Unique and Considerate

Unique and Considerate

Greetings Golfers,

How about some more analogies of sharing the road and sharing the golf course?

Most of my stories are of annoyances … not about physical danger. However, in the past week I was in a car accident and a cart accident.

Both times I was waiting at an intersection and got crashed into by people on their phones.

This phone obsession is getting pretty ridiculous.

But … I needed a new neck anyway … so maybe I’m not looking at this the right way.

So … I’ll probably start making some swing changes. I’m a believer in trying different ways to swing the golf club.

I’m very skeptical of the “perfect swing” and the idea of only one way to swing for everyone.

However, I am hung-up on impact. Good impact is not relative. Poor shots are a result of poor impact.

Maybe a weird body move got the player to bad impact … maybe … but I think you can make some funny moves and still hit good shots.

I wish people would really work on their chipping and get really good at impact. That good chipping impact carries over to good impact on their full shots.

And … I wish people would fool-around with different golf swings and set-ups.

I love the book “On Learning Golf” by Percy Boomer. But I can’t swing the way he wants me to. I do use the set-up that he recommends … and that’s about it.

Manuel de la Torre is very different from Percy. He’s a hands guy. I love and use a lot of his stuff.

The original hands guy was Ernest Jones. But I can’t do his swing. I like to break my wrists early on the backswing. Almost like what Phil Mickelson advocates for his “Hit and Hold” chipping method.

And I like the wide stance of Mo Norman. Though I can’t swing like Mo.

What I’m trying to say is that I think we’re better off developing our own swing and using parts of different swing models or philosophies.

But … that doesn’t mean anything goes. Impact matters. Rhythm matters. And shot-making matters.

If you can hit controllable golf shots … then your swing works. It’s that simple.

Same with putting. Wristy putting … shoulder putting … short follow-through … long follow-through … whatever works. Why not get good at different styles of putting?

Back to sharing the road/golf course. Did you hear about LIV Tour player Harold Varner III getting thrown-off of a public course in Indiana?

Seems that he wanted to play a 6-some and the course said no. So then his group played two 3-somes and then merged on hole #4.

And then they got kicked-off the golf course.

I don’t want a society of robots. Golf is an individual game. We need to build our own swing. And we need to be respectful of the golf course. We’re sharing a one-lane road.

Being an individual comes with being responsible.

Whether driving a car, driving a golf cart, building a swing, or playing on a golf course.

We can and should do it in our own unique way … but we need to own it … otherwise we can’t live with other people.

We aren’t bees in the hive … and we’re not lone wolves. We should try to be unique and considerate.

That’s what makes us strong.

Cheers!

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