"Let The Club Do The Work"

Some time ago I heard one of the accomplished ladies in our club berating herself after shanking a fairway wood shot. “Silly,” she scolded herself, “let the club do the work.”

At the time I didn’t really know what she meant. “How can the club do the work,” I said to myself. “Surely we’ve got to do the work; the club is merely an extension of our hands and arms and only does as much as we make it do.”

Now, however, I appreciate better what this lady meant. She was really referring to the fact that what we try to do in golf is “swing the club” rather than “hit the ball with the club.” All our energy and attention should really be concentrated on getting that club swinging as freely and accurately as we can. The club is the thing that does the work – that connects with the ball and propels it on its journey. We have to become master “club-swingers” rather than “ball-hitters.”

That might sound subtle, but it’s immensely important. The moment we think about “hitting the ball”, we will almost certainly try to force the club in the wrong way. We will use it to “whack” at the ball instead of swinging it through the ball. The nature of the two actions, and the results, are quite different.

While I don’t always succeed, I nevertheless now try to approach each shot conscious of only one thing: swinging the appropriate club at the appropriate speed through the ball. In other words, I concentrate on getting the club in motion and letting it do the work.