When you make a swing change, there’s a natural process that you must go through, as with learning any motor skill. These five steps govern how you should practice when using exaggeration and feedback to make a swing change:

1) LEARN THE CONCEPT – What changes do you have to make and why do you have to make them? And the concept should make sense: For example, if you line up parallel left, then you can swing on the correct path from the inside, versus aiming to the right and swinging from outside to inside.

2) PERFORM THE NEW MOVES IN A PRACTICE SWING WITH EASE – If you cannot perform a new move with little difficulty in a practice swing, then it will be impossible to perform it with a ball.

3) PERFORM EACH MOVE ON THE DRIVING RANGE (HITTING BALLS) WITH A HIGH DEGREE OF CONSISTENCY. When you can accomplish this, then you’re ready for the next step.

4) PERFORM THE NEW SKILL ON THE COURSE WITH A HIGH DEGREE OF CONSISTENCY. This step may take the greatest amount of time to accomplish, so don’t be afraid to retrace your steps and visit steps two and three again.

5) PERFORM THE SKILL WITH CONSISTENCY UNDER COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS, WHEN THE PRESSURE IS HIGHEST. If you don’t play in any tournaments, simulate pressure by making a friendly wager with your playing partner on a particular shot or outcome.

Most people want to learn the concept and jump right to the course, skipping steps two and three. YOU CANNOT SKIP STEPS. If you want to take your new swing concept from the range to the course and be successful, you have to first develop consistency with it on the range. One thing is for sure: IF YOU CANNOT CONSISTENTLY PERFORM YOUR NEW SWING ON THE RANGE, IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN ON THE COURSE.

-Mike Bender