Golf Swing Struggles

“The golf swing is like a suitcase into which we are trying to pack one too many things.” Tommy Armour

For those moments when your brain feels overloaded.

I'm always struggling to find a repeatable golf swing, which is every day, be at the driving range or on the golf course. It's like an overloaded suitcase, too much stuff packed in haphazardly, with no thought of what should be in it. That's how it is with my brain, full of content, full of confusion.

Tiger Woods has said, “I have to believe in myself. That’s the secret. If you can’t do that, forget it.” Forget it, I can't do that, I enjoy golf even with my struggles. Do I believe in myself? I do, but it still does not add to my skill level, the biomechanics of my swing. Reality check here, at best I'm a very middling golfer with a poor strike through the ball. My irons do not have the crisp strike on the ball. When you hear that sound, I can only describe it as a crisp swish.

I played with a chap who hit an iron into a par 3 hole at Chamberlain Park. From the white tee it is 163m. I saw him pull out a short iron, it looked like a 9-iron. On my best day, decades I would use a 5-iron and overshoot the green. These days in my senior years, my 5-iron will always have the ball falling well short of the green. This chap hit his 9-iron to a meter from the hole. I didn't hear the sound of the strike as such; it was more the speed and power of the strike that I witnessed. I've played with many good strikers of the ball; this time it was more the power of the strike I witnessed. It was incredibly impressive.

My best clubs are my driver and fairway woods. On the longest par 5, during summer, I can use a driver and hybrid wood to hit the green in two. In winter, a driver, a fairway wood, and a mid-iron are what I use to get to the green. For context in a mild winter the chap who used a 9-iron on the par 3, used a driver and wedge or 9-iron to hit the par 5 green.

I'm always searching for more distance off the tee. Hence my metaphorical suitcase is overflowing to the brink with content I see on social media. Everyday there is a golf content creator who posts a video on TikTok, on YouTube, or some other online platform. My WhatsApp storage account is full of the latest tip to store in your own imaginary suitcase.

Today I found someone on YouTube who gave the latest tip to help with good contact using your irons. It brought good results on the driving range. The simple tip is to make sure your thumbs are pointing at the ball through impact. This tip, for me is useful and successful.

No matter how full your suitcase is, sooner or later you will find something within it to help you move your golf journey forward.