There’s a quote often attributed to Albert Einstein: If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on it, I would spend the first 55 minutes deciding what question to ask.
While golf isn’t life and death, although it can feel like that sometimes, the principle of this quote is spot on. After thousands of hours in a coaching bay with golfers of every level, you might expect I hear a huge variety of questions and requests for what golfers would like to improve, but alas, the reality is I tend to hear the same questions over and over again. How can I be more consistent? How can I hit the ball further?
On the surface, these are perfectly reasonable questions, but if it’s real lasting improvement you're after, you are looking in the wrong places. Essentially you are too focused on treating symptoms rather than the causes. This is like putting duct tape over an engine warning light on your car. You might no longer see the light flashing, but the engine is still overheating.
In golf, the ball flight is the warning light and it tells you so much about your golf. So, to help you get more out of your next lesson or practice session, let's break down some of the most asked questions and consider what you should be asking instead.
How Do I Hit The Ball Straighter?
A right-handed golfer sees the ball peel off the right and immediately thinks about how they can stop slicing, they tweak their grip, aim left or buy a draw bias driver.
This might help reduce their slice in the short-term, but the underlying clubface-to-path relationship hasn’t changed. The slice hasn’t been fixed, it has been somewhat disguised and basically you’ve put duct tape on it!
Better Question: Why is my ball starting in that direction? What part of my swing do I need to work on?
How Do I Hit The Ball Further?
Surely if you want to hit the ball further, you need to swing harder? Sounds good in theory, but in reality your swing speed might increase, but so will your dispersion, and more speed will magnify your inefficiency. If you want to hit it further, you will first need to work on your quality of strike, which can be done at a slower speed to first lay a good foundation to build a faster swing.
Better Question: What is currently limiting my distance; strike, speed or launch conditions?
How Can I Be More Consistent?
This is the question coaches hear more than any other, and in truth, it is meaningless. Inconsistency isn’t a root problem, it is the label we give to fluctuating strike and distance control. Until you clearly identify exactly what is the biggest variable in your shots you cannot properly train it.
Better Question: What is changing from shot to shot; strike, distance, direction?
How Can I Stop Three Putting?
A common theme that emerges with golfers looking to reduce their three putts is to only work on the short putts, but successful two putting is a game of two halves. If the real issue is distance control, the missed three-footer isn’t the cause, it’s the consequence.
Better Question: What part of putting do I struggle with the most? How confidently can I read greens? Do my approach shots need improving?
Why Can’t I Hit The Ball On The Course The Way I Do On The Range?
When golfers hit thirty 7-irons on the range and feel many of them are good, it is all too easy to mentally box off that club as being one you can hit well. In reality, on the course you only get one chance to hit a nice shot, hole the pressure 4-foot putt, or hit a tee shot down a tight tree-lined fairway.
Better Question: What am I doing differently on the course? How can I make my practice more like playing?
Improvement in golf isn’t built on quick fixes or cosmetic changes, it’s built on clarity. Clarity about patterns and what is changing from shot to shot. Clarity about what skills you need to develop. So, challenge yourself this year to start asking better questions and enjoy receiving better answers through your results.
