For the past few weeks I’ve worked with a woman that plays a lot but was desperate for some help. In her words, “I don’t know if I’m even going to hit the ball let alone have any idea where it’s going to go!” 

Before we started, I took a video of her swing so she could see what she was doing. She said, “Wow, that looks terrible!” 

I told Leah this was going to take some work but if she committed I’d get her back on track. She was fine with that, she just wanted to see steady improvement.  

For the next 3 weeks we worked on different parts of her swing. Even though she still had little idea of where the ball was going she was feeling much more comfortable with her swing and hitting a lot of solid shots.

Last week we made a couple of small adjustments and Leah hit a lot of good shots. And, the best part was her bad shots were going longer and straighter. Several times she commented, “For a miss I can live with that!”

She had made great progress the past 4 weeks and I told her she was about to have a big breakthrough with her game. She called me two days later to tell me the breakthrough had happened – good and bad shots were both longer and straighter than ever before. And, she knew where the ball was going!

The big problem now is Leah has to recalibrate her distance – a nice problem to have since she’s hitting the ball 15 to 20 yards longer than ever before.  

So, where am I going with this? Most experienced coaches can ‘fix’ you pretty well in 1 or 2 sessions. The challenge is getting our students to stick with the new game plan to make sure they don’t revert back to their old habits.  

The best players in the world frequently travel with their coaches to make sure they stay on track and stick to their game plan. Even they have problems falling back into their old swing habits.  

If you are having problems with your golf game be realistic with your expectations. Golf is very difficult – certainly the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. It is not feasible to become accomplished at anything with 1 or 2 hours of guidance and then some practice.  

It takes a commitment to improve. Leah is committed to improving, and after 4 sessions she has made great improvements with her game, she is enjoying the game more than ever and wants to continue to improve.  

You can improve, too! I just ask you to commit fully. I think you’ll be surprised at how much you can improve and how much you can enjoy the game!    

Kim Anders is Director of Instruction at the John Jacobs Golf Schools and Academies at the Estrella del Mar Golf and Beach Resort in Mazatlan Mexico. You can contact Kim at jkanders4@gmail.com.