Scott Cranfield’s Steps To A Consistent Game
Success can only be built on stability is true both in golf and life.
It is tempting in golf to chase the secret, flipping from one swing through to another, and often in the course of the same round, but this simply doesn’t work! And if you’re like most golfers I bet you have tried!
The importance of golf set-up position
We all desire a game (or life) that has stability with consistent growth. To achieve this requires strong foundations, which can only be built if you focus on and practise around key principles. In golfing terms this would be your basics of set up; grip; posture; balance etc. It’s why we have sayings like… “90% of swing errors stem from the set up” and while many coaches agree with this, club golfers are so desperate at times to improve we rush past our set up looking for a ‘fix’ in our swing.
So the first step to building a stable and consistent game is to follow a good set up routine that your local PGA pro can help you with, and don’t think just because you have had one lesson on it you will remember it for life, you have to keep repeating it so it really does become a habit. Here is a quick video to help you build a basic but effective set up routine.
Tips to improve your golf swing
Now once you have these basics in place you can start to develop your movement (swing) but again you must do this around key principles that are sustainable and not flash in a pan ideas. To follow are some examples of key principles, but don’t try them all in one go, work with one and see what results you get, before trying another…
- Working on your swing as a ‘whole’ movement the way your mind and body is designed, not breaking your swing into several pieces and then try to move thinking of them all! You wouldn’t walk or throw this way, and you shouldn’t swing this way. Here is another video that might help.
- Having a sense of being ‘grounded’ to get a more complete movement chain starting with your feet. Simply being aware of your feet working against the ground in the swing can really help the timing and rhythm of your swing.
- Always creating a clear image in your mind first of how you want to move/swing, so the body can respond to your brains instructions/image. After all, your mind controls your body, so taking the time to imagine how you want your swing to look and feel can really help you make good progress to actually experiencing it. Top athletes do this all the time.
Stick to your golf foundations
When you begin to understand the difference between principles and fads you will create stability in your thinking and then your game. This doesn’t mean you wont play badly occasionally, everyone does, but what it does mean is that you won’t go chasing off looking for the secret that doesn’t exist, the equivalent in life of a ‘get rich quick scheme’. Instead you will check over your basics and work on key principles knowing you are building strong foundations from which your performance can consistently grow!
Most golfers have tendencies that come back time and time again, this is perfectly normal and actually a good thing. So get good at knowing your tendencies and which basics and key principles help get you back on track and stick to these. DON’T get caught up looking for the secret that doesn’t exist!
