Tag: golf coaching

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The Myelin Trap

Why Your Brain Prefers Your Old Slice Over Your New Swing

By Kevin Cotter, PGA

1. The Hook: The Frustration of the Lesson Tee

It is a cycle that defines the amateur experience. You spend an hour on the range with an instructor who identifies a clear mechanical flaw. You see the error on video, you digest the logic of the correction, and for a brief window—perhaps the remainder of the session or a single Saturday morning—you experience what feels like a breakthrough. The contact is crisp, the ball flight is true, and you feel you have finally turned a corner.

Then, inevitably, the “Cognitive Stage spike” fades. By the third hole on Sunday, the old slice reasserts itself with a vengeance. You are left with the maddening question identified in The Subconscious Swing: “If I understand what I’m supposed to do, why can’t I just do it?”

If you find yourself trapped in this loop, the issue isn’t your athletic talent or your intelligence. The problem is a fundamental misunderstanding of the biological requirements of change. You aren’t failing at golf; you are failing to respect the architecture of your own nervous system.

2. Knowing is Not Doing: The Biological Gap

In modern golf, clarity is frequently mistaken for change. We assume that once a concept “makes sense,” the skill has been acquired. Neuroscience tells a different story: understanding and execution are handled by two separate, often competing, brain systems.

When you process a new swing thought, you are engaging the Prefrontal Cortex. This region is the seat of conscious logic and language. While it excels at analyzing video or reading a book, it is a catastrophic failure at managing a golf swing in real time. As the source text explains:

“It’s too slow and too energy-intensive for real-time coordination.”

Consistent, high-performance movement is instead the domain of the Motor Control Network, specifically the cerebellum and basal ganglia. These nodes specialize in automatic sequencing and timing, operating at speeds the conscious mind cannot touch. The “gap” exists because your knowledge is stored in the prefrontal cortex, but your movement pattern is still being dictated by an un-reprogrammed motor network. Until that pattern is encoded neurally, “knowing” is merely an intellectual exercise.

3. The Three Stages of Mastery (and Why You’re Stuck in Stage 1)

To move a skill from an idea into an instinct, every golfer must navigate three distinct biological stages. Most stall at the very beginning.

  • The Cognitive Stage: This is the phase of awareness. You are thinking about positions, angles, and sequences. Movement is deliberate, effortful, and erratic. Most golf instruction exists solely here, providing a temporary sense of progress that lacks a biological foundation.
  • The Associative Stage: This is the “Valley of Neural Competition.” The movement feels more natural, but it still requires conscious monitoring to prevent the old habit from taking over. Results are uneven. This is where the majority of golfers quit, misinterpreting natural variability as a sign that the change “isn’t working.”
  • The Autonomous Stage: The objective. The motor control network has fully encoded the pattern. The swing no longer requires conscious monitoring and can withstand the pressure of a Sunday afternoon because it is no longer dependent on the prefrontal cortex.

Most golfers fail because they abandon the process in the Associative stage, never allowing the cerebellum and basal ganglia to take full ownership.

4. The Scaffolding Trap: Why You’re Better When the Pro is Watching

Many golfers lament, “I wish you could be here for every shot, because when you’re here, I can do it.” This is not a compliment to the teacher’s personality; it is a description of External Scaffolding.

During a lesson, the pro’s presence serves to offload your cognitive load. The instructor is essentially acting as your external prefrontal cortex, artificially narrowing your focus and filtering out distractions. This creates “provisional success.” You aren’t actually “better” in that moment; you are simply less autonomous. You haven’t “owned” the skill; you are merely performing within a temporary support structure. When the scaffolding is removed on the first tee, your divided attention causes the fragile, unencoded movement to collapse.

5. The 12-Week Rule: Why You Must Finish What You Start

The failure to automate a swing often stems from “scattered intentions.” Consider the case of a professional golfer who spent three years trying to fix his driver swing without success. Despite hitting thousands of balls, his focus shifted daily—takeaway one day, transition the next. Because his repetitions were never concentrated on a single node, his nervous system never received the consistent signal required for automation.

Contrast this with the mid-handicap golfer who tried to change six things in one season. By the end of the year, his ball-striking was unchanged. He famously remarked:

“I feel like I’m gathering swing thoughts rather than actually building a swing.”

The central truth of motor learning is that true automaticity requires protecting a single intention for an extended period—typically 12 weeks. To move a skill into the autonomous stage, you must commit to a single pattern for 3 consecutive months without switching, adding, or modifying it. Biological integrity requires finishing what you start.

6. When ‘Getting Worse’ is Actually a Sign of Progress

The most common point of failure for a golfer is the onset of “awkwardness.” When contact deteriorates, they assume the change is wrong. In reality, they are experiencing Neural Competition.

Your old swing is supported by heavily myelinated neural pathways. Myelin acts as a biological insulator; the more a path is used, the more it is insulated, making the signal faster and more efficient. Your old slice is literally “better wired” than your new swing.

When you introduce a new move, the brain enters a phase in which it activates a “confused mix” of the old, myelinated path and the new, weak path. This discomfort is the feeling of your brain deciding which path to trust. If you quit because it feels “wrong,” you stop at the exact moment your nervous system is beginning to reorganize. You are abandoning the investment just as the myelin is beginning to wrap around the new habit.

7. Conclusion: From Awareness to Automaticity

Lasting golf improvement is not about a “missing key” or a secret tip. It is a strategic investment in habituation. To break the cycle, you must shift your perspective from seeking quick fixes to building biological structures.

Mastery demands disciplined patience. You must stop judging your practice by the quality of the shots and start judging it by the integrity of your intention. Real progress is invisible; it happens in the deepening of neural pathways and the thickening of myelin.

The process of moving from awareness to automaticity works, provided you don’t interrupt it. The question is: will you trust the biology long enough to finish the job?

Read the book, The Subconscious Swing, now available for Kindle eBook pre-order, publication date 05/28/2026, paperback releases same day.

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4 Essential Golf Tips From Jeeno Thitikul, Nelly Korda, Brooke Henderson & Minjee Lee

By Brendon Elliott, PGA

Published on Saturday, November 22, 2025

The leaderboard at the CME Group Tour Championship tells a story that goes beyond scores and prize money.

After two rounds in Naples, Florida, we’re watching four of the world’s finest players demonstrate what separates good golf from great golf. And here’s the thing: the lessons they’re teaching us aren’t reserved for tour professionals.

Let’s break down what Jeeno Thitikul, Nelly Korda, Brooke Henderson, and Minjee Lee are showing us this week, and more importantly, how you can apply their strengths to your own game.

Jeeno Thitikul: The Power of Precision Over Distance

Leading at 14-under par, Jeeno is putting on a ball-striking clinic. But here’s what caught my eye: she’s hitting 93% of her fairways (26 of 28) while averaging 275 yards off the tee. That’s not the longest distance out there, yet she’s three shots clear of the field.

The Tip: Master Your Personal Power Zone

Jeeno isn’t trying to be the longest hitter. She’s found her optimal swing speed where she maintains complete control while still generating plenty of distance. This is what I call your “personal power zone,” and it’s one of the most underutilized concepts in amateur golf.

What It Helps: Finding your power zone improves accuracy and consistency, and, ironically, often increases your effective distance because you’re hitting more fairways and better lies.

Why It Works: When you swing at 85-90% of your maximum effort instead of 100%, you maintain better balance, tempo, and face control. Your body can repeat the motion more reliably, and your mind stays calmer throughout the swing.

How to Start: On the range, hit a dozen drives at what feels like 75% effort. Note your carry distance. Then hit a dozen at 90% effort. Compare not just distance, but dispersion pattern. Most players find their sweet spot around 85-87% effort, where they lose only 5-10 yards but gain 50% more fairways. That’s your power zone. Practice living there.

Nelly Korda: The Fairway Finder’s Advantage

Nelly matched Jeeno’s fairway accuracy in round two, going 14 for 14, and she’s done it while averaging 283 yards. At nine-under and tied for fifth, she’s proving that when you eliminate one side of the golf course, scoring becomes significantly easier.

The Tip: Commit to Your Stock Shot Shape

Nelly knows her ball flight and trusts it completely. She’s not trying to hit different shapes on every hole. She’s playing her reliable pattern and aiming accordingly.

What It Helps: This approach reduces decision-making stress, simplifies course management, and builds the kind of confidence that shows up under pressure.

Why It Works: Your brain and body can groove one swing pattern far more effectively than trying to hit multiple shapes. When you know your ball is going to move a certain way, you can aim with conviction and swing without doubt.

How to Start: Spend three range sessions hitting only your natural shot shape. If you fade it, fade every shot. Don’t fight your pattern. Learn exactly how much it curves with each club. Then on the course, aim for that shape and trust it. Give yourself a month of this commitment, and watch your fairways hit percentage climb.

Brooke Henderson: The Short Game Separator

Brooke’s sitting at nine-under, and while her driving distance average of 267 yards is the shortest among these four players, she’s making up for it where it counts. She went 14 for 14 in fairways in round two and has hit 96% of her fairways overall (27 of 28). She’s also hit 30/36 greens in regulation. Here’s the kicker: she’s converted on all but one of her 6 up and down opportunities, that’s an 83% scrambling clip. Pretty solid.

The Tip: Practice Scrambling Like Your Round Depends On It

Brooke understands that perfect ball-striking is a myth. What matters is recovering brilliantly when things go sideways.

What It Helps: A strong short game transforms bogey holes into par saves and par holes into birdie opportunities. It’s the fastest way to lower your scores without changing your swing.

Why It Works: While the long game accounts for the majority of scoring differences between golfers, a strong short game acts as a crucial safety net that prevents round-killing double and triple bogeys. Even great players miss 5-7 greens per round, and your ability to scramble in those moments keeps big numbers off your scorecard and maintains momentum when your ball-striking isn’t sharp.

How to Start: Create a “scrambling circuit” at your practice facility. Drop three balls in different challenging spots around one green: thick rough, a bunker, and a tight lie. You must get up and down with at least two of the three balls before moving to the next green. Do this for 30 minutes twice a week. Your confidence around the greens will skyrocket.

Minjee Lee: The Green (and Pin) Reading Genius

Minjee is also nine-under and has been absolutely surgical with her iron play, hitting 89% of greens in regulation (32 of 36). When you’re giving yourself that many birdie looks, you’re going to score.

The Tip: Prioritize Green Center Over Pin Hunting

Minjee’s GIR percentage tells us she’s not always firing at flags. She’s playing to the fat part of greens and trusting her putting.

What It Helps: This strategy reduces three-putts, eliminates short-sided disasters, and actually creates more birdie opportunities because you’re putting from the green instead of chipping from the rough.

Why It Works: The difference between a 25-foot putt from the center of the green and a 15-foot putt from a tucked pin location is minimal in terms of birdie percentage for most golfers. But the difference between being on the green versus short-sided in rough is massive.

How to Start: For the next five rounds, ignore every pin position. Aim for the center of every green. Track your GIR percentage and your average putts per GIR. Compare it to your previous five rounds. I’m willing to bet you’ll see improvement in both categories, and your scores will drop.

The Common Thread

What ties these four players together isn’t just talent. It’s intelligent, strategic golf. They’ve each identified their strengths and built their games around maximizing those advantages while minimizing weaknesses.

You can do the same thing. Pick one of these four tips and commit to it for the next month. Don’t try to overhaul everything at once. Just choose the area that resonates most with your game and get to work.

That’s how champions are built, one smart decision at a time.

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The Perfect Takeaway

Mastering Your Golf Swing’s First Move

By Kevin Cotter, PGA

The golf swing begins with a unified movement of the clubhead, hands, arms, and shoulders. This movement, known as the “one-piece takeaway,” ensures that all upper body parts move harmoniously. Following this initial action, the hips start to rotate, responding to the movement of the shoulders. As the hips turn, the lower body—knees and feet—follow as the weight shifts back, over, and around the rear leg.

During the latter stages of this one-piece takeaway, it’s crucial to eventually allow the right elbow to fold naturally against your right side as the club continues back and up. This technique keeps the arms connected to the body, maintaining a compact and controlled swing.

The one-piece takeaway sets the initial rhythm and pace of the swing and syncs the sequence of movements: clubhead, hands, shoulders, hips, and then the lower body. This order is vital for correctly coiling the upper body against the lower body, creating a spring-like mechanism that unleashes substantial power during the downswing.

Proper takeaway execution is also fundamental in harnessing power through angular momentum, often referred to as the “lever system.” Effective use of this system is key to generating tremendous force and enabling a ball-first, then turf contact—essential for tight lies. Furthermore, striking the ball with a descending blow is critical; it imparts the necessary spin for the ball to stick in the landing/target area.

Additionally, the natural flow of the one-piece takeaway greatly influences the club’s path. Ideally, the club should move straight back, then slightly inside, before turning upward. This motion ensures that the club follows a similar, semi-circular path on the downswing, facilitating a clean and consistent strike from the ball through to the follow-through.

Contrarily, forcing the club too quickly to the outside or inside during the initial backswing can disrupt this path, leading to potential mishits like pulls or slices. Thus, mastering the one-piece takeaway is crucial as it lays the foundation for a powerful, repeatable golf swing, enabling consistent, clean, straight shots.

This detailed guide to the one-piece takeaway improves your initial swing motion and lays the foundation for a powerful, precise, and consistent swing.

Master Your Swing Today!

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Five Keys to Hit Your Fairway Woods Better

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By Brendon Elliott, PGA

Published on Saturday, June 29, 2024

In Thursday’s first round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Cam Young hit a beautiful fairway wood from 273 yards to 3 feet. Fairway wood shots like this are shots that most amateur golfers can only dream of hitting. For most, just getting a fairway wood airborne is a significant achievement.

Struggling to hit fairway woods consistently off the deck, or the tee? You’re in good company.

Many golfers grapple with these longer clubs. But fear not, with the right techniques and practice, you can start hitting fairway woods better and add some serious distance and accuracy to your game.

Try these tips:

Get Fairway Woods That Suit Your Swing

First and foremost, it’s crucial to have the correct fairway woods in your bag. The loft and shaft flex should suit your swing speed and personal preferences. Once you have the right club, it’s time to focus on your setup and swing.

Trust The Equipment

Another key element is to trust the club’s loft. Fairway woods are designed to provide lift, so avoid trying to help the ball into the air by scooping or flipping your wrists at impact. Instead, trust the club’s loft and focus on making solid, confident conta

Understand How To Hit a Fairway Wood Properly

When hitting fairway woods off the fairway, a common mistake is to try and lift the ball into the air. Instead, focus on making solid contact with the ball at impact. Position the ball slightly forward in your stance, just inside your front heel. This setup promotes a slightly descending blow, ensuring clean contact with the ball.

Rhythm & Tempo

In terms of the swing, it’s essential to maintain a smooth tempo and rhythm. Fairway woods are designed to sweep the ball off the turf, unlike hitting irons, where you may take a divot after the ball. To achieve this, focus on a shallow angle of attack. Stay behind the ball at impact and maintain your spine angle through the swing. This will help you strike the ball cleanly and get the ball airborne.

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Nelly Korda’s Swing Tempo Tips

INTERMEDIATE

Golf Tips: Copy Nelly Korda’s Swing Tempo With These 3 Keys

By Brendon Elliott, PGA

Published on Saturday, April 20, 2024

With no disrespect to Scottie Scheffler and his dominance in the men’s game, Nelly Korda may be the best golfer on the planet right now. Going for her fifth straight win this week at The Chevron Championship, the LPGA’s first major of the year, Nelly sits in a very familiar place near the top of the leaderboard.

One of the most striking things about Nelly’s swing is its fluidity. Her motion is smooth and graceful, with no wasted or unnecessary movements. Her natural rhythm and tempo allow her to generate power without sacrificing accuracy.

Another key element of Nelly’s swing is her balance. She maintains a stable base throughout her swing, which allows her to continually make solid contact and control her shot trajectory. Her weight shift is subtle and controlled, which helps her to maintain her balance and generate power.

Nelly’s swing also features a high level of coordination between her upper body and lower body. Her hips and shoulders rotate in a way that creates proper resistance between each other, allowing her to generate torque and power. Her arms and hands remain relaxed and passive, allowing the club head to do the work.

Of course, Nelly’s swing didn’t develop overnight. It has taken years of hard work and dedication to reach the level of proficiency that she now possesses. The following three tips can help you find better balance, fluidity, and rhythm in your swing, but, just like with Nelly, it will take some time to really get things dialed in.

Focus on your posture

Maintaining good posture from set up and throughout your swing is essential for achieving balance and fluidity. As you get set, focus on keeping your spine and sternum steady and over the ball, with your weight evenly distributed and your feet shoulder-width apart. This will help you maintain your balance throughout the swing.

As you move throughout your swing, always try to maintain that feeling of centeredness, with those critical points of the spine and sternum steady and over the ball.

Practice your transition

Many golfers lose rhythm and fluidity during the transition between the backswing and downswing.

Nelly Korda of the United States plays her shot from the third tee during the second round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on November 18, 2022 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

To improve this, practice your transition by slowing down your swing and focusing on the smoothness of the movement. Once you have mastered a slow and smooth transition, gradually increase your speed until you can maintain the same fluidity at a faster pace.

Use your hips correctly

A consistent and solid golf swing relies heavily on using your hips correctly. This helps generate power and maintain fluidity. Additionally, it allows for a consistent strike at impact and a reliable shot shape. Check out this sequence from Nelly:

Notice Nelly rotating her hips throughout the swing, starting with her backswing and continuing through to your follow-through. As you swing back, your hips should rotate around 45 degrees, with your upper torso rotating an additional 45 degrees beyond that. That resistance between your upper body, rotating closer to 90 degrees, and your 45-degree hip turn creates the wind-up, which is necessary for you to be powerful once you transition down from the top of the swing.

As you unwind in the downswing, your hips must lead the way and rotate out of the way so that your hands and club can approach the ball from the inside. Hips that do not clear properly in the downswing create problems with consistency in your swing.

Catch some coverage of The Chevron Championship this weekend . . . there’s a lot you can learn from one of the LPGA’s stars who’s on an unreal run!

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Try This Drill to Cure Your Slice

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Golf Tips

Published on Tuesday, April 2, 2024

The slice is enemy No. 1 for a lot of golfers. And it’s easy to see why.

A slice curves away from the target pretty quickly and zaps distance, making tee shots and approach shots less likely to find the fairway and green. The result? Higher scores.

Slicing the ball is a common fault because it’s a combination of a lot of common miscues but none more prevalent than an over-the-top backswing and open clubface at impact. Those two combined make it easy for the ball to spin left to right (for righties, opposite for lefties), and away from the target.

The good part about a slice though, is just like any swing fault, it can be fixed with the right prescription. We asked Jimmy Wisinski, the PGA of America Director of Instruction at Kent Country Club in Michigan, to share a drill on how the combat the dreaded slice.

Jimmy delivered with a great alignment-stick drill that you can do the next time you hit the range:

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The Coat Hanger Drill

A coat hanger can help straighten up your wrists and eliminate any scooping in your swing.

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How to choose a golf coach

 

By John Hughes

Published on 

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Here are some important points to consider when choosing a golf coach:
Compatibility
Make sure there is a good fit between you and your coach on all levels, personality type to mutual goals, to similar beliefs about the game and how it should be played, as well as your coach’s ability to relate to your individual needs.
Find a PGA Coach near you

Do your Research — One good way to find the right coach is to ask your friends and playing partners for referrals. Ask them about pricing, reputation, location, and how they improved after working with the coach. Call the coach and set up a phone or in-person meeting. A good coach will be happy to discuss your game and get to know you.

Accreditation and Experience — Does your golf coach have the education and experience to take your game to any level you desire? Many individuals claim to be golf coaches but you cannot get any better golf instruction than from a member of the PGA or LPGA, all of whom have completed intense training which they need to continually update.

Swing Aids — A swing aid should do one thing: assist you in feeling the difference between what you are currently doing in your swing versus what your coach would like you to feel within your swing. If a swing aid does not provide that feedback for you, then it is not the right choice for you.

Technology — Video is an expectation of golf practice. If you cannot post the video to various social media immediately, you are behind the times. The value of videos should be to show you what how you need to improve your swing.

Follow-up Communication — You should expect instant feedback via digital platform or in-person, regarding follow-up practice, scheduling and your improvement.

An Expert Team — Golf is getting so diverse that a coach cannot know everything about golf anymore. Good coaches will surround themselves with a team of experts that may include a fitness instructor, sports psychologist, nutritionist, and others. You may not need all those experts but having them at your disposal could be a huge benefit to you.

Wherever your golf journey is heading, let’s get you there. There are nearly 29,000 PGA Professionals ready to help. Find yours at pga.com/coach.

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The Golf Grip: Your Essential Foundation for a Consistent Swing

By Kevin Cotter, PGA
The grip is the crucial link between your body and the golf club — the point where feel, control, and power all begin. Arnold Palmer captured it perfectly:

“The grip is the crucial junction point from which all the body’s strength and rhythm are transferred to the club.”

A sound grip is not just a fundamental—it’s the foundation of every consistent, repeatable golf swing.

The Three Primary Golf Grips

Golfers generally use one of three classic grip styles. Each has unique benefits, and understanding them helps you select the grip that best suits your hands, mechanics, and comfort.

1. The Overlapping Grip (Vardon Grip)

The most widely used grip in golf, named after legendary champion Harry Vardon.

How it works:

  • The right pinky rests on top of the gap between the left index and middle fingers.
  • This softly “connects” the hands into one unified unit.

Benefits:

  • Encourages a natural release of the club.
  • Promotes hand unity without tension.
  • Ideal for players with medium or larger hands.

This grip is the preferred choice for most advanced golfers because it blends control with fluidity.

2. The Interlocking Grip

A favorite among players wanting an even more secure hand connection. Used famously by Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

How it works:

  • The right pinky hooks around the left index finger, interlocking them together.

Benefits:

  • Creates a very strong, unified hand structure.
  • Prevents the dominant hand from overpowering the swing.
  • Great for players with smaller hands or those seeking tighter control.

If your hands tend to separate during the swing, this grip can be a game-changer.

3. The Ten-Finger Grip (Baseball Grip)

Less common among seasoned golfers, but incredibly useful for beginners and players with limited strength.

How it works:

  • All ten fingers remain in contact with the club, similar to holding a baseball bat.

Benefits:

  • Easy to learn and very comfortable.
  • Provides leverage for players who need extra strength.
  • Ideal for juniors, newcomers, or players overcoming physical limitations.

While it may lack some refined control, it is an excellent stepping-stone grip for developing players.

Choosing the Right Grip for Your Game

There is no single “correct” grip — just the one that fits your hands, preferences, and golf goals.

Ask yourself:

  • Which grip feels most natural?
  • Do my hands stay connected throughout the swing?
  • Am I gaining control without adding tension?

Mastering your grip is one of the fastest ways to improve ball striking, create consistency, and unlock your natural swing motion.