In the early stages of a recent range session with Francis (friend-coach-mentor), he paused, massaged his chin, thought for a moment and succinctly stated, “The problem with the results from your swing is that there is no certainty.”
I have heard: flawed, erratic, inconsistent, unreliable, “Wizard of Oz thing going on back there” to describe the action/results of my golf swing but by no means have I ever have heard the term “certainty” to describe the action/results of my golf swing. Certainty, however, is in fact the desired objective when we approach each and every shot.
I took Francis’s commentary like a trooper on the outside however “on the inside” I was somehow disappointed, hoping my tireless efforts on the range (see “Half-Cocked”) attempting to eradicate a profoundly flawed club path would hearken a more encouraging response. After no more than a split second worth of thought, I came to the realization that the diagnosis was dead spot on! There is nothing “certain” from my action/results of any of my golf swings. Ten shots to 150 yards can yield two balls flying twenty to twenty-five yards left, two balls flying twenty to twenty-five yards right, three balls flying in the 135 yard neighborhood and three balls flying somewhat close to the target. With a deep sigh, I pulled up my big boy pants and got back to work! As painful as it is to hear at times, I truly appreciate Francis’ honesty and his on-going commitment to my improvement.
In addition to my certainty quandary, my fundamental, deep-rooted problem is best described by a passage in Turk Pipken’s book, The Old Man and the Tee; “You cannot learn to run when you already know the wrong way to walk!”
I have spent a lifetime (sans the past few years, thanks to Francis and John) without any meaningful, purposeful instruction, grooving my flawed swing. My approach has been to hit a ton of golf balls, hoping for some kind of divine intervention. As my high school basketball coach (Coach Yanchus) used to recount, “Practice doesn’t make perfect, practice makes permanent.” I am now equipped with meaningful, purposeful instruction/information, time and a conviction to improve.
I yearn for the day when I can confidently walk to the first tee and with a reasonable amount of certainty, know what is going to occur over the next four hours. When that happens, it will be a first!
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The back nine can only get better!
Another thoughtful and engaging post Jim. Please keep them coming and let us know how you progress. And progress you will under Francis’ guidance. His candor is a blessing and, as you know, he knows whereof he speaks. It’s rare to find a teacher with his deep experience who’s so plugged into the latest innovations.