Do We Overthink the Swing?

[Jasonic]

Yes

[Obee]

To answer you main question: PHOCK. YES.

 

Next! ;-)

[ALIF]

Yes

[playa]

Handicap index in the mid 8's. Go on a little golf trip this week and shoot 86, 85, 82. Get home and yesterday's front nine was a bad 44. Say f... it, I'm just going to hit the ball as hard as I can. Don't care about anything or don't think about anything else. Bogey 18 for a 37. Come out today with the same thoughts and shoot 76 with 2 3-putts and a bad double bogey on a par 5.

 

For 27 holes, I'm 5 over par with absolute no swing thoughts except hit the damn ball as hard as I can.

 

Someone tell me why?

This reminds me of watching kids play for the first time. My girl was 5 when she first swung a club. No instruction, no idea how a swing should look. She just walked up to the ball and put the most relaxed, effortless swing and flushed it right out of the sweet spot. I have similar memories of my game way back when.

It was a funny throwaway line, but I think Tye was really onto something when he told Danny "stop thinking, let things happen, and be the ball". Thinking too much is a definite swing killer.

[SirFuego]

For 27 holes, I'm 5 over par with absolute no swing thoughts except hit the damn ball as hard as I can.

 

Someone tell me why?

 

My personal theory is that golf is the only sport where both strategic decisions and a motion requiring strength, precision, and finesse are NEVER forced to occur within a split-second. As a result, you are never forced to trust your instincts.

 

You could argue that a baseball pitch, foul shot, or a penalty kick are similar in that regard, but the (basic) mechanics and strategy of throwing, kicking, or shooting a ball at a target are ingrained through all the reactionary decisions that need to made not just in practice but through the course of the game. The building of instinct happens naturally in those sports because you have no choice. Even the lowest level amateurs don't need to "think" about mechanics when they throw, kick, or swing -- because they don't have the time to while they are playing.

 

Whereas in golf, you never need to run/walk/sidestep and immediately swing the club. So there is nothing that causes you to automatically build instincts. So if you never practice and/or play in a way that allows you to trust your instincts, you are doomed to overanalyze everything.

[Harleyweedwhacks]

If you're going to play well, the golf swing needs to become muscle memory (I know there's no such thing, as the brain creates the motion, but it's just terminology, so I'll use that phrase).

 

Once you have the basics down, which are all that's important anyhow, it should become effortless to strike a ball. You shouldn't have to think about it.

 

As someone else said, typing. Eventually you don't have to think about it, you just do it. Same with golf.

[FourTops]

IMO folks don't "over-think" the swing...they actually "under-think" the swing. They take for granted they've "got it" for one great round...then next week it's a bust.

 

So for the OP who swung with abandon and scored great...come back after the next round and let us know if it worked again. There's no way to "not" think about the swing. The key is to have a swing that requires minimal thinking...not the absence of thinking.