Are you a “stuck” student, or a “spin-out” student?
Had an interesting discussion today with a couple of teaching pros. We were discussing how there are approximately two camps of students. The first tend to get “stuck” at impact. They try so desperately to “keep their heads down” that they end up putting a lot of strain on their necks, and turn what would otherwise be a naturally flowing swing into something abrupt and ugly. On the other hand, the second camp tends to “spin out” at or even before impact. Their bodies tend to be too open too soon, and quite often end up hitting week fades or slices. The beauty of SwingNumber N1 is that it can really work for both camps.
The “stuck” students should be told to do everything they can to end in a nice finish with their bodies fully released and looking down the fairway. Because N1 flashes so quickly, they won’t be tempted to fixate on it. They should be told “all you have to do is see the number, then do everything you can to get to the finishing position”.
The “spin-out” student should be told to do everything they can to see the number. The great thing is that there’s no risk of them turning into “stuck” students because the flash happens so quickly.
There’s some truth to “keep your head down”, it’s just too bad it’s a little misleading. Perhaps “learn to see impact” is better, especially if we start to think of our bodies as “seeing impact”, not just our eyes. As we all know, many great golfers don’t actually see impact, but pictures prove that their bodies all do.
Stephen Evans
