Tension Kills
© Bill Howard
I have a question for you. What's the biggest weakness in your game?
The vast majority of golfers think if they could add fifteen yards to their tee shots, their lives would be immeasurably better. Golf club manufacturers ( herinafter referred to as "the forces of evil" ) relentlessly attack this perceived shortcoming. Everything is about distance. In the nearly twenty years that I've taught this game, I can count on one hand the number of times that I've had an amateur student say, " I hit it far enough, I want more control."
The complaint is usually about a lack of distance. And for the record, if your complaint is a slice it's the same thing.
The really interesting thing about lack of distance is the psychology of it. If, for instance, you stand over a tee shot and somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of your mind you decide to "try" to hit the golf ball a little farther... you'll fail. Not only won't you hit it very far, you'll likely hit it sideways as well.
The flip side of this coin is the exploding lay up shot. You are in the fairway on a par five and face some sort of significant obstacle. For the purposes of this conversation, we'll make it a water hazard. You do your math and pull an iron that should leave you a good 25 yards short of any difficulty. There is no pressure. It's just a formality. You're very relaxed as you take the club back and then ... boom. For no apparent reason you crush the lay up and wind up with a wet golf ball.
Both of these are examples of the way tension can influence golf shots. It's presence will make your life miserable, its absence can make you almost invincible. We all laughed when Chevy Chase urged young Danny Noonan to "be the ball". How many of us realized those three words were a blueprint for golf nirvana?
Tension kills in golf. To make things simple use your hands and arms to gauge your level of tension. The less tension, the better. Your grip may be murderously tight. Ask yourself, "Would I hold a baseball this tightly and expect to throw it well?". My guess is no. Are the muscles in your forearms bulging? Do you rub blisters on you hands during
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