Forget the Stack and Tilt: a Golf Swing Teaching Aid + Practice is the Answer
Thursday, January 8th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
Look long enough, and you’ll find numerous opinions on golf swing teaching aids, and the comments–from professionals and weekend golfers alike–are all over the map. Some golfers swear by training aids, and others feel that only blind repetition is helpful. Many teaching pros use homegrown teaching aids that cost next to nothing–shoe boxes, reflector strips, hula hoops, basketballs–to help golfers who are looking to learn how to golf swing, and to give them a mental image that can help them keep the swing grooved when they’re on the links.
High-Tech, Low-Tech, No Tech
As you can already tell, golf swing teaching aids come in every price range and form. There are special hinged clubs or other clublike instruments that help you get the feel of a proper–and improper–swing; there are wrist and arm braces that help you key in on proper positioning during the swing; there are computerized gadgets that can tell you about clubhead speed, club face position, and other things. You’ll even find simple gadgets like specialized grips.
But Nothing Compares to . . .
The big thing is to recognize that there is no panacea–there is no single golf swing teaching aid that will immediately fix your game. Realistically, there is no teaching aid that will even improve every part of your swing. Rather, each aid plays a small role in what eventually makes up your entire swing. But that’s okay, as specialization and focus are key to really absorbing these motions into muscle memory.
The other important thing to realize is that you must use common sense in selecting and purchasing golf swing teaching aids. The bottom line, however, is that lasting improvement will come through repetition and practice. Golf swing teaching aids play their own role, but at the end of the day, it’s you who needs to apply it properly.
For that matter, before spending a penny on aids, you will likely gain the most benefit from plain old exercise and a video camera. Exercise that specifically works your core will do wonders for your swing and distance, especially over the course of a round. I’m not talking about crunches and the like, but a full core workout, e.g. using Pilates or a physioball. And the video camera can correct a multitude of swing problems without a fancy teaching aid. But stack them all together, and you could be a force to be reckoned with!
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