Tension Kills

Here is the important part. If your muscles are occupied with strangling the golf club, how can they generate, or transmit, power? They can't.

Now there are countless things that make one nervous (tense) on the golf course. First tee jitters, double bogey on an easy hole, people watching, or an opportunity to shoot a career low round. But the one cause that does the most damage is you. You think you need to hit it farther and tense up in an effort to do so.

If you have some guts, I can help. First we have to get this distance inadequacy thing settled. The next time you play, hit 3 or 5 iron off the tee. You'll have to trust me on this. I did it once as part of a wager and was stunned by how well I played. Yes, you'll be much shorter off the tee. You'll also hit almost all of the fairways. After a hole or two you'll resign yourself to the fact you aren't going to hit it very far. You'll quit trying to murder the ball and end up just making golf swings. The rest of your shots will benefit as well. You won't spend the round trying to relocate your "normal" swing after flailing away at the driver. This yo-yoing between feels can burn precious mental and physical energy.

The lasting benefit of this exercise is that it will undoubtedly give you a taste of playing with a bit less tension. You'll score better than you'd imagine. Try it. E-mail me and let me know how it went.

Next week I'll talk about the second step in eliminating the tension that's eating you alive out there.

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