Why Golf Instruction
Doesn't Work
Golf "Instruction" is an Oxy-Moron
No sport on earth has as many "training
aids", "swing gurus" and "tips"
to try and help you improve. With the amount of
money spent on improving equipment technology
and studying the motions of the swing one would
think there would be a "cure for the common
swing" by now. But, like the common cold,
we are no closer to finding a solution to this
ailment than when we began. We can send someone
to the moon and back but have yet to figure out
a way to get rid of a slice. A car can run on
solar power but hitting a five yard draw is an
elusive mystery for most. Golfers seek out every
latest teaching fad, instructional tip and equipment
breakthrough as if it were the cure for cancer,
hoping that "this will be the one."
Sadly, it never will be. Golf instruction by itself
will never make you a good golfer, especially
today's instruction. Neither will hitting all
the balls in the world using every training aid
ever made with the latest and greatest in equipment.
A sound golf swing is attainable, but you must
go down the right path to find it.
One of the greatest ironies of life is the constant
search for answers and meaning. People spend their
entire lives searching for some cosmic truth as
to why we are all here and what our purpose in
life is, just the way golfers spend countless
hours on the range or reading books or watching
TV for that one tip that will change their golf
game forever. This insatiable desire to hit good
golf shots creates a market for the countless
training aids and golf instructors who can charge
$5000 for a morning of their time, yet can guarantee
absolutely nothing in return. It takes most golfers
an entire lifetime to realize, much like happiness,
you can't "buy" a good golf swing. So
how does one attain a good golf swing? Are some
just doomed to slicing because of a lack of talent
or athleticism? No more than they are doomed to
a life of sadness are they doomed to a life of
poor golf.
So what is the cure to the slice? What is the
"secret" to hitting 300 yard drives?
Sadly, because you have read this far, it means
that you are still looking for that one secret
tip that all good ball strikers know and you don't.
You are still looking externally for answers when
you had them all along. The cosmic joke of the
universe is that the answers to all your questions
about life, peace, happiness and a good golf swing
have always been right in front of your eyes.
The secret is that there is no secret. The second
you stop trying to understand the golf swing at
an intellectual level is the very moment in your
golfing career that you open yourself up to your
true golfing potential. The golf swing is much
like Zen, it can't be taught, only experienced.
If I tried to explain to you with words what Zen
or love or happiness are, they would never suffice.
There are no exact words to accurately describe
how to make a proper golf swing just as there
are no words to describe what love is. If you
try and explain what love is to a computer it
will never understand because love is not logical,
but a human who has experienced love can fully
comprehend what love is without any words being
said. If someone were to try and "teach"
a human how to love, it would never work because
words cannot replace the experience. In much the
same way, NO ONE can explain to you how to swing
a golf club and guarantee you will "get it".
There are some things that can be put into words
just as there are some words that can describe
happiness. But to truly understand happiness you
must first experience it. So, how can anyone ever
expect to learn the golf swing?
A good golf instructor is one who understands
that the technical aspects of the golf swing are
never the sole focus of learning, no more than
a Buddhist monk would be expected to attain enlightenment
by learning the details of "how to"
meditate. A Zen master would act as a guide to
the monk, passing along wisdom and experience,
not just "technical" details. But first,
the Zen master must experience enlightenment for
himself, how else could he guide someone down
a path that clearly cannot be explained with words
alone? How can someone learn to love from someone
who has never loved? In much the same way, taking
lessons from a golf instructor who can't strike
the ball like a master and focuses only on the
technical details guarantees you one thing - that
you are missing half the picture.
When instructors are asked to describe the golf
swing, it often sounds something like this. A
golfer addresses the ball with it positioned just
off the left instep and the club resting directly
behind it. The shaft of the club should be near
vertical with the ball positioned off the center
of the club face. To start the swing, the club
begins moving back low and slow to the ground,
maintaining the triangle established by the arms
and chest. When the arms reach parallel to the
ground, the club should be at a perpendicular
angle to the arms, vertical to the ground. You
get the picture. This goes on into infinity, with
every single last detail technically explained.
This is the level of understanding most golf instructors
have of the swing today. The chances for someone
successfully striking a golf ball following this
"instruction" are about as good as someone
being told how to love in the same manner and
having a successful marriage. It won't happen.
If someone were to ask me to describe the golf
swing, I would say this. The golf swing is a natural,
athletic and dynamic motion. That's it. That is
my contribution to the overly complex world of
golf instruction. How profound, no? No details,
no technique, no lecture on the importance of
a good grip. Not that these things are not important,
but they are the tip of the iceberg and more of
a pitfall than they are helpful. Those that get
bogged down in the sludge of technique of how
to swing a golf club will never truly understand
how to swing a golf club.
There are dozens and
dozens of so called "experts" of the
golf swing. I even saw one person who says he
earned his "doctorate of golf" from
The Swing Machine. This person loves to talk about
the angles and lines of the golf swing. This is
how he teaches, by having students look at lines
on a video monitor and getting a lesson in geometry.
I suppose if you could carry the monitor around
with you during a round of golf, it could be helpful.
The golf swing is far less complex than most instructors
would like you to believe. They teach you a very
complicated two plane swing either because that
is all they know or they want you to keep coming
back for more lessons so they can make more money.
I consider myself to be more like the renegade
magicians who go and share the "secrets"
of magic tricks so that all who want to truly
learn, can. The "secrets" of the golf
swing have run their course. My goal is and always
will be to teach a golfer the golf swing in one
lesson, and then I never want to see you again
:-) If in one lesson I can't teach you everything
you need to truly know about the golf swing and
dramatically simplify your understanding of the
swing, then you need to find a better instructor.
What some of my students have had to say:
In the few days that I have known Chuck, I have made much more progress in controlling my ball flight than I thought was possible. As Chuck stated, I have worked with numerous instructors. Some of them have top rankings in golf digest. None have shown me such instant results and understanding of how to control a golf ball in flight. I look forward to working with Chuck and reaching my full potential as a professional golfer.
-Paul Dickinson, PGA and Nationwide Tour golfer, former all-American at UAB
I recently had a lesson with Chuck. I must say that he has a great eye for the swing and keeps it very simple. I have been swinging one plane, which I learned from another instructor, for about 7 months. My first instructor is great and really knows his stuff, but I felt like I was hitting some walls. I play on the Greygoose Gateway Tour and have really been struggling. I felt as though some different language and another look would be benificial.After a quick refresh of fundamentals (which Jack said was the first thing he ever did when at a lesson) we got right into it. While my shot dispersion was off at first it quickly tightned up by the end of the lesson. At the beginging I counldn't keep an eight iron on line and by the end I was hitting 3 irons down a rope. If you have the opprotunity to work with him… do it. You won't regret it.
-Cody Lowry, Professional Golfer
"I had a great time in Orlando. I can’t wait to come back. The lesson and the attention you gave me was first class. The DVD’s are excellent and I feel that it give’s me the direction I needed for my Golf game. Thank you for a wonderful time."
-Bill White, former NFL running back
That's it. It's that simple. And TRUST ME. All you need is one lesson. However in my opinion you cannot do this on your own. If you love golf as I do get in your car/or fly and book a lesson with Chuck. You need someone to look at what you are doing and who better than Chuck. Now the bottom line-RESULTS. We did not have a range-finder but I would guess my 7 Iron CARRY was 155-160 a 15 yard increase with a very HIGH ball flight. As to the driver Chuck was getting bored watching me hit drives straight down the range probably about 245-250 CARRY at least a 30 yard increase. Guys this is the real deal. I am 61 years old and have never hit the ball better or longer in my life. Oh bye the way in case you are not aware of Chuck's abilities he was hitting a 7 iron at least 180 CARRY with an effortless 1PS. My shotmaking has improved so much over the past 2 weeks (with 4 to 5 hours of practice a day) from my lesson with Chuck it's scary. He is an A+++ teacher.
-Gary Humlack
I had an opportunity to spend a couple of hours with Chuck on the range in Orlando. In the past I have had lessons from many instructors, including two with Butch Harmon himself. But the session with Chuck was far superior to anything I have experienced. I have spent considerable time with the 1ps, bought the DVD, but the time I spent with Chuck was extremely productive for me.
-Carver Wickman
"Thank you Chuck, your coaching is excellent. Honestly, I have taken lessons for 2 years and made more progress in these 4 lessons than the prior 15. Specifically, your comments about the position of the arms, motion of the right arm, degree of turn and swing tempo have had huge impact."
-
Joe Ricci
"Thanks again for the great lesson. Both my brother and I have noticed quite an improvement in our ball striking. My ball striking and effortless power was so good that I forced my wife to stay out for the back nine too. Glad I did as I went five under on that nine for a 64."
-James Macdonald
I have watched your DVD several times, monitored the forum and adopted the one plane swing. I found the simplicity and conciseness of your teaching approach refreshing. As an ex pro athletic, golf had been frustrating, but now I have experienced a tremendous improvement in my ball striking ability and a renewed enjoy of the sport.
-Joe Presti
Chuck is a very cool well spoken instructor, I had a great time working with him.
The funny thing, as has been mentioned before and by Mr.Quinton himself that this swing shouldn't be made out to be all that complicated.Thats the beauty of it. It really isn't. Lets put it this way... I played a little golf this afternoon w my wife for the first time since my lesson-
I was 2 under for nine and drove a short par 4.(First time I'd done that !)
-Walt, forum member
"I'm sure you get this a lot, but I wanted to send you a big thank you! Your excellent observations have finally helped me "experience" the golf swing. Like so many others, I've beat my head on the wall trying different things to increase my consistency with little success. I see a unique ability in you to put into words things that otherwise cannot be relayed to a general audience. I also use analogies often to get my points across that are difficult to explain...your a master within your specialty at doing this. Using analogies to natural movements has proven to be the best way for me to understand the swing. Your tireless efforts are appreciated very much by me and I'm sure many, many others. Keep up the great work and continue to share you knowledge with the rest of us. I did purchase your DVD a few days ago (not received yet) - after only 2 days at a driving range I am striking the ball very well...I am amazed!
-Anthony Brown
The real test came when I took my 16-year old son (he is a 3-handicap competitive golfer who has recently been struggling) out to the practice tee (he also participated in most of the above work with me) to try out the one-plane concepts. THEY WORKED!!! Good instruction works right away, and I am very convinced that you (through Hardy) are dead right about the dominance of the 1p swing.
-William M. Wadden IV
Yesterday Evening, I shot the greatest round of golf in my life! All thanks to your website. A 4-over par, 76. What makes this incredible is the fact that I haven't broken 80 since I started playing golf again (the last 18 months), and the fact that I was 5-over after 6 holes, and 1-under on the last 12 (11 pars, 1 birdie).
-Paul Christian
I have found your site after watching that same episode of golf Academy. I like your thoughts, your teaching philosophy is amazing and filled with hard core truth. Your "Zen" feelings and opinion about golf instructors and gold instruction ( destruction) are in line with how I feel.
-Jeff Lester
First of all, I'll join all the others who have complimented you on the site. THIS IS EASILY THE BEST GOLF SITE THAT I HAVE EVER COME ACROSS. I know that you have put a lot of time and effort into it, and it shows.
-Phil McInnis
The hard work has paid off, Richard got offered a scholarship to play golf at Andrew College!!
-Sonny Hall, father of student Richard Hall
Since working on the one plane swing since last July, getting both DvDs, and making the trip to Orlando to see Chuck once in person, my scores have been steadily dropping. When I started last summer reading and posting on this site, I made a commitment to try the OPS for at least through this summer. I have seen my handicap go from a ten to a seven, have been hitting way more greens and fairways, and playing relatively stress free because the ball generally goes in the direction that I want it to. Chuck's way of teaching the long game and the short game has been serving me very well. It is still my intention to be at scratch by the end of this summer.
-Greg Lee
I too started with Chuck's dvds last summer. Got my handicap from 14 to 9 in a couple of months.
-Sundevil, forum member
I just watched the online lesson Chuck did for my swing and if you have not taken advantage of this service, I would highly recommend.It is a bit intimidating to start the video and see your swing next to Chuck's but you know the way CQ handles the video explanation, he targets exactly the areas for improvement and does so in a very, very simple explanation. He found a few minor areas that all resulted from a couple basic positions early and later in my swing. The graphics and overlays of lines are really helpful to where your swing is and where it needs to be and how it got there. Just what I was looking for! The 4 lessons are a bargain, in my opinion, from the quality of output and analysis but just to show you how honorable Chuck is, he only charged me for one, suggested I make a few changes and on my way I go. A tad bit different from other instructors in the past who are happy to get me on the merry go round of advice never to end. If you are doing what I did in the trial and error method of golf, give the online lesson a try.
-Winfinancial, forum member
So, I drive 10 hours from Rocky Mount, NC to Windermere to have a two hour lesson with Chuck. All I can say is that you all should get the chance to meet him in person. I had a great time and this is easily the best money/time I have ever spent on improving my golf game. There is no way to describe just how simple this swing can be if you just let it. Not only did I feel like I made a lot of progress on my own game, I also feel like I made a great new friend.
gwlee7, forum member
First, I have to say that Chuck could not be a nicer guy - genuinely gracious and encouraging. Next, he's a gifted teacher: a keen eye and the ability to convey things simply (not surprising). Finally, it helped so much! We worked on very simple things (nothing that isn't already well known to everyone on the site - just the basics and I won't bore you with the details) - I kept saying "it can't be this simple", but it was. It was not as if a few words cured all the problems, but he clearly showed the things I needed to work on and some simple ways to do it. The bottom line is that I encourage everyone who is struggling to (1) review the basics again and again (something I'd gotten away from) and (2) go see Chuck if you can - worth every minute and every penny (do it before he becomes bigger than Leadbetter and can charge $1,000/hr!).
-Adam Ryan
Chuck's recent tip (see arm position thread) has solved many of my 1PS problems and I rate it the most important modification of the Hardy 1PS that I have discovered. I think that all 1PS players should try it out if the Hardy 1PS is not working well for them. I think that Chuck deserves many accolades for this amazing tip, and I suspect that I will be using the "Chuck Quinton 1PS" regularly in the future.
-Jeff Mann
If you have realized some truths about golf and
want to improve your game, not just your technique,
email me: