 The
Anti-Pro Column:
Confusion Feeds the Golf Industry!
By Jim McLellan, McGolf.com Writer
The policeman drops his paycheck on the kitchen table so his wife
can go shopping and pay their bills. They are able to do this because
somewhere down the line someone killed, raped, or robbed someone.
Jesse Jackson has a job because not all men are treated equally, never
have been, and probably never will be. The President of the United
States can have pizza with an intern in the White House because you
are paying the rent.
Here's a news flash for you! In case you have been in a coma or have spent the last half century on Neptune, you should know that the golf industry is now a multibillion dollar a year business. What did we learn in paragraph one? Somewhere down the line someone supports, funds, feeds or makes possible the growth and maintenance of such a giant. Why has IT grown so large? Sit here on the Anti-Pro's knee and lets toss some ideas around in our craniums. This hungry monster needs a lot of food (money). The dope addict needs a fix. Somewhere there is a need. And, in the golf industry, that need is cleverly disguised as confusion. Confuse the golfer and he will be back for more. He doesn't want anyone to think he is stupid, so he will convince himself that maybe he just didn't get it the first time, or second, or...? A reader sends along this interesting observation: "My experience has been that the overwhelming majority, 85-plus percent unduly complicate the golf swing. I have spent thousands of dollars to come to this conclusion. I often wonder if it is a deliberate attempt to keep one in golfing no-mans land." Thanks, Chip! Has the beast made a puppet out of us? Send the golfer a new magazine and watch him tear into it to find the "latest tip." Try it. Doesn't work? No problem, they will send you another next month that will give you just the opposite advice. The golf pro can't tell you the golf swing is simple. That only takes one lesson and he would starve to death. How much do you think that $500 driver cost the manufacture to make? Best guess from an expert I contacted was less than $40! Who convinced you that it is worth a half a thousand bucks? If your swing is NOT good, it will NOT make any difference. It looks pretty goofy to stand up on the first tee with a $500 club and slice it into a subdivision. A good friend of mine paid $19.95 for his driver. He loves it! I went "over board" and paid $35 for one that works great. You decide. Lets build the golf swing around this premise. A 3,4,5 year old watches a good golf swing, copies it and has a beautiful swing. No hi-tech, no books, no freeze frame analysis, no series of golf lessons. Watch Daddy walk....walk. Watch Mommy walk....walk. This is an A....write an A....this is a B. There are thousands of languages here on Earth and the part of the brain that runs motor skills (your golf swing) does not understand one of them!
The golf swing is simple. The head remains still, the hands swing
back, the hands swing forward. Done...Everything else will follow.
Now, here is the problem. That kind of common sense logic will NOT
support the billion dollar industry.
In order for IT to prosper there has to be magazine sales, book sales, video sales, golf lessons. In order for this to continue new material has to be presented. Do you read the magazines? Top pros, huh? Then why don't they agree on ANYTHING? Why do golfers takes lessons and never improve? If the golf instruction aspect of THE INDUSTRY kept it simple it would die. A golf pro called me the other day and told me that my simple approach to golf instruction would put teachers out of business. The instructor makes $50, $75, or $100 and hour. Let's see, if you were an instructor would you want to multiply that by one, or six, or twelve? I have seen 500,000 golf swings. With those swings came preconceived ideas of the swing, acquired information in the form of books and lessons, and 500,000 different viewpoints. Listen to this: the players who studied the most, read the most books, took the most lessons....DID THE WORST! Those players who kept it simple, had fun, and REFUSED to let the bull pucky into their swing, DID THE BEST! You are supporting this hungry monster by believing that just because some top player makes a million dollars a week that the golf swing has to be some mysterious, illusive phenomenon. IT IS NOT. You are supporting this bottomless pit by buying the idea that some club made from Kryptonite will help you hit the ball further. And that a series (or two) of golf lessons will help you improve. I get mail everyday from golfers who have taken these lessons. I ask them if they know what causes a topped or sliced shot (or anything else) and they NEVER have the correct answer. Have extra money that you don't know what to do with? Give it to the American Cancer Society or take that long-awaited vacation, or pay off your house. Only a fool would want to make these fat cats fatter!
To learn more about Jim's simple approach to learning your best
golf swing in the shortest period of time visit his site at www.mcgolf.com.
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