Is that your goal? My goal has always been to get as good as I could get.

Then the question is, how to get as good as you can get?

The answer is obvious - hit more good shots.

Which begs another question - how can you hit more good shots?

Another obvious answer - have a good swing!

Ah, another question - how do you get a good swing? Lessons, practice, lots of practice, books, friends, neighbors, golf channel, tips on the Internet.

What is the intention of all that swing information? Isn’t it to copy some excellent players swing?

Has that ever worked out? Are you able to swing like Hogan and Woods and hit the kind of shots they can hit? Why not?

I want to answer that question by asking you to do something. Something you're quite familiar with actually - walking. In just a moment I'm going to ask you to walk to a door way or a chair that is about 10 feet away and then back to your chair. That should be easy, right?

But you don't want to be a crummy walker, do you? You don’t even want to be an average walker, do you? So I'm going to help you become an excellent walker. You'd rather be an excellent walker, right? Good.

I've studied walkers, the good ones. Then I picked out the best-of-the-best. Guess who that is. It's Tiger Woods. I've studied his walk carefully, with the video analysis. Here's what I've discovered. And here's how you must walk if you want to be an excellent walker who others will someday copy.

Tiger’s stride is 27 ½” long, he lifts his foot 3 3/8" in the air, his arm swings to the rear by 11 ½”, and to the foreword by 13 3/8”, and he pushes off his back foot with 6.2 ergs of energy. He blinks every 7 seconds and breathes deeply every 11 seconds.

OK - go for it. Walk to the place 10 feet away exactly that way, Tiger's way. And you thought being a good walker was going to be easy?

We have the video cameras set up and we will do a split screen with you and Tiger. This is going to be tough but you'll get it. We do offer a series of six lessons to help you reach your walking goals. We have a walk psychologist and a walk therapist as the need arises.

That’s funny isn't it? Obviously, I went through this walking lesson to make a point.

You do just fine walking the way you walk, don't you? You're the only you there is. No one else can be you or you walk exactly like you. They would fail at trying to copy you because they are not you.

But the golf swing is different - right? In order to have a swing that hits good shots most of the time you must make a swing that is exactly like Hogan or Woods - or some other excellent player.

No, you say that won't work? Where the heck do you think swing mechanics and swing positions come from? Don’t they come from excellent players swings?

Do you hit better shots because your swing looks more like Ben Hogan swing were Tiger Woods swing?

I'm sorry - dumb question.

So if mechanics and positions aren't the answer to a swing that hits mostly good shots for you, how can you develop a swing that works well for you?

Don't you want a swing you can trust? One you can use on the first tee with confidence? One you can count on in pressure situations? One that doesn't require constant practice, constant fixing, constant searching for the next tip that will make your swing perfect and never hit another bad shot?

Actually there is such a swing. There’s one for every golfer. And it's all yours. It will look like no other golfer’s swing but be fundamentally the same as the great golfers. The other neat thing is that it won't take you long to get it and you'll have it for ever.

And that's what we're going to talk about (in later Backspin issues), how to find your authentic swing. The five Concept Golf swing principles are the keys to unlocking your real swing. The one you can and will trust to hit good quality golf shots most of the time.

Do you want to know what these principles are? And how you’ll use them to find your authentic swing? Great. I'll talk about the five principles in later postings.

I heard Gary McCord say something like this on Sunday after Tiger won. ‘Tiger has said that he now ‘owns’ his swing. He knew he had to own it and now he finally does.’ This is the idea but not an exact quote.

Not only does Tiger need to ‘own’ his swing but so do you. You simply cannot play consistently well with a borrowed swing. Your copy of a good players swing will not work for you. You may hit a few good shots but you will never swing with confidence or play with consistency until you play with your swing.

Concept Golf has always wanted our golfers to develop their own, authentic swing. Why? Because that is the only swing that will work for them – consistently, confidently. The five Concept Golf swing principles are the ideas that will allow you to find your swing. Playing golf with your swing is one of life’s great enjoyments.

Need some advice on hitting greens?

In the September issue of Golf Digest in the Tips from the Top, Sergio made this statement to the question, Need some advice on hitting greens?

Sergio: “I try to really focus on the target – where I want the ball to land. If you can focus like this, your body has a way of producing the swing you need to get the ball to the target.”

If you have read, Golf Can’t be this Simple – Playing the Game, you know that Sergio is talking about the Target Principle, the most important of the 7 Concept Golf principles. And he is quite right, it works. It works almost like magic but it’s not magic. It’s the way we do most things quite successfully.

Hi,

You may be inadvertently making golf quite difficult. Focusing on your swing, body and all the swing positions that are supposed to be meaningful is completely interfering with your ability to play the game well. Stop it and you will actually start enjoying the game and playing much better golf.

The five Concept Golf Swing principles are just that - five principles. They are ideas not mechanics. They are not to be combined with mechanics or positions thought to be necessary (like left arm straight, head still and all that garbage). Understand the ideas, accept the ideas and your system will put them to use IN YOUR OWN WAY that will work exactly right for you. Your swing cannot and must not look like someone else's swing.

Read Golf Can't be this Simple - The Swing again with this fresh insight. It allows you to find and develop your own swing. And nothing can be better than your own swing. You copy no one. It is your way of doing things so it will ALWAYS work for you.

Play well,
John Toepel

Hi,

This blog, Sweet Spot, is dedicated to your success as a golfer. I want you to succeed and you can and will. What I will teach you comes from my experience as a PGA Tour player. It is not just changing theory. This is the real stuff from golf’s best school - the PGA Tour. There are only a few instructors that have actually experienced golf at the highest level, can instruct and can communicate. The fact is that most instructors have a hard time breaking 80.

How do we define what a successful golfer is? The only measurement that made any sense or any difference on the PGA Tour was the score. It made no impact if you hit all the fairways and shot 75. It was unimportant if you had a great swing and hit good shots but scored in the mid 70’s. It was not important that you never three putted if you scored about 74 every day. That is the measure we will use for your success. What did you shoot today and what do you normally shoot? That’s it - period.

That’s our starting point and how we define your success. Low scores, consistently. I will teach you in such a way that you will have a foundation that will never change, never leave you wondering or looking for an answer to a poor shot or bad round. You will not doubt or question your swing or your game ever again. You will know - and that is powerful. No more guessing and no more looking for a quick fix or tip. You will know and knowing is real power.

That’s what you will learn on this blog - how to score low consistently. How to play golf - well

Your coach for life,
John Toepel