Golf is not the easiest of sports to learn and it is definitely not something you can go out and buy. You can purchase information on the game, plenty of that available today, but truly learning the game takes time. Dribbling and shooting a basketball takes a couple of days, throwing and catching a ball a few hours, but hitting a golf ball that lies on the ground up in the air consistently takes years.
I am reminded of Nick Faldo’s journey. In 1977 he was the European Tour Rookie of the Year and in 1983 the Order of Merit winner, then in 1985 decided to change his golf swing with the help of David Ledbetter. For the next two or three years he not only failed to win a golf tournament he nearly lost his tour card. Then is 1989 he was the European Tour Player of the Year and in 1990 the PGA Tour Player of the year, going on to win 6 Major Championships in the next 6 years. The point here is that if it takes a PGA Tour Champion three years to learn and ingrain a swing change how long do you think it would take the rest of us. Albert Einstein quit golf after playing for one year, probably because he kept changing what he was doing and expecting a different result*.
I highly recommend that if you wish to play this greatest of all games better, build a golf swing and golf game now that you believe in and trust completely – then never change it.
Trust me when I say that change is not always better, most times just different. Do your research, build a solid foundation then just give it time to develop. Many years ago in Japan a student came to a master of kendo and said, “If I become a devoted student, how long will it take me to master the sword”. The master replied “perhaps ten years”. “That’s a long time”, said the student “if I try really hard how long will it take me”. The master replied “Oh, maybe twenty years”. The student was shocked; “first you said ten, now you say twenty years, what if I try as hard as I can”. “Well”, said the master, “in that case it will take you thirty years. Someone as impatient for results as you will probably take a long time to learn anything”.
* Einstein’s theory of insanity “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”.