A very profound concept is missing in most golfers minds, and it all starts with a simple question. What is your job? Now, you've probably never been asked that question about your golf game. The usual answers a person would give actually have nothing to do with your real JOB as a golfer. Here are some common answers.

"To put the ball in the hole."
"To hit the ball."
"To shoot a good score."
"To make my wife angry."

Although all of these seem to fit the bill, might I invite you to look at the game in a much simpler way. Lets break it down into very finite terms.

There are 4 things involved with every golf shot. The environment (which includes the hole), ball, club, and you. Now each one of these performs a specific function or JOB. It is the environment's job to get in the way of the ball, again this includes the hole. It is the ball's job to get in the way of the club. It's the clubs job to strike the ball...... so what then is YOUR JOB since all those other responsibilities are taken. The answer, to swing the club.

If your job is to just swing the club, why would you be so concerned with all those other things? It's not your job to put it in the hole, in fact it's the holes job to get in the way of the ball. It's not your job to HIT THE BALL, that is the club's job. You have NO CONTROL OVER IT!! What a relief this is! The ONLY thing you have to control or even worry about is to swing a golf club. That's it.

Well now that we've got all that cleared up. How about I ask you another question. What is a "swing"? Now, before you go and pull out the dictionary I want you to actually write down your definition, I'll tell you what Webster says in a minute... but lets ponder this question for just a moment. When was the last time you actually thought about what a "swing"
is? As we just discovered, it's YOUR JOB. Since it is your job, seems like a rather big oversight to not thoroughly understand what a SWING is, don't you think?

So here we go, the answer to it all.....

Swing - A backward and forward circular motion.

That's it, that's your job. To make a backward and forward circular motion.
Preferably with the club. There are many more clarifications that are important which I go over in my first lesson with every student. Your ONLY job is to make a swing, and the definition of your job is to "Make a backward and forward circular motion with the club."

The better what you do matches the definition of your job, the better you are performing your job, and the better your scores will be. (And if you get really good the wife WANTS you to do it!)

In my next article I will expand on this idea some more but I promise you that the further you explore this basic idea, the deeper your understanding of every aspect of your game. This especially includes your mentality on the golf course. I encourage you to look up each of those words that make up your job description and ponder each one individually. Your game will improve leaps and bounds with each new discovery.

For more Golf Tips see Stevens Golf Tutorial.