Of the absurd number of swing videos on my phone, I have one that I return to more than I should. It’s from a fall round a few years back, when for some mystical reason, I drove the ball better than ever.
That a friend captured one of those swings on video would seem to be my good fortune.
I wonder if I’m better off erasing it altogether.
For golfers like me, the typical challenge is from golf swings I wish I didn’t make. But every once in a while, it comes from the opposite direction: a great swing, an encouraging feel, the unfamiliar sense I “found something,” and I now want to bottle forever.
Why is this a problem? It doesn’t always have to be. We all seek breakthroughs, and when they happen, we’d be foolish to let them go. To go with my phone’s countless swing videos, I also use my Notes app to itemize whatever seems to be working. This, too, would be fine, provided I accept where there are limits.
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“Most golfers are tinkerers. They’re always searching for something, and they’re searching for something to plant their flag in the ground that’s comfort-seeking,” said Dr. Stephen Ginsberg, a sports psychologist who works with elite amateur and professional golfers. “And so they say, ‘If I have this one thought that I can hold onto, then everything will go perfectly.’ But that’s just not how golf works.”
As Ginsberg says, the problem golfers make when returning to specific swing videos or certain feels is in expecting our bodies to respond precisely the same way every time. If I drove it great one fall afternoon a few years ago, it might have been because of the way I shifted my weight. But other parts might be more elusive and difficult to replicate. Rather than obsessively pursuing the one swing made when everything was perfectly in sync, we’re better off prioritizing a direction that produces a better range of outcomes.
A few months ago, when analyzing Tiger Woods’ famed swing overhaul after winning the 1997 Masters, we debunked the myth that Woods did so because he wasn’t satisfied with a 12-shot win. Of course, he knew he played great, but he also recognized it as a level that would be difficult to sustain. When Woods rebuilt his swing he wasn’t looking to replicate perfection. But to identify what would make him more effective more often.
The same lesson applies to the rest of us when we arrive at a swing we love. We can bottle some parts, but not everything. The more we’re willing to let go, the more we’ll be able to keep.
For more on the mental game, check out my Mind Games video series. Have an idea you want me to explore, send me an email at [email protected].
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
