Looking through the golf menu
Have you ever paid attention to the different sized menus you get at various restaurants?
Some offer pages and pages of options, while others offer only a handful of options. Neither is necessarily better than the other, but it’s a heck of a lot easier to order from a menu of fewer items.
This is the same attitude I have while flipping through golf magazines, and channel surfing across the golf channel. There are too many options. It has become impossible for most golfers to establish any type of focus on what is actually important to their golf game. Magazines and instructional programs do a nice job of gaining the interest of all golfers looking for that “quick fix,” but the game has become more complicated because of this, as well.
It wasn’t that long ago that golf had what I would consider to be the three golden rules. 1. Keep your left arm straight
2. Turn your shoulders 90 degrees
3. Keep your head down That was it. It may not seem like a lot, but it provided clarity to every golfer looking to improve their game on the practice range.
Nowadays, if you provide a golfer with just those ideas you are considered to not know what you are talking about.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy flipping through golf magazines, too. I enjoy reading up on some of the new golfers, and I also enjoy reading the golf tips provided by many of today’s top instructors.
However, I read these tips as a fellow instructor, and not as a confused golfer. Certain tips may apply to some of my students, and I may be able to incorporate these ideas into a lesson down the road.
The problem is that many golfers attempt to apply every tip they read about into their own golf game. This is a problem. The Golf Channel may be a better outlet for some of you looking for that “quick fix.” It always helps to hear and see an instructor demonstrating what they are speaking about.
It’s sort of like getting a personal lesson from the comforts of your own living room. However, this can also complicate the process of learning because you may find yourself working on a fix that doesn’t necessarily apply to your game.
Whether you are talking about articles in a golf magazine, or programs on the Golf Channel, you need to be careful about working on something that isn’t part of your golfing repertoire.
Pay attention to the specific struggles of your game, and allow yourself to only focus on information that applies to you.
I believe that restaurants would be better off minimizing their menus to fewer options, and I believe that golf magazines and golf channels would be better off minimizing the amount of information they are providing on a daily basis.
In both cases, the quality of the product would improve. Until that happens, I’ll just stay at home watching “Caddyshack” and eating a cheeseburger.