Building a Repeatable Swing

Isn’t that what everyone strives for – the elusive repeatable swing. Of course there are a lot of things that go into any golf swing, therefore, how hard must it be to do them all the same time after time?

If you want to know what a repeatable golf swing is, watch Luke Donald. He’s an inspiration to anyone who wants to play well CONSISTENTLY. I was traveling while the Ryder Cup was on, but from the little I did catch Luke Donald was the difference. He hits it solid every time and it looks effortless.

I think it was the 17th where he hit a long iron to about four feet in one of the early matches which turned the outcome around. Bubba Watson hit second and nearly buried his club in the turf trying to hit a big draw which he left about 30 feet away.

But I digress. So what’s the key to repeatability? I believe Laird Small really nailed it in his book ‘Play Golf The Pebble Beach Way’. His advice - feel the swing during your practice, then, when you step up to actually hit the ball, ‘swing the feel’.

If you want to try this, start first with your putting. You’ll be amazed at how fast something in putting translates to every other shot. As I wrote in the last blog, setup just beside your ball to practice your putting stroke. Look at the hole the entire time until you can ‘feel’ the right stroke.

Feel your ball rolling to the hole and dropping in. Then move a couple of inches closer for the real thing and repeat the feel you just learned. In a couple of days you should see your distance control improve markedly and watch the 3-putts go away.

Use this same methodology for every shot on the course. You don’t have to look at the hole for every practice swing, but you should have a mental picture of exactly how you want your ball to fly and where you want it to land. Then move into the ball and ‘swing the feel’. You’ll start being a much more consistent ball striker and the process will become second nature.

If you want confirmation that this works, just ask Jack Nicklaus. He saw and felt every shot before he hit it. If you are an over-swinger or lunge at the ball this will really help you to slow down and maintain a consistent tempo – and tempo is the heart of a repeatable swing.

As always, let me know how it works for you.

Related posts:

1. Swing Keys vs Swing Thought
2. The Golf Swing Is Pretty Simple
3. Hogan’s Sweet Swing
4. Understanding the Swing Plane
5. What We Can Learn from Rory’s Golf Swing

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