Improve Your Golf Swing With Tactile Feedback and Muscle Memory

Ben Hogan would hit a golf ball with his nine iron (or other club of choice for that day) on his way to and from his grade school, miles from his home in Texas. Gary Player would play hooky from school so he could hit 1000 or more balls that day. Lee Trevino would also hit a thousand or more golf balls on any given day. These three and hundreds of more golfers perfected their swings through constant and laborious practice, while hitting real balls. Through years of repetition they developed the necessary muscle memory to achieve their personal, consistent and repeatable golf swings.

More recently however as golf increased in popularity, personal instructors and training aids were utilized to help golfers improve their swings. At age 10, Jack Nicklaus learned from Jack Grout, his first Pro Instructor, that it was important for him to keep his head "rock solid steady." Grout provided tactile feedback to young Nicklaus by grabbing him by his hair and holding his head still, thereby helping Jack to get that tactile feel for a steady head. Ultimately, Jack developed the muscle memory that enabled him in fact, to keep his head still.

Hank Haney used this exact technique to help Charles Barkley keep his head steady, during the "Haney Project," Golf Channel's successful TV series. Unfortunately for Charles, he did not have the sufficient time required to develop the muscle memory to keep his head steady. Nor could he be constantly practicing with Haney.

In his book, "How I Play Golf," Tiger Woods is seen several times with Butch Harmon wherein Harmon is offering tactile feedback. In one picture, Harmon is using the grip end of an iron to touch and hold Tiger's Chin Up. It is one method to tell a golfer to "hold your chin up." It is another and more effective technique to provide tactile feedback, with a club or training aid.

In another picture in Tiger's book, Harmon is again using the grip end of a club to give Tiger the feel, the touch, the tactile feedback to keep his left shoulder under his chin on the backswing. And in still another picture, Harmon is actually holding Tiger's right elbow close to his torso, to keep it from "flying out." Again Harmon is providing tactile feedback to Tiger.

We all know that "practice makes permanent," but not necessarily "perfect." Imperfect practice will lead to a permanent imperfect swing. If a golfer is serious about improving her/his swing it is important to add tactile feedback to practice or hit 1000 balls each day. Identify the aspect of the swing you wish to improve and then obtain a training aid that will offer tactile feedback for that aspect. Without the feedback, there is a good chance that you may be "making permanent" a flaw in your present swing.

Bob Doyle is the founder and president of Forever Better Golf Inc. a golf equipment and training aid company dedicated to helping all golfers improve their swings and lower their scores. Their flagship product is the PRO-HEAD Trainer, a full swing training aid that helps golfers maintain their spine angles and keep their heads back and behind the ball through impact. To see the PRO-HEAD Trainer in use and take the 60 second challenge, visit http://www.foreverbettergolf.com/