Finding Balance Through Controlling Extremes

Greetings Golfers,

Does your golf swing ever get out of whack? Do you always hit the ball perfectly straight?

Well, I don’t. In fact lately, I’ve just been hitting smothered hooks. It’s a really fun shot. Especially with a long carry over water. Even a short carry over water is dangerous - I can smother hook a wedge.

So … how do I fix it? While playing - I would try to block it and lead my hands way in front of the ball at impact. This lead to super low shots and some lovely fat and thin shots … and some really fun blocked fades into weird places.

That wasn’t a fix … that was just a temporary way to get around the golf course. 

Rather than rebuild my swing, I’ve decided to practice doing the opposite of my smother hook. I’m practicing hitting high fades - even violent slices.

But I first started by hitting flop shots at our seldom used

chipping green. It was scary to lay the face of my sand wedge wide open … and then try to slide it under the ball. It felt reckless and dangerous. A lot of guys get the chipping yips in their later years - I get it. But the short, punchy chip can get pretty yippy too.

However, I stuck with it. I didn’t practice very long … once I got decent at it … I stopped. I wanted my body and brain to start to trust it. Later that day, I actually hit a bunch of full-swing flop shots. Not a million … just trying to build trust in a different way of hitting the ball.

We all get out of whack. Maybe not as severe as I was … but we all do. The trick is how to fix it … and not make it worse.

So the other day, an old friend posted this:  

The Buddha smiled, “Yes, you see, that is what the path is: just right, neither too tight nor too loose. Moderation in everything. Temperance in everything.”

Sounds like hitting straight golf shots. But … how do we get there?

I think we need to learn how to hit hooks and slices so that we can get back to the middle. If over time my swing gets too fadey … I’ll need to start hitting hooks to get it back in the middle.
Finding balance through controlling extremes seems to work in golf. I wonder if Buddha played golf.

Cheers!

Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com