I’ve long been fascinated about the way the golf swing works, from full driver swings to the shortest chip shots. I’m sure that curiosity was embedded in me by my father as I began to get pretty serious about my own golf around the age of ten. His philosophy was that the more you know about how something works, the more equipped you are to fix it when it breaks. He applied that philosophy to many aspects of life, but we’re talking about the golf swing here.

As I grew up in the game, my father and I spent hours talking about golf and swing technique, from the grip to positions at impact, to conceptual aspects of the game and swing that guide you to learning faster and more accurately. I’ve continued to have those conversations with knowledgeable golf professionals and players for most of my life. But back to my father, one thing he made very clear to me early on is that there is a big difference between learning and practice.

Learning and practice are not the same thing, but rather two very different aspects of getting better at this game. The learning part is that process of becoming aware of and understanding new thoughts about the process of a golf swing, the internalizing of that knowledge, and the application of it to your swing and game. The practice part of the equation is the ingraining of that knowledge – after it is learned – so that it becomes second nature. Let’s start with learning.

The only sure way to make progress in your golf is through swing changes; it is very rare to find an accomplished player who simply practices the same wrong things over and over. Whether it is something as simple as a grip alteration or modification to your set up position, or as complex a new position or a new move in the swing, any of these changes require first that you clearly learn the new stuff. Only after it is learned can you begin to practice it so that it becomes ingrained.

Let’s talk about a swing change to illustrate this.

If you are trying to learn and perfect an improved path of your hands through impact, for example, the first step is to learn it. That means starting with stop-action posing in the positions so that your muscles and mind can absorb your new objectives. You can then progress to slow-motion swings that allow you the time and coordination to feel the muscles finding these new positions and producing this new coordinated motion through them. As your body begins to get familiar with this new muscle activity, you can gradually speed up the moves with your attention focused on making sure that you are performing just as you learned. I firmly believe that THE GOLF BALL IS NOT PART OF THIS PROCESS!!

Once you get familiar with the new muscle activity, you can begin making practice swings at half speed, then 3/4 speed, and finally full speed, all the time analyzing whether or not you are achieving your objectives of the new moves. This is the first stage of the practice process.

Only after you feel like you can really repeat the swing motion with your new method do you begin to put it into practice with a golf ball in the way. And even then, you should make your swings at half or ¾ speed so that you can concentrate on making the new swing – not hitting the ball.

The practice element of the process begins after the learning process is nearly complete. Practice allows you to ingrain this new learning so that it becomes the new habit. And to make sure your practice its most effective, make several practice swings for each ball you try to hit.

I hope all this makes sense. If you separate the learning process from the practice that makes it perfect, and get them in the proper sequence, and this game will get a great deal easier.