Three S's of the Golf Swing & learning to Play

With the golf season just starting to get underway here in Michigan, golfers get excited as it warms up.  A lot of golfers seek lessons, a lot of golfers head to the practice range, and eventually all of them end up on the golf course.


When it comes to the golf swing, there are three levels of learning.

1. Learning to Swing the club.
2. Learning to Strike the ball (PRACTICE)
3. Learning to Score on the golf course.

We can learn to strike the ball without learning to swing the club.  You can just go out to a practice range, lay the ball down and find a way to get the ball in the air.


We can learn to score on the course without step one and two.  We can go out on the course and hit the ball around until we get it into the hole.  Repeat this eighteen times and you've played a round of golf.


However, most of us want to improve.  So we watch the Golf Channel, read books and take lessons.  Once you decide you want to use this information, you cannot skip step two - you must practice.    When giving a lesson, I always ask the golfer how much time they have to practice.  This will help give them a realistic idea of how rapid their improvement will be.


So if you decide to try the new hot golf tip, make sure that you spend a few days on the practice tee before taking it to the golf course.