5 Biggest Golf Coaching Myths

We look at five coaching myths which could could be holding your game back.

5 Biggest Golf Coaching Myths

When we first pick up a golf club we are told certain basics that are handed down to us as 'truths' relating to the golf swing. All too often however, these are nuggets of advice that come from one amateur to another. Many of them can actually do more harm than good.

In this video, Neil Tappin and PGA Professional Alex Elliott look to dispel some of the mystery around what you should and shouldn't be doing with your golf swing. How many of the 5 biggest coaching myths do you recognise? The advice that follows might even explain some of the faults in your own golf game!

5. Swing Direction and Angle of Attack

There are a lot of misconceptions around divots and the direction of them especially on grass ranges. Many are concerned that if the divot is going left, then the dreaded out to in swing path must be the cause.

This is not always the case because angle of attack is important too. The angle of attack and the direction of the swing work together.

For example if we take Tiger Woods' stinger shot. In those shots he is swinging aggressively to the left but the ball-flight goes extremely straight because his angle of attack is so steep.

In simple terms, the more your angle of attack gets steeper, the more you actually have to swing left to counteract it.

4. Keep Your Head Down

Amateurs get told this constantly and it is actually bad advice because it hinders body rotation through impact and the club face gets manipulated more.

However lifting your head can be good because it allows you to make a full body, arms and chest rotation.

3. Putting Speed

A common thing amateurs get told on the putting surface is never up, never in and whilst this technically may be true, it may be hindering your golf because you are speeding putts passed the hole and miss the one coming back.

Related: Best Putters 2020

The harder you hit the putt the smaller the hole becomes whereas if you seek to drop the ball in at dead weight, the larger the hole becomes.

The way to train for this is a horse-shoe drill in which you make a horseshoe of roughly 2/3 inches around the hole with some tees and hit putts from three, five, ten feet and so on. The aim is to keep the putts within the horseshoe.

2. Swinging Too Fast

This is a myth in terms of where the modern game is going in which hitting the ball a long way is such a huge advantage.

The issue with swinging fast is when it is out of balance and the arms and body are out of sync. The latter two things are the issue here, slowing down the swing may not have any impact. It is more important to find the right swing speed for you so you can remain balanced and synchronised.

A good drill to get back that synchronicity is to hit one ball as slow as you can, a 1 on your scale, and hit another as fast as you can, a 10 on your scale. Then hit another and try and feel what number it was in between the two.

This will give you a clearer swing feeling in terms of rhythm and also give you an idea of what swing speed to stick to whilst remaining balanced.

1. Straight Back and Through Putting Stroke

Admittedly this may be beneficial on short putts on fast greens but may be detrimental on longer putts due to lack of control. On longer putts there is going to be some element of arc to the stroke and trying to keep a straight back and through stroke means the arms and body can become independent from one another.

Whereas having more of a natural motion where the putter works around the body is a lot more beneficial.

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