Perfect Swing or Perfect Your Swing?

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Are you searching for the perfect swing? Or, are you trying to perfect your swing?

I see lots of golfers: beginners, veterans, single digits, pro's, etc that talk about lessons for this, lessons for that. And, then they go see an instructor who wants to revamp their swing.

I guess my question is, 'What makes you decides to rebuild your swing versus just working on minor tweaks?'
 
I want a repeatable, reliable and consistent swing, no matter how it looks. I don't think I'd ever decide to rebuild my swing; I'd only try to improve it, which could mean rebuilding parts of it. If I went to an instructor and he or she wanted to revamp everything, I'd look elsewhere.
 
Are you searching for the perfect swing? Or, are you trying to perfect your swing?

I see lots of golfers: beginners, veterans, single digits, pro's, etc that talk about lessons for this, lessons for that. And, then they go see an instructor who wants to revamp their swing.

I guess my question is, 'What makes you decides to rebuild your swing versus just working on minor tweaks?'


Some of the issues I was working to correct caused enough inconsistency that I don't think there's a chance I could have 'perfected' it I guess. If timing was off I was just in uglyville. Not to say I made huge changes, but we did work pretty hard on changing some bad habits. The result now is a lot less of the gross misses and more solid contact, so it's slowly paying off. More work to go though.
 
Once I perfect my swing, then it becomes the perfect swing.
 
According to Roy Mcavoy anyway - I tend to agree though.

The critical opening phrase of this poem will always be the grip Which the hands unite to form a single unit by the simple overlap of the little finger Lowly and slowly the clubhead is led back Pulled into position not by the hands but by the body which turns away from the target shifting weight to the right side without shifting balance Tempo is everything perfection unobtainable as the body coils down at the top of the swing Theres a slight hesitation A little nod to the gods
 
I don'tthink there is a consensus about what a perfect swing is in the first place. What ever it might be, this old, used and injured body would not be able to do that anyway. So, I thrive to play the best I can, not the best golf possible.
 
I wanted to get better before I get too old to do anything about it. I play quite a bit of Golf when I am home and the scores were pretty much frozen at my home courses. (which are relatively easy tracks)

Took some lessons and found out I had some basic flaws that were fixable without changing everything. But that being said it has taken a lot of reps to "start" to fix those flaws, but the results are well worth it with the scores coming down now after a few weeks of struggling between swings.

IMO lessons work if the person teaching you relates to you and your expectations, I have been lucky to find a great place with great people who can relate to a older guy as well as young aspiring Pros. I have been in a lesson where a young LPGA hopeful was right next to me, hitting the same club 20 yards past me (and looked effortless doing it) and the teacher had us both smiling at our progress.
 
When a swing has its limits in terms of performance, and you have reached that limit, but you want to do more, I guess it's time for a rebuild.

I rebuilt my swing probably 3-4 years ago. Still haven't reached its full potential, so I'm just trying to perfect my swing, rather than chasing a perfect swing.

Some instructors like to rebuild to fit a model, others will only have you modify 'your swing' to achieve the desired result.

~Rock
 
I think instruct have a perfect swing in mind. Most everyone, over 40, probably envisions something that is Hoganesque. However, the average golfer and the average THPer, is probably not flexible enough to perform the task that an instructor is asking them to accomplish.

But, does an instructor ever talk about flexibility, or lack thereof, and commit to working with what they've got instead of telling the golfer that you need to become for flexible so that I can fix you.
 
I used to want the Perfect swing.....now I'll take perfecting my swing. Knowing where my miss is, playing to my strengths and having confidence that I'll do what I want more than 70% is good for me.
 
Are you searching for the perfect swing? Or, are you trying to perfect your swing?

I see lots of golfers: beginners, veterans, single digits, pro's, etc that talk about lessons for this, lessons for that. And, then they go see an instructor who wants to revamp their swing.

I guess my question is, 'What makes you decides to rebuild your swing versus just working on minor tweaks?'

I'm lucky to have had the same PGA teacher since the early 70's and he is big on making "your" swing better. Swing your swing!
 
Trying to perfect my swing. I don't think there is such a thing as the perfect swing since everyone has their own swing. From what I see with the pros they may do something different in their takeaway or downswing but at impact they all look the same so would it be a perfect swing or perfect contact?
 
Perfect my swing. If it works consistently, I don't care what it looks like.
 
Everyone has a swing that works for them. These swings are based on certain fundamentals. The issue as I see it, is that pros have the knowledge of what to teach and not how. That puts most in a box that may not fit most.
 
I had to change my swing due to a back injury, my old swing became really bad and inconsistent.
Since then, I have gone thru changes in my swing that, according to my friends, looks effortless with terrific results. I am not where I want to be, my instructors know that, and are working with me on many fronts to get my "perfect" swing, which is a repeatable, consistent, and predictable swing, resulting in consistent ball flight and distance.
 
Perfect your swing. You've got to be able to repeat it - especially under pressure - and a manufactured, unnatural (to you) swing will always be harder. I had a good friend when I was growing up who was near scratch as a teenager. He was constantly tinkering - searching for the perfect swing . He got with an instructor who changed everything up and it ruined him. He went from shooting low/mid-70's to barely able to break 90. Hard to image, but true. He tried to get back to his more natural swing and just couldn't do it. He eventually gave up the game. Talked to him a couple years ago and he told me he'd started playing again...but I don't know how it ended up.

My opinion has always been that there are certain fundamentals that you need to get right (grip, posture, alignment, etc) but the rest is tailorable. If I were looking for an instructor I would want one who was big on fundamentals but then worked with my natural swing rather than one who teaches a specific swing.
 
I want to perfect my swing. I want a swing that I can reproduce time and time again. Then I will know how to play it.
 
A friend of mine said yesterday that I have a great backswing.... and then it all goes to heck after that LOL.

I will never be able to have a perfect swing, but I can be happy with my swing, so that is what I am going for.
 
Azinger has been on a "fingerprint" vs. "fundamentals" rant since he was calling the British open a few weeks back. As I hear it his basic premise has been that every golfer has a swing "fingerprint" that they develop very early on in the game and is almost like a genetic code for that individual golfer. Azinger feels that people would improve much more if they just concentrated on tweaking that basic swing "fingerprint" with a focus on getting some simple things lined out like better shaft lean, better face alignment and proper lower body movement. A few things that he says that all great golfers possess.

Azinger feels like too many instructors (at all levels) focus way too much on things like grip. stance, position at the top and swing plane and mistakenly refer to them and treat them as inflexible fundamentals. He says we can point to numerous HOF'ers who have vastly different grips, one plane swings vs. two plane swings, open stances vs. closed, backswings past parallel vs. short of parallel etc. etc.

He has used these thoughts to comment mostly on Tigers situation but I see where it has some relevance for the average hacker. It does seem to equate well to my swing journey as well. No matter how hard I have tried to develop a "pretty" swing over the years most of my improvements over time have been a result of on achieving better balance/weight shift and creating some degree of shaft lean with a square club face. When I do those things regardless of my grip, plane etc. the ball usually goes in the general direction I intend it to go.
 
I started golfing this year and have learned everything from 3 of my buddies who are single digit handicappers. Probably not the smartest to learn from 3 people who all play differently and have their own strengths and weaknesses. One is a long hitter, drives the ball just as far as the pros. Other has a very aggressive, compact simple swing. Last one plays very consistent, slow and easy and always in play. Started off unloading information and fundamentals on me and tweaking my own swing. Next, they taught me their swings so i can develop my own swing. It was much easier for me to play the game when they were tweaking my swing than showing me their swings. Now, i just practice and repeat only my swing since it has become more natural and comfortable but learning all their swings has allowed me to grasp the game more. Grip, tempo, and ball contact are the 3 main things i focus on now when i address the ball. Before i was more worried about the swing plane and hitting the ball than just swinging the club smoothly.
 
I think a lot of people are on another level than me on here. Whenever i fix something in my swing there's something else to fix. I couldn't ever imagine perfecting my own swing, muchless hitting the perfect swing consistently :D
 
Azinger has been on a "fingerprint" vs. "fundamentals" rant since he was calling the British open a few weeks back. As I hear it his basic premise has been that every golfer has a swing "fingerprint" that they develop very early on in the game and is almost like a genetic code for that individual golfer. Azinger feels that people would improve much more if they just concentrated on tweaking that basic swing "fingerprint" with a focus on getting some simple things lined out like better shaft lean, better face alignment and proper lower body movement. A few things that he says that all great golfers possess.

Azinger feels like too many instructors (at all levels) focus way too much on things like grip. stance, position at the top and swing plane and mistakenly refer to them and treat them as inflexible fundamentals. He says we can point to numerous HOF'ers who have vastly different grips, one plane swings vs. two plane swings, open stances vs. closed, backswings past parallel vs. short of parallel etc. etc.

He has used these thoughts to comment mostly on Tigers situation but I see where it has some relevance for the average hacker. It does seem to equate well to my swing journey as well. No matter how hard I have tried to develop a "pretty" swing over the years most of my improvements over time have been a result of on achieving better balance/weight shift and creating some degree of shaft lean with a square club face. When I do those things regardless of my grip, plane etc. the ball usually goes in the general direction I intend it to go.

This is something my instructor and I discussed before working together the first time and anytime I take a lesson or lesson package with him we work on improving my swing effectiveness and not making changes to the swing itself. We have worked on ball position, making sure I don't get to long in my backswing, transition from the top and focusing on impact position. I have gone to several instructors who wanted to change a lot of my swing and that partnership didn't last long. I have played more consistent golf under my current instructor than I have in the past.
 
This is something my instructor and I discussed before working together the first time and anytime I take a lesson or lesson package with him we work on improving my swing effectiveness and not making changes to the swing itself. We have worked on ball position, making sure I don't get to long in my backswing, transition from the top and focusing on impact position. I have gone to several instructors who wanted to change a lot of my swing and that partnership didn't last long. I have played more consistent golf under my current instructor than I have in the past.

I contemplate lessons a couple times a year and am convinced if I make the jump it will be with someone who can be on board with maximizing what I got. I still work a lot of hours and wouldn't be able to commit the practice time necessary for a total rebuild anyway.

Just missed Azinger on the "On Tap" show on PGA Tour radio yesterday. Sounds like he went into this Fingerprint & Fundamentals thing really heavy. Hoping they will replay the segment or maybe they will podcast the interview.
 
I contemplate lessons a couple times a year and am convinced if I make the jump it will be with someone who can be on board with maximizing what I got. I still work a lot of hours and wouldn't be able to commit the practice time necessary for a total rebuild anyway.

Just missed Azinger on the "On Tap" show on PGA Tour radio yesterday. Sounds like he went into this Fingerprint & Fundamentals thing really heavy. Hoping they will replay the segment or maybe they will podcast the interview.

I was the same way when I started working with my current instructor. School and work take most of my time and I have some church commitments. He recorded my swing on the first session and we talked about what needed to be addressed. I took a couple 30 min/1hr lessons. This year we did a package of 5 1 hour lessons and a playing lesson that focused on scoring but we incorporated some fundamental swing work. I like Azinger's approach to the fingerprint idea. I watched a couple of his sessions on GC with Gary Williams as the host for the GC academy i think it was. Very informative
 
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