On the latest episode of Warming Up, Lee Trevino explained that there’s an easy way to improve—and it doesn’t require drastic changes.
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Welcome to Play Smarta regular GOLF.com game improvement column that will help you become a smarter and better golfer.
If you’re someone who’s always looking to improve your golf game, you’ve probably done your fair share of messing around. Changing fluctuating thoughts. Changing bets. Changing gloves. It’s common among eager players to chase the next change that will completely fix your game.
As we all know, however, this rarely happens. The final potential fix just goes back to the next fix. Then the cycle repeats.
Much of this confusion comes in the form of swing changes. While you’re sitting at your desk at work, or on your commute home, or while you’re exercising, a new swing thought pops into your head and… EUREKA! That swing change comes into play the next time out and off and running them.
It’s a trap we’ve all fallen into. But it’s one that rarely works. In fact, most of the time, these small changes do more harm than good.
If you really want to shoot lower scores, there’s an easy way to do it — and it doesn’t even require making swing changes. Lee Trevino is obsessed with this idea, as he explained how the latest episode of Warming Up, which you can watch below.
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Upgrade without a swing change
You usually have to OTHER USEFUL Kind of a choppy change if you want to improve, but before you do, it’s important to get a firm grasp on the basics. Sometimes, your problems can be attributed to poor foundations rather than a swing fault.
As Trevino explains, every person has a golfing DNA. There are little things you can change about it, but for the most part, it is what it is. The key to hitting the ball hard – no matter who you are – is finding the low point in your swing and making sure the ball is there when you do.
“You own (your swing),” he says. “You won’t change it. It’s like trying to teach a boy to walk differently. It’s like trying to teach someone to speak differently. You can’t do it. But you’re not changing a person’s swing — you can change their hands and you can change their (ball) position and that makes all the difference.”
Recreational players are always moving and changing ORDER they swing the club, but most of the time, they can find the results they’re looking for just by changing their fundamentals a bit. If you are chipping the ball, for example, you may need to move the ball slightly back in your stance. Instead of changing positions in your movement, first think that it might be your fundamentals that need a little change.
Making a swing change is an attractive proposition—and one that can lead to great results. However, more often than not, it will do more harm than good. Instead of obsessing over swing changes, instead obsess over your fundamentals like position and grip. It’s a much easier way to improve than building a brand new swing.
You can watch Trevino’s entire Warming Up interview on YouTube here.
