Better Today Than Yesterday
This past week the sports world lost a legend in Muhammad Ali. In my opinion he is one of, if not the greatest athlete of all time. Ali was not only known for his boxing ability, but for his personality. Ali had many great quotes, one of my favorite’s was “Everyday of my life, I hated training, but I said don’t quit, suffer today, and live the rest of your life as a champion.” I love the quote so much because we can relate it to our everyday life so easily. The way I look at it is, in order to grow, you need to try and do something everyday that you do not want to do. There are a lot of things that I force myself to do each day that I really don’t feel like doing, but when you’ve done them, you know you’ve advanced because of it.
Growth in my opinion is a choice. Change is inevitable, but growth is optional. I draw inspiration from a Jerry Rice quote, he said, “I will do today what others will not do, so that tomorrow I can do what others cannot do.” I do not mean that I think I can do things others cannot do, far from it. I think the quote makes me better on a daily basis, as I strive to be the best golf instructor I can be. When I teach golf, I want every student going away from the lesson saying WOW that was an amazing lesson! I want that for my integrity, for business, but most importantly I want the student to feel like they got tremendous value for the hard earned money they spend. With that said, I want to share with everyone, and opportunity to grow in golf. I want to share a drill that is working with many of my students to help cure swing path, and the dreaded slice.
If you slice, this drill should be the backbone of each practice session for the coming weeks. Hit 30-50 range balls a few times each week using the basket set up. Pick out a specific target and work hard to start each ball right of your target.
Using a 7 or 8 iron, grab two plastic driving range wire baskets to use as obstructions. Place the first basket about 18 inches behind the ball, and just far enough to the right to make a proper backswing. (See image) Hit 25 balls from this position. The ball will block out to the right, and you should feel the club being swung from much more behind your body. When you feel comfortable with this drill, take a second basket and place it two feet in front of the ball, but inside the line of the first basket, creating a gate for the club to pass through. (See image) Swinging through this gate should create a nice in to out club path, with proper extension toward your target.
A motto I live by is being better today than yesterday. I hope this drill, and a little inspiration can help make you a better golfer than you were yesterday.
-Matthew Lindberg