It seems logical that if you’re told what you’re doing wrong then you’ll be able to fix it. Logical yes, but does it really work?

I think not. There is so much information about golf that the mind boggles. I’m sure I read somewhere that the only other pastime with more information written about it is chess. I’m not completely sure of this, but I do know there are plenty of books that cover the first four moves – so maybe it’s true.

Onward.

Here’s the thing. If being told what you were doing wrong was enough for you to improve your golf then we’d all be better players. There’d be little frustration and more golfers would be happy. But why are so many golfers frustrated with their game? Why can’t more people play to their potential? Why is it that many golfers think golf is all but impossible?

The problem lies in the information overload. Being told what you’re doing wrong is only part of the improvement process. You need a way of being able to implement. But implementation really has been ignored. Golf is old-fashioned, like a lot of schooling, and it is based more on obedience rather than on learning.

When your teacher tells you what to do you are expected to do it. Questioning the teacher is bad. This upsets the applecart and is severely frowned upon. You’re supposed to listen and do. Questions that branch away from main principles are not to be asked.

And this is how we’re conditioned. This model is beaten into us from our first day of school till our last. And things don’t get much better when we leave – most work environments function with a boss and lots of subservients who follow his every word. Once again, we’re trained not to think outside the square – to not buck the system. To do what everyone else does and not make a noise.

And this kind of thing is OK if you’re happy working for 40 years, getting a paypacket each week and having little pressure (responsibility). But if golf is important to you then you’ve got to make a ruckus. You’ve got to stand up because the old system doesn’t work too well. It’s broken. Despite all the technology, all the information and all the golf pros, golf improvement is still a mystery.

Next: A coaching horror story