quite awhile. They clearly had some ability and they were already fit, so that would not be an issue.
So, we decided to pursue the goal. I began sending them the information they need to really learn about golf.
After a couple weeks, they indicated it was too much and overwhelming. I replied that they can work at their own pace, but it was certainly knowledge that they need to get in order to achieve their desired results.
Crickets.
Disappointed once again, I was proven correct in my theory that most golfers just don’t have what it takes to achieve their goals.
I put together a complete program to help golfers play to their best ability, but it requires a lot of effort. If you are one of the rare few that wants to accept the challenge, you can find that program here… Hacker To Scratch Golfer Program.
Or, feel free to contact me directly.
Otherwise, if you are not one of the rare few, then I will simply wish you all the best, and hope that you continue to enjoy this great game.
Thanks for reading!
