Let me offer an alternative.
What you're experiencing is traditional golf instruction (also called positional golf instruction). That is, golf instruction where the instructor says things like "your hands need to be higher at the top." Or "feel like you're dragging the back of your wrist through the ball." Or "throw your right shoulder through the ball." These are often the uncomfortable changes which we try to integrate into our swing.
Is there anything wrong with traditional instruction? Nope. Every pro on the PGA tour was likely taught with traditional instruction. A lot of golfers on this forum who are a lot better than you or me were taught with traditional instruction. Now what's interesting is that some people flourish with traditional instruction, and others struggle, constantly reverting to their bad habits. Why is that? Well, before I answer that question, let me introduce another method of teaching...
Shawn Clement teaches using gravity, momentum, and target focus as the key components in the swing. Now, who in the world would not realize that gravity and momentum are key components of the swing? Well, me for example. For 40+ years, despite dozens of traditional lessons, nobody ever said the word "gravity" to me. For 40+ years, I've swung the club wrong, by trying to manipulate it and force it to do what they were telling me to do.
Shawn's teachings were the first time I really felt what the golf swing should feel like. Things suddenly clicked on what was supposed to be happening. Now, does that mean I instantly became a scratch golfer? Heck no. I've got 40 years of bad habits to fix, not to mention the burden of being overweight. And as some here who have played with me can tell you, I've still got a LONG ways to go. But that's OK. I've seen glimpses and I've now got something to guide me that I believe in and to which I can constantly return when things go wrong.
Now, back to the question of why traditional instruction works so well for some. Well, it's my belief that people who "get it" easily are people who recognize instantly that gravity and momentum should be applied to what their instructor is trying to tell them. For them, it never occurred to them to try to manually manipulate the club. These are what you might call the "natural athletes." Pat Goss (Luke Donald's coach) told me that if you ask PGA pros how they do something, 95% of them would say, "I don't know. I just swing the club." That's the ultimate example of just automatically applying gravity and momentum into the swing. Then of course there's an even larger group for whom it doesn't come quite so naturally, but through a great deal of hard work, they eventually overcome the tendency to revert, and ingrain the new sensation into their swing. And then there's the group which apparently I fit into who is so uncoordinated and so much not a natural athlete it seems like we'll never get it, despite lots of hard work.
I'd encourage you to take a look at Shawn Clement's stuff (search YouTube for Shawn Clement and you'll find hundreds of videos…start with some of his older stuff so you can come up to speed on his metaphors) and see if it strikes a chord with you. It certainly did for me. I still take traditional instruction BTW, since I can't afford to fly to Toronto for lessons. However, I try to apply Shawn's teachings to what my traditional pro is telling me. Rather than focusing on positions or club manipulation, I try to maintain my focus on target, gravity and momentum. After my lesson with my pro who can diagnose what I'm doing wrong, I'll go home and find the Shawn video which corresponds, to help me put the fix in his terms, with which I really identify.
Finally, let me be clear that in no way do I think traditional instruction is "wrong." In fact, in 40+ years of lessons, I don't think any pro told me anything which was wrong. They just didn't help me understand how to apply it. That's the difference Shawn's teachings have made for me.
What you're experiencing is traditional golf instruction (also called positional golf instruction). That is, golf instruction where the instructor says things like "your hands need to be higher at the top." Or "feel like you're dragging the back of your wrist through the ball." Or "throw your right shoulder through the ball." These are often the uncomfortable changes which we try to integrate into our swing.
Is there anything wrong with traditional instruction? Nope. Every pro on the PGA tour was likely taught with traditional instruction. A lot of golfers on this forum who are a lot better than you or me were taught with traditional instruction. Now what's interesting is that some people flourish with traditional instruction, and others struggle, constantly reverting to their bad habits. Why is that? Well, before I answer that question, let me introduce another method of teaching...
Shawn Clement teaches using gravity, momentum, and target focus as the key components in the swing. Now, who in the world would not realize that gravity and momentum are key components of the swing? Well, me for example. For 40+ years, despite dozens of traditional lessons, nobody ever said the word "gravity" to me. For 40+ years, I've swung the club wrong, by trying to manipulate it and force it to do what they were telling me to do.
Shawn's teachings were the first time I really felt what the golf swing should feel like. Things suddenly clicked on what was supposed to be happening. Now, does that mean I instantly became a scratch golfer? Heck no. I've got 40 years of bad habits to fix, not to mention the burden of being overweight. And as some here who have played with me can tell you, I've still got a LONG ways to go. But that's OK. I've seen glimpses and I've now got something to guide me that I believe in and to which I can constantly return when things go wrong.
Now, back to the question of why traditional instruction works so well for some. Well, it's my belief that people who "get it" easily are people who recognize instantly that gravity and momentum should be applied to what their instructor is trying to tell them. For them, it never occurred to them to try to manually manipulate the club. These are what you might call the "natural athletes." Pat Goss (Luke Donald's coach) told me that if you ask PGA pros how they do something, 95% of them would say, "I don't know. I just swing the club." That's the ultimate example of just automatically applying gravity and momentum into the swing. Then of course there's an even larger group for whom it doesn't come quite so naturally, but through a great deal of hard work, they eventually overcome the tendency to revert, and ingrain the new sensation into their swing. And then there's the group which apparently I fit into who is so uncoordinated and so much not a natural athlete it seems like we'll never get it, despite lots of hard work.
I'd encourage you to take a look at Shawn Clement's stuff (search YouTube for Shawn Clement and you'll find hundreds of videos…start with some of his older stuff so you can come up to speed on his metaphors) and see if it strikes a chord with you. It certainly did for me. I still take traditional instruction BTW, since I can't afford to fly to Toronto for lessons. However, I try to apply Shawn's teachings to what my traditional pro is telling me. Rather than focusing on positions or club manipulation, I try to maintain my focus on target, gravity and momentum. After my lesson with my pro who can diagnose what I'm doing wrong, I'll go home and find the Shawn video which corresponds, to help me put the fix in his terms, with which I really identify.
Finally, let me be clear that in no way do I think traditional instruction is "wrong." In fact, in 40+ years of lessons, I don't think any pro told me anything which was wrong. They just didn't help me understand how to apply it. That's the difference Shawn's teachings have made for me.
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