The Golf Swing Map. This is an item I touched on briefly in my recent interview with TipitOut.com and thought I would expand on it a little bit here.

Basically, what I talked about in that interview was that I view golf information like to map to an instructor. First, here’s a little background on me and why I see it this way.  I have a very strong urge to know where I am in the world. In other words, I want to know where North is at all times. I want to know how to get from here to there. I want options as well. This is true not only in a geographic sense but also in general.  I love maps and love learning from them. When I travel, I need to determine these things as quickly as possible so I can orient myself with my surroundings.

I’m sure you are wondering what this has to do with Golf Swings. Here’s how I see it. When someone decides they want to learn about golf swing instruction they are basically dropped in the middle of this large metropolis with no real direction on where they are or where they need to go.  They may have this student in front of them and like most people will start with what they know as it relates to them. They pass this information on to the student hoping it will help them get where they want to go. Seems logical. It helped the instructor get where he/she wants to go. The problem is, they may be driving different vehicles and some vehicles may not be allowed down the same road as others.  Now, the instructor has to determine a new way to get this person where they want to go.  The student has no idea where they are any more. The route they usually took to get to where they want to go was so far back, they aren’t even sure how to get back there.

Eventually, the coach just starts going somewhere. They get lost. They ask for directions. Sometimes those directions aren’t any good and they get more lost.  At this point, the instructor wishes they had created a map to help this person out.

Here’s what I mean.  Each method or system of pattern development, as I like to call them, can be looked at as a piece of a puzzle. It is a piece to this map. Only when all the pieces are found and connected does the map take shape.  Only once the map is complete can the instructor know exactly how to get their lost student from where they are to where they want to go.

I don’t think many if any pro’s have all the pieces to the map. They may have a bunch but not all.

As coaches, I think most get real comfortable knowing how to get around a certain part of the city. The part they have a map of. They know all the detours, know where all the construction is and where all the shorts cuts are (for that part of their map).  They see the same problems. They eat at the same restuarant over and over. They’re comfortable. Then they meet someone from a different part of the city and now they have to figure out how to get to them and get them where they want to go.

Has this ever happened to you? You need to go somewhere you’ve never been before. On your way there, you run into a landmark or an intersection of a road that you’ve used many times but not in that location. You say to your self. Oh, so this road connects this to that and you never knew that before. A new area immediately starts to take shape as you begin connecting these unfamiliar roads to the ones you already know. Suddenly, you’ve discovered a new level of comfortability and new ways around accidents or detours in these new areas. To me, that was an exciting time. Making those connections provided me with a sense of control. Control over knowing where I am and the ability to get to where I want to go in any way of my choosing.

This same thing happens when golf coaches expand their knowledge of the golf swing by learning something new.  Think about it. Has this exact scenario happened to you when learning a new system that you can see how parts of it connect with what you already know? I’m sure it has. If it hasn’t then you aren’t exploring enough or you don’t fully comprehend the map of the area you thought you knew well.  I hope most coaches are in this place. They’ve started to put a map together and they understand that maybe there’s more to this city than just the one part of town they spend all their time in.

The strange thing is that some people choose not to expand their map. I’m not going to that part of town. It’s too dangerous. They lean left and wear white belts there. I’ve heard stories of what happens to people if they go there.  They talk in P’s and flying wedges over there. It’s like they speak a different language. All the houses in that part of town have lead poisoning. Why would I go there?

Sounds silly right? But it happens every day.

As a coach, I implore you to go over to the bad parts of town and expand your map. You might be surprised what you find there. Sometimes the best restaurant is in a bad part of town right? Again, it’s the same thing here. You may just find a new restaurant or park to add to your list of things to do. You never know what you are going to find and that’s the thrill.  Sometimes you may find out that an area is just a dead end and that’s fine. Now you know and you’re never locked in anyways.

Here’s the goal of all this.  Now, when someone calls you and says I’m lost and I don’t know where I am. You can confidently say, “Don’t worry, I’ve been there and can help you get to where you want to go. Here’s what you do……..”

I hope this has made sense and please leave any comments or questions if it didn’t. If you think it worthy, also consider sharing it with others that you think might find some value in it by using the Facebook share or Tweetmeme buttons.

The other day, I had a student of mine, Dave Mon (@monb4v) asked me a question that I thought would make for a good question to the masses.  The question had to do with how do you teach someone to hit it on the sweet spot all the time.  I put the question out on twitter land to see what kind of responses I would get.  I don’t think I framed the question exactly the way that I should have because most the answers came back about how to mark the face or the ball similar to the picture. BTW, the picture shows a driver covered with sunscreen and an impact.

What I really wanted to know was, how do the teachers out there teach their students to sense the sweet spot during the swing.  Maybe, that isn’t something as teachers we should be spending our time on.  I knew before asking the question that all the TGM aficionados would bring up pressure point #3.  Pressure point #3 is defined as “The first joint of the right hand index finger where it touches the Clubshaft.” from my copy of The Golfing Machine 7th Edition.  This particular place is used to monitor the feel of the sweet spot during the swing and I think mostly during the downswing. (AI’s, please correct me if I’m wrong).

I also heard a little from the Stack and Tilt crowd about low point control. Again, another idea I had heard before but it dealt again with impact and not mid swing. Surely, we can work backwards saying that good low point control means good sweet spot control during the swing.

But that wasn’t really what I was hoping to learn.  I wanted to know how other coaches taught sweet spot control during the swing.  I received a bunch of drills about using some tees as a gate and other similar ideas. Drills I have used with success but again that is about impact.  Most of the things I heard were about teaching the student what solid impact felt or sounded like.  My favorite drill came from Shaun Ferguson. He told me of an exercise he does with his students where he uses a dry erase marker to write the numbers 1 on the toe, 2 on the sweet spot and 3 on the heel.  He would then ask his student to purposely try to hit an area of the club so the impact would erase the desired number.  I had never heard this drill before and thought it was excellent.

I’ve always been blessed with the ability to hit the ball solid very often. Not always where I want it to go but in the center.  I’ve always had a very good sensation for where the sweet spot was at all times. I told my student that all I feel is a stick with the sweet spot on it. This certainly goes to confirm the feelings suggested in The Golf Machine for the longitudinal center of gravity.  It was this point (the club COG) that I actually tried to move around and then run into the ball.  It may sound strange, but that’s how I learned.  I never had any instruction and learned it on my own by watching and feeling.  I hit many golf balls with my eyes closed focusing hard on the feeling of the sweet spot in my hands.  Is this a sensation that others work on?

I always preached and taught my students to identify the feeling of the sweet spot without having to run that spot into something to identify it.  It has served me and my students well. I wonder though if it is something I am spending too much time on or that it is unnecessary.  I’d like to hear your thoughts on this issue.

How do you teach your students to locate the sweet spot in their hands and while the club is swinging?

As a player, how do you identify it and describe it to someone else?

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JG