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Golf Information—Opinions vs. Facts

Information used in golf instruction has been opinion dominated for so long that both teachers and golfers, more often than not, assume that these opinions are somehow based on factual information. The opinion of a successful instructor or player may be accurate, useful, and valuable; however, it should be regarded as exactly what it is—an opinion.

Science is very specific and deals only in measurable, quantifiable facts. By examining these facts and determining explanations for why they are so, scientists make theories that explain behavior. The role of the scientist in sports, therefore, is to determine facts that point to the key features that makes a successful performance.

Opinions and Pseudoscience

Opinion-based instruction articles are fine. Many of the most innovative approaches in teaching have come from such sources. A major problem arises, however, when such articles purport to be "research based." I have a folder full of articles that make conclusions on the golf swing that are "based on ten years of research" which, under close examination, translates to "I videotaped a lot of swings and I've looked real closely at them for a long time." In the world of scientific publications, any research information is closely scrutinized by other scientists before it can be accepted for publication in any professional journal. This guarantees the quality of the information and protects the credibility of the scientific profession. Currently, no such checks are in place in the golf publishing community, and the term "research" can be utilized without any kind of scrutiny.

For any profession to achieve credibility, its research must be monitored and above reproach. When opinion is presented as research, people have no way of determining what is good and what is bad in the area. Unfortunately, this is the state in which golf instruction currently finds itself.

Research

By accepted scientific standards, relatively little proper research has been done on the golf swing. There have been a few interesting publications, such as The Search for the Perfect Swing by Alastair Cochran and John Stobbs, and a few conferences on the science of golf; however, little of this information has been related to the human component of the golf swing. Our research on the full swing seems to be unique, which is unfortunate because the best science results when researchers confirm and build on the work of each other.

Sports research seeks to understand the movement elite athletes make in producing a superior performance. Defining that movement in mathematical terms of space and time is the problem to be solved. The solution process lies in making precise measurements—ones that cannot be tainted by individual opinions and prejudices. The final result will determine the common features that are essential for superior performance.

The scientific research process is complicated by the fact that individual skeletal and muscle structures are not the same, which affects how people move and how their bodies perform. So these variables also need to be studied using the same rigorous measurement and analysis methods. Despite these physical differences among people, it may surprise you that we, as well as other sports researchers, have found an astounding similarity in how the better athletes perform in every sport analyzed. Despite the complexity of the human body, the evidence is overwhelming that there is one best way to perform any given sports activity.

The Biomechanics Approach—The Model Swing

Whether the sport was track and field, tennis, baseball, or football, by combining biomechanics and statistics, we have been able to determine a list of things that elite athletes do to ensure a superior performance. The most surprising thing is the long length of the list and how far above the average athlete the elite performers operate. For each of these sports, we have combined these elite movements into what we call a model performance.

Golf is no different. In 1982 we began filming tour players, and to date, the list has grown to include over one hundred PGA, LPGA, and Senior PGA Tour players. Along with the increase in the number and quality of our athletes came a similar improvement in the sophistication of our analysis and our ability to represent the model. Over the years we have progressed from a stick-figure representation to three-dimensional models of world-class male and female golfers (fig. I-2).

The "model" swing concept does not lack controversy. I constantly hear the comment from golf instructors that since all golf swings are so different, there is no such thing as a model swing. Rather than try to convince them with research and statistics, I simply ask them if they teach every one of their students to stand on both legs to hit the golf ball. Since they all do, I point out that they have just described the beginning of their concept of a model golf swing. I quickly get them to agree on other components, such as using both arms, holding the club with the hands, and placing the ball on the ground. They laugh and tell me that these things are obvious—it's the complex parts of the swing that are different.

In any aspect of life, things become complex when you encounter the unknown. Knowledge allows the complex to become simple. That certainly is true in golf instruction; the more you know about the golf swing, the easier it gets—provided your information is correct.

Building a True Model

The model golf swing, like all other sport models we have developed, is much more than simple averages of the elite athletes. A true model identifies the best characteristics of the entire group of athletes, then channels all of these traits into one performance. Thus, both our men's and women's tour model not only has the best strength, flexibility, and body build to play the game, but also all of the movement patterns required to hit the ball long and straight.


Individualizing the Model Swing

When we first began applying our research information to teaching, an obvious problem manifested right away—most people aren't built like the typical tour pro. In fact, we noticed considerable adaptations even in the professional swings due not only to body height and width, but to seemingly minor differences such as arm and leg length, the ratio between the length of the upper and lower body, and shoulder and hip width. While we were able to eliminate these differences during our analysis, we were now faced with the problem of reinstating them so we could use the model information to instruct people of all body types.

The ability we developed to adjust for body type not only allows us to use the model to teach any individual, but also provides great insight into the way swings change due to the wide variety of human beings we encounter in the teaching process. It is comforting to know that, although many subtle alterations are made in the swing due to the difference in body build, there still remains an extensive list of movements that must be produced if a quality golf swing is to be created.

Exceptions

Whenever I present our research results in golf, someone will invariably disagree with at least one of my points and offer, as proof, some well-known professional whose swing is at odds with my findings. What many people don't understand is that research is not concerned with the exception, but rather the typical. Our goal is to find out what the majority are doing because that's where the true success story lies. If one hundred of the best players in the world align their 3-irons down the target line at the top of the swing, and Jack Nicklaus aims his 30 degrees across the line, this position is probably not one of Jack's strengths. In fact, much of what he does in his swing is done to minimize his tendency to hook the ball from this position.

Applying the Model Swing

Over the past seventeen years, we have been using the model to help instructors in their effort to teach the golf swing. In turn, the experience has given us numerous new avenues of research opportunities and a better understanding of the game.

The Myths of Golf

Golf is replete with myths—stories that are widely believed but are not based in proven fact. There are myths about how to swing, myths about equipment, myths about how to improve. Our research enables us to shed light on some of these myths.

Swing Myths

This book describes what needs to be done to develop a proficient swing. There are several popular ideas, however, that need to be avoided by those hoping to improve. The following are commonly held beliefs that I find insupportable by the information gathered in our research on the golf swing.