As a golfer with many years of experience, I have tried a plethora of techniques in an effort to lower my golf score. I have willingly embarked on this, sometimes frustrating, journey with no regrets. Along the way I have learned a great deal about myself and this self actualization has helped improve my core golf game to a point where my golf game only requires minor tweaks. I realize that I will never be a player who will consistently shoot below par, but I continue to keep that vision of success at the forefront of my efforts to improve. Unfortunately, my journey has some pitfalls such as relearning habits that I thought I had kicked. For some reasons, these poor habits pop up from time to time and this is the frustrating part of my journey.

As you know from previous articles, I made a minor change to my setup and stance with my driver. I have decided to drop my right shoulder a bit and play my ball off my left heel in order to increase the apex of my drives and overall distance. This change has been very successful and I am ecstatic at the results. I feel far more confident with my play off the tee which is slowly creeping its way into the other aspects of my golf game. This is all a good thing until a old habit of mine decides to drop by and I am pulling (hooking) my ball left. It just shows up and I actually know why.

My new changes to my driver setup works perfectly as long as I control my swing speed to 80% and ensure my transition tempo is slow and smooth. This might seem like a big deal, but it really is not as difficult as it may seem. When I ensure my entire swing follows these two tenets to my game, then good things happen off the tee. My success continues to crush my old habit of trying to swing fast and quickly.

In previous years, I thought that swinging fast with a quicker swing transitions would increase my distance. I had some minor success, but found this technique difficult to control on a consistent basis. I would miss left and sometimes far left because I would come over the top and twist my arms and body into a position that resulted in poor results. Fast forward to a few days ago when playing in a two person scramble with my friend Mark.

The two shots off the tee I missed were a result of me trying to add a little something to my driver. Because Mark was in play, I thought I should try to squeeze out a few extra yards to really improve our positioning. This course of action was folly and I missed way left. My old habits decided to make an appearance and it disrupted my otherwise positive and new swing actions with my driver. It took three holes to kick these poor swing habits to the curb, but the damage was done and as a result of my poor drives, it cost us strokes.

Reverting back to old habits is nothing new. Every time, and I mean every time, I try something new and I do not see the results that I expect in a short period, I have the inkling to revert to my comfortable (albeit less effective) habits in order to lower my frustration level. Well, I am here to tell you to stay the course of change with the knowledge that good things are just over the next fairway. Eventually, success will show up and all your frustrations will melt away; as long as we stay weary of our old habits and do not let them resurface. These old habits do not go away without a fight, but it is work the battle if I can banish them for good.

My golf journey is about evolution and improvement. I have found a new and successful technique to improve my play with my driver. The last thing I need is to have some old habits resurface and ruin the gains made. Thus, I will remain vigilant and stay focused on the positive aspects of using my driver and build on this for a better golf game in the future.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!