Practice with Purpose – Dan McCracken
Order of Analysis
When working to improve your golf game, things need to be handled specifically and in an order. If your main goal is lower scores, then top priority needs to be controlling where the ball goes and not improving the aesthetics of the swinging motion. With that in mind I am always analyzing things in the following order:
- Where/how did the ball fly?
- How did the club interact with the ball to create that flight?
- How did your body affect the club to create those impact conditions?
Before we dig any deeper, it is important to note that we should always be analyzing patterns and not individual reps. If you cannot repeat a specific shot (good or bad) then there is no need to dig too deep in analysis. Golf is a game of consistency, not a game of perfection. Own your swing, learn to repeat it and then you can optimize it from there.
When showing up to practice your golf game, I believe your overarching goal should be to build confidence as a golfer. While there are certainly plenty of psychological factors that contribute to achieving that goal, I think a lion-share of it is analyzing mishits and trying to make them better. As we wade into the vast spectrum of mishits, I like to keep things organized by handling them in an order (based on patterns):
- Contact Misses
- Directional Misses
- Distance/Trajectory Misses
This order also tends to follow the general sequence of how a ball striker improves. Learn to hit the ball solid, contact misses can negatively affect both distance and direction and as such need to be handled first. Learn to curve the ball in one direction (preferably towards the target). Learn to control your trajectory and distance. With that in mind even the best players need to occasionally spend time cleaning up their contact.
There is no better way to train for contact than slowing things down and staying aware. After some time it becomes quite easy to tell if you are catching the ball off the toe, heel, leading edge or if you catch the ground first. Strike or foot spray on the clubface is also a nice option to chart your contact patterns, as is zoomed in swing video. When trying to fix things, start by ensuring you have the correct ball position, this is vital. You also need to be sure you are controlling the low point of your swing arc properly in regards to striking irons vs. driver.
