Slow Slinging: Slow, Patient Practice

In my last post, I said that the swing felt good enough to take out on the course, that is, when spring arrives. Practice the next day, however, brought me back to the reality of a long swing development process. Hitting for distance, a major concern in the last few posts, had dropped in my priority list, replaced by my effort to work on a clean, repeatable swing. By clean, I mean that I wanted to get over scuffing the practice mat. This is a nagging problem, and I am reminded of some sage advice I’ve come across, “You want to hit the ball, not the tee.”

Even with the latest improvements, my first few swings flew right into the side of the house or bounced across the yard with topspin, like hot infield grounders. This is how golf tests your resolve. The thought occurred to me that I was bringing the club up too severely and imparting this tennis-like topspin. I could see that clearly when I videotaped myself. The obvious answer was to practice level-left. This is what Tom Bertrand advocates. And, theoretically, I could understand the efficacy of this approach.

With a slowed-down swing, I tried just to hit the ball solidly with a relatively flat swing plane, using a very shortened swing—not even the nine o’clock drill. All I wanted to do was to control the clubhead and the path of the swing so that I wasn’t hitting below the tee. I wanted to see low shots driven out there straight ahead of me. After hitting a few practice shots, I thought it would probably be a good idea to go inside and take another look at Tom Bertrand’s chapter on “The Legendary Golf System,” just to make sure that I knew what I was doing.

Reviewing that chapter gave me the mental images I needed to continue practicing and also impressed on me two other points. The first is that the wrist of the left hand has to be bowed out toward the target. I didn’t think I was emphasizing that enough in my practice. The second is that you need to delay that left elbow turn as long as possible and then turn it very quickly in order to “sling the ball.”

Outside again on the practice mat, balls were glancing off the house and hopping across the ground as they always do when I make swing modifications. Gradually, however, with a slowed-down swing, I started to get control and hit balls solidly out toward my target, the big Norway maple that you can see in the videos. My method is to do some slow-motion practice swings, as Tom Bertrand suggests, and then to do some slow hitting so that I can see what the ball actually does. This kind of practice reminds me of the way I used to practice the piano when I played classical music, following Daniel Barenboim’s advice to practice super-slowly as the best way to teach the muscles what to do. Tom argues for this approach, too.

To learn precise swing motions by going through them slowly until they become natural and comfortable. Most important, you condition your mind and muscles to execute these moves without consciously thinking. Learning your swing at a slower pace enables you to watch it take shape and feel the flow of energy as you move through each position. This will prove far easier and more effective than trying to adjust movements during your normal golf swing when you’re moving fast and a dozen thoughts are jumping through your mind.

Or take Harvey Penick’s word for it. In his classic Little Red Book, he said, “A slow motion swing develops the golf muscles, implants the correct club positions in your golfing brain—and doesn’t smash the chandelier.”

For optimum results, these motions should be practiced every day. Studies have shown that any habit—in this case, the correct movements that create a solid, repeatable golf swing—can be learned in less than thirty days if practiced regularly. In sixty days, with regular practice and play, they are close to becoming second nature.

I don’t know what studies Tom is referring to, but my first pro, Mark, told me something similar. He said that whenever you make a change in your swing, it takes nine hours to learn it. So if you practice something for twenty minutes a day, that works out to less than a month, just as Tom says. The video below shows my latest practice: a shortened, slower swing while I work out a level-left follow-through.