Swing changes, any dedicated golfer would tell you, take time. Your body has been trained to do something one way, likely for your whole life, and now you are changing it. (How dare you!)
But changing your swing and fixing your game isn’t supposed to be easy. I know this first hand, as I’m currently going through a swing overhaul myself through GOLFTEC, which is helping several GOLF.com staffers across the U.S. this summer.
I’ve taken a handful of lessons so far with my instructor, Nick Pelle, and have really liked the results. It’s working. We made some pretty big changes and my swing is noticeably better. It was too steep before and that was the main reason behind my inconsistent strikes and spotty accuracy. Now, the tough part, which is on me, is to practice. But this is where it gets hard for golfers. Your game doesn’t just click overnight. You need reps.
Coming off my best range session of the year, I was pumped (and optimistic!) go play golf earlier this week. Yet my game went south fast. Bad drives, bad irons, bad chips. You name it. It was a pretty tough pill to swallow.
Fast forward to the next day (back to the daily grind) and I’m digging through recent LPGA press conferences looking for one thing, and then I stumble upon another — 26-year-old LPGA pro Bronte Law going deep on her swing changes.
Law, ranked 87th in the world, was speaking at last week’s Pure Silk Championship, which she won in 2019. She said she’s been focusing on trying to stay taller through the ball and rotating more on the way back, mostly to alleviate back pain, extend her career and add some distance.
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Law said it’s been important to remember her goals, and what she needs to do to accomplish them. Cue the quote that immediately resonated with me:
“I think like any other golfer out here, there’s obviously times that are tougher than others,” she said. “But I always try and use those times to better myself and add them all together to kind of make me a stronger, better golfer, and more resilient.”
Wait, so it’s not supposed to be easy, despite my 2-3 trips to the range per week? Maybe I should have thought about that. Law continued:
“So I just constantly remind myself of why I’m making these changes because the progression is never linear, and there will always be bumps in the road,” she said. “I’m just willing to put in the hard work and probably working the hardest I ever have in my career right now, but I’m looking forward to when those results start paying off.”
Sure, a professional golfer has more time to dedicate to their game than I do to mine, but Law’s thoughtful comments reiterated something important for me. Golf is hard. You need to practice. Results don’t come overnight, but rather via small wins here and there.
Law, for example, said she started working on her specific changes last year, but she couldn’t put the time in due to her back acting up. Since then she added a a new strength and conditioning coach and says she is working to get her body stronger every day. Now she says she doesn’t come off the course in pain and can spend time working on the range. She enjoys hitting golf balls again. (See, one of those small wins.)
“I feel like I’m really kind of starting to see the other side of things,” she said. “Obviously it’s really difficult when you make changes, but you know, looking back, a lot of people would always say to me, ‘Why are you making these changes? You were playing good golf.’ Like I was playing good golf, but I wasn’t at the level that I wanted to be at, and for me, I won’t just settle for second best. … I’m a true, firm believer that hard work does pay off and I will get to where I want to be.”
Back to the range I go.
