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#AskCoachFranz - 4 - [coaching]
Question: I have been to a couple of coaches and they have contradicted each other in how they explain the golf swing. Isn't everyone supposed to swing the same way?
Answer: Short answer, no! Long answer, how much time have you got? This is not a new question and get really tangential, so I will try to simplify what I mean.
I am very used to new students having their opinion on what the golf swing is. Some people even get caught up in where the club is at impact as the only true necessity in a golf swing to the exclusion of everything else.
Keep in mind the TPI philosophy on this website, "We don’t believe there is one way to swing a club; we believe there are an infinite number of ways to swing a club. But we do believe that there is one efficient way for everyone to swing a club, and it is based on what they can physically do"
There are benchmarks that everyone based on physical ability should have. Why? Not so that we can look like carbon copies, but so that we can become consistent. K-vest, Boditrak, Blast Motion, Trackman, Flightscope -- all these numbers and angles and degrees of angles etc -- all should be used to produce an efficient swing for you. Why is it that Jim Furyk, arguably having one of the weirdest swings in golf, can be one of the top ball strikers in the history of the game? Would I teach anyone the Furyk swing? not likely. Would everyone love his wins and bank account? Very likely.
The only reasons I ever advocate changing a swing is for consistency and to avoid injury, but I do believe a coach should always start with grip, posture, alignment and contact.
Now, the above being said, remember also that not everyone learns the same way and sometimes a coach is trying to communicate information in a manner that they have found effective in producing results. I am a member of a few teaching professional and bio-mechanic groups and sometimes I get confused by what they write or extol. This doesn't mean that what they are teaching is wrong, just that maybe I am not on the same wave length. This also doesn't make them wrong and me right or vice versa. We just need to find the right language that we both understand and can move forward productively.
Ultimately improvement is what everyone seeks or should be seeking, not just lessons for the sake of lessons.
As I said at the outset, there are many aspects we could explore from the seemingly innocent question (when you have the time, come see me/contact the office).
Best wishes for 2018!
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