How to make swing changes stick

I have been grinding away on some changes to my swing over the past few months. There are times when I execute the swing revisions well on the range and on the course, and I hit the ball really well--super straight, high and long (for me). However all to often, the old swing pattern shows up.

This week is a perfect example. A few days ago I was at the range, and was making just the kind of swing I wanted. I was hitting the ball extremely accurately and with consistent distance. It didn't matter what club I hit, the results were uniformly good. Videos of my swing showed I was making exactly the kind of swing I wanted. I was elated, thinking I was finally starting to own the new swing. Yesterday, I went back to the range again, and was much less consistent. My old swing kept showing up. I still was able to make the "right" swing some of the time, but too often my old pattern popped up.

Does anyone have any tips on how to make a new motion stick? During practice, I check my swings frequently to make sure it is where I want it (although honestly my ball flight usually tells me if I am swinging properly).

Make sure you get some sort of practice in every day. Even if it's just 10 minutes of mirror work indoors, do it. That will help you better than practicing 3x a week for 2 hours a session and then taking the other days off.

Videotape is helpful, but you have to not let it get you down in terms of your hopes and aspirations. Very easy to do so. You're likely going to need to work your way into a practice session and midway thru the session the new swing will start to form.

Playing golf is important. That's when it's easiest to fall back to your old swing. But if you can get enough of your 'new swing' in while playing...things start to stick better.

I think it's very important to get the video camera out early in the practice session. Don't let the old swing creep back in for too long.

Slow motion practice and then speeding up the motion gradually usually helps me quite a bit.

RH

Idk I'm kind of a believer in just changing setup to change the swing.. so for me it's just practicing until the setup is ingrained

Excellent advice. I especially like the idea of practicing every day even if away from the range.

Stick as in feeling natural or comfortable?

Unfortunately, learning a new movement pattern takes time. We all want it right now, but it doesn't work that way. Pros, who are obvi elite athletes, sometimes work a year until a swing change takes hold. So don't expect magic. It's a gradual process of two steps forward, one step back.

That said, there's really no substitute for putting in the reps in to teach your brain new patterns. You need to go through the discomfort phase, then gradually integrate the new pattern. As stated above, repetition at slower speeds is really the best way. Def mirror practice. Also, hitting foam balls at half (or even quarter) speed into a net is great. Studies show that when you don't know where the ball is going, your brain tends to focus on the movement pattern rather than the result. At the range, hit 3 balls with the new move at slow speed-- like, if you hit your 8-iron 150, hit it 70 yards with a full or half swing while feeling the movement. When you do this, where the ball goes matters not one bit. Practicing this way can feel very stilted, and screw up your timing a bit. After 3 slow shots, hit 3-6 shots at full-speed, not thinking about the move at all or worrying about whether you did it right. This will help your brain integrate the new movement pattern. I also highly recommend that you use part (not all) of your practice using your iPhone to watch what you're doing so that you make sure that you're on the right track.

On the course, def do a couple of practice swings with the new move, with the last one being a flowing swing where you do not think about the move at all. Then get up to your ball and commit to whatever swing you have. My advice is not to think about the move when you get up to the ball, and definitely do not "try" to do the move in-swing. That will really f up your timing and create a jerkiness to your swing. You'll spend the entire round hitting bad shots, feeling tense, and feeling pissed off that you're not "doing it right." Trust me, I spent years wasting my time doing this. It's a dark alley to walk into, and that's how swing yips start.

Just be cool with the gradual, organic process of improvement and let yourself off the hook when you don't hit the shots you want to hit. Super hippy-dippy stuff, but based in fact. Also, work on your short game, cuz you might as well get better at scrambling! When your swing changes take hold, you'll feel great.

What kind of "swing thoughts" or "keys" do you think about as you get ready to hit ? Presumably, for the NEW swing you've developed a bit of a different set of thoughts, no ?

I mean there are a million things one can think of before one swings, no ? Are you thinking of your NEW keys ? Always ? The old ones ? Nothing ?

I find that sometimes when I'm hitting balls on the range, I don't think of my keys all the time and inevitably, when I hit a clunker, I'll realize that I really didn't go through my "checklist" and am just hitting balls. That happens a lot less on the course but "blanking out" does happen from time to time.

When I changed my swing I changed my "keys". Before I pull the trigger I think to myself "Balance, swing plane, through to the target, head UP". I don't actually concentrate on any of those except for the last one. They are just reminding me, or programming me if you will, to do the right things. The only one I've come to think about a bit is the last one. Keeping my head up has clearly cut down on chunks and thins.

But I guess my point is once I made some distinct changes I made a new list of keys to ensure I didn't go back to something that wasn't as good.

Just some thoughts,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

It's a vitally important question that few golfers ask. Why exactly is the Process for making a swing change? The sequence is: 1. a deep insight or light bulb moment of understanding as to why the change your pro is recommending is correct. If you believe it is the right info with 99% of your mind, and the other 1% doubts its veracity, it will soon grow from 1% to well past 51%, and then suddenly you find yourself "giving up" on the change. 2. Make a conscious and clear commitment to doing the rest of the Process - no matter how long it takes to finish. 3. Reps in. slow mo in front of a mirror to verify your Form is correct 4. reps with eyes closed in feel mode and sensing the feel for the new pattern. 5. do the old pattern with eyes closed in feel, then the new pattern - back and forth and sense the clear distinction. 6. repeat step 3 and 4 but at 1/4 speed and half speed. 7. lots of reps at half speed in the yard, ie "air swings". 8 lots of reps in the yard at full speed. Identify the precise feel sense memory for the new pattern at full speed tempo. 9. take that feel memory to the range and hit balls with ZERO concern about any bad shot outcomes.

I do lots of reps (7-10) at slow (1/4-1/2) speed while verifying with camera. I’ll do some practice swings and air swings, but that’s not really where I feel changes being made, just some feels. Watch the ball, after you hit until lands and rolls out. Ingrain the flight, and go back to in training the feel. I’ll hit 1-2 balls at full speed bringing the arm to 9 o’clock and then 1-2 at full speed with a full swing. Visualize, ingrain the flight, and back to 7-10 reps at slow speed. I do this over and over again and this is the bulk of every range session, even if I’m not working on anything specific. Often it becomes a range day of speed control and distance control.

Golf is no different than any other sport. Everyone learned how to ingrain their movement and make changes by practicing slowly. Shooting a basketball, throwing a baseball, swinging a bat, etc. Hear all the time “I can’t hit the ball while swinging slow because of my rhythm and tempo”. And it’s one of the easiest things to do, because it should be how you’re practicing in the first place.

One of the great challenges I am finding in this process is that regardless of how many times I execute the correct move in slow mo, the old swing software loads when I go to full speed. It's like it takes over my nervous system. It is a battle, but I am making progress. It definitely takes 100% focus on the new feeling in order to make the proper swing.

I'm just curious what you're changing and why. Are you going for a certain look? Did you or someone else identify a swing flaw?

That is almost always a "tell" that the change you are working on has never gotten past the first stage I listed above. Your non-conscious mind has to "accept" the change conceptually as being 100% correct. Another reason is that you may have one or more of the Four Destructive Impulses: Steering, Hit, Scooping or Impact Helping.

Those will always override any slow mo training if they are in the high intensity spectrum in the first place. All four of those have in common the mis-conception that the golf ball is the target, which is why they are not triggered in slow mo or half speed or any "air" swing.

A look? I'm looking to improve my ability to hit the ball where I want more often. Several different pros have discussed the things I need to do to hit the ball better, and with more consistency. I appreciate your interest, but don't want to delve into the details because I'll get ten guys on here telling me I'm doing the wrong thing ;-)

Don't overtrain when trying ingrain something new unless you have another set of eyes present to catch you when you fall into old patterns. Short focused practice sessions are best.

I'm going through this myself. My pro recently fixed my swing, but my old habits tend to show up when I start getting tired. I'm finding I really need to watch myself late in the round, especially now that it's getting hot.

i think this is great advice, especially doing 10 minutes of mirror work indoors.

when i'm going through swing changes i'll do mirror work prior to range sessions. i'll scribble down some notes to help me focus on feels or movements i'm working on and what i notice in the mirror work or something i want to emphasize. i'll review these notes prior to hitting balls when i get to the range, and sometimes will refer back to them during the range session. it seems to speed up the learning process for me.

Great thread, thanks for posting.

Now what about multiple swing changes/goals? Here are my current ones:

Make a full and complete turn on the backswing and keep the club outside the handsGet my lowpoint in front of the ball and brush the grass on every swing (except the obvious driver and putter swings)Exit left with a full hip turn.I'm not capable of thinking of three things at once. How would you suggest I ingrain all of these?

My general rule of thumb (This is from Monte) is "focus and adjust setup as needed" then -> "1 thought on the backswing, 1 thought in transition"... everything after that happens organically after the transition.

So break those backswing thoughts up and work on them individually:

1a. Keep Club outside hands

1b. Make a full turn

Drill both of them separately then begin to put them together and review on camera. Work with super slow swings and keep it simple "big turn, club outside hands" then hit slow and find center face. But always go back and work on them individually again.

Now for 2 and 3. They are a result of what happens in 1a and 1b as well as your transition. I would suggest finding the right transition move that gets you 1. shallow, 2. hitting center face of the club at impact, 3. with good turf interaction... then 2 and 3 will happen (in some way) as a result.

Interesting.

on the course. Being neutral in your thinking. How do you know that your old swing doesnt pop up?

When you stop hitting the misses your old swing produced? And if you stop momentarily...and then start again..likely have relapsed

No. 2 is more a result/check-point than a swing thought and/or feel. Go to a grass range a check your divots.

An idea is to experiment with length and depth of divots to find a size/type you like to play.