I have actually been spending a lot of time on the range lately. I’m loving it, and I’m hitting the ball better every day. When I was up there the other day however, I experienced something I fear happens WAY too often.
Two guys came up, poured their large buckets next to me and began hitting chunk-slices, rip-duffs, buzz-cuts, and any other miss hit ugliness you can think of. I thought it was no big deal at first though because these guys were on the range. They were in the right place, so they obviously knew what they needed to do to get better…right? Wrong.
I opened up a conversation with them, and all they could talk about was their new irons, the drivers they were considering, and the awesome hybrid their brother just picked up. I got the impression that they had no clue their golf swing was what actually creates the ball flight they see. I’m not going to completely disregard the impact of good technology, but there is only so much ANOTHER new $400 driver can do for your game.
I was struggling with my game at the beginning of the season. I could have reasonably blamed it on my 3 year old mizuno irons, or my outdated Callaway FT-5 driver…but I didn’t. I went to work on my swing, and with the help of an awesome golf pro, my game is becoming better than it has been in a long time.
My point is, if you want to get better at golf, and you want to spend your golf money as wisely as possible, spend it on the long term solution. You’ll spend less money over the long haul, and you’ll actually enjoy the game more over time.
The key to making this work is 1) find a golf instructor that studies golf instruction. These guys are the best teachers there are, and they will make you better. 2) Work on what they teach you, and give it time. Apply what you have learned and make it your own.
New equipment is a “quick fix” but it isn’t the whole puzzle. If you are willing to spend a few hundred dollars on a new golf club, your game will be better served spending less money on quality, one on one golf instruction.
