And I ask this because when the regular Golfers in this world go to hit a golf ball, it looks as if you're either trying to knock the cover off the ball or you're so afraid of swinging too hard that you swing so slowly that the ball doesn't go anywhere.

Let me put this another way - There are more than 100 reasons why you aren't as good as you want to be and the there are fewer than 10 reasons why the best Players are the best.

So my question to you is - Would you rather talk about the more than 100 reasons you're not playing to your potential or would you like to talk about the less than 10 reasons that the best are the best.  This question in it self would be good debating material.  Though, since I'm writing this, I guess I win the debate.  So here we go for another week of Golf Improvement Weekly!

What makes them sooooooo good?

They always know where their clubhead is.  They do.  If you played a game with Annika called "Where's the clubhead" - she'd win.  Ask her to set-up and to take the club back until the clubhead was even with her right shoulder - and she'll stop it dead at her shoulder every time.

Now ask yourself to do it and I bet that your clubhead will be higher than your head.  You'll probably be able to stop your hands at shoulder height, but that doesn't mean your clubhead will also be there.  If you try this, you'll see that your clubhead is probably be over your head.  Not anywhere close to where you think it is.  And this is a major problem.

Now why is this important?  Well, if you can't control your club on your backswing - what's your chances of controlling your club as it's approaching the ball 3 or 4 times faster on your forward swing?  And why is this important?  Well, when you don't know where your clubhead is, you also don't know where your clubface is pointing.

"Ah Marc, that's too much for me to think about in my golf swing.  I already have to think about keeping my head still so that I can keep my eye on the ball and keep my left arm straight and shift my weight without swaying as I make an inside to out swing path that is on the proper swing plane and follow-through down the line while keeping my head behind the ball and rotating my arms to close the clubface so that I can draw the ball.  Now you want me to have to think about where my clubface is?"

Well, I was just going to list the less than 10 reasons why a great Player is great, but it looks as if I also have started the list of the more than 100 reasons the struggling golfer is struggling.  So Head Still is 1, Eye On The Ball is 2, Left Arm straight is 3, Shift Weight Without Swaying is 4, inside to  out swing path is 5, swing plane is 6, follow-through Down The Line is 7, Head Behind the Ball is 8, Rotate Arms is 9.  Considering your statement above, you're thinking of 9 different things right there - and that list doesn't include the 5 or 6 other tips you've read about in Golf Digest that you're working on!

You know what?

Maybe this is why the best Players look so smooth when they hit the golf ball.  Maybe they're only thinking of one thought like knowing where the clubhead is.  And maybe this is why the Monkey is always looking uncoordinated and is always losing their swing towards the 5th hole and having to spend the next 13 holes on what could be a beautiful day searching for that swing?

You know it really is vitally important to understand the relationship of knowing where your clubhead is at all times and the affect it has with your clubface.  I mean the direction your clubface is facing when it hits the golf ball is 70% of direction the ball goes.  Now if you're always in control of your clubhead (by knowing where it is) you're 70% in control of the direction the golf ball goes.

What does this mean?  It means that you're going to be hitting the ball straighter than the Monkeys that are working on the 30%.  What's the 30%?  It's just the more than 100 reasons why you're not playing to your potential!

So are you working on the 70% or the 30%?

But, before you answer this question, 7 out of every 8 Golfers we see are working on the 30%.  Why do I mean that?  Tell me how does keeping your head still help you to better control the direction your clubface is pointing as it hits the golf ball?  How does really working hard on your follow-through help you to be in control (like Tiger and Annika) of the clubface before you hit the golf ball.  The golf ball doesn't care what your clubface is doing as it's flying through the air!  So, if you're working on these 2-things, you're working on the 30%.  Now answer the question again.

Are you working on the 30% or the 70%?

The PGA of America did a study about 5-years ago to determine what has greater influence on the direction the ball flies - The Plane of the Swing or the Clubface.  They found that your Swing Plane influences the direction you hit the golf ball by 30% and the clubface by 70%.  But, how many people you know still speak about working on their Swing Plane.  And guess what is also linked to Swing Plane?  Your Swing Path.  Swing Path and Swing Plane are not the same thing, but one is influenced by the other.

So that would mean that if you're working on your Swing Path meaning trying to correct swinging from the outside to in and trying to correct that by swinging inside to out is only working on the 30%.  You Swing Path has very little if any influence on your clubface.  So, are you ready to change your answer and admit to yourself that you're working on the 30%?

To make a financial point of working on the 70% like a Player does and 30% that the Monkey does, lets put these numbers into money terms.  If you had a choice to work for $30,000 a year for the rest of your life or $70,000 a year for the rest of your life and both jobs entailed the same amount of work - which would you choose?  And we can answer that by saying that that is a "Dahhh question".  Meaning "Dahhhh, of course I'd take the $70,000."  Well are you doing the same with your golf game?

So when do you want to start to become a PLAYER?

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life