Fire Da Bum

In the early 50s, long before we were desensitized by today's special effects, there was a movie called "The Thing". This black and white flicker took place on the North Pole. Some explorers/scientists found a frozen man (monster) while wandering around outside doing what explorer/scientists do.

They dug up the dude and hauled him inside to preserve him for later study. He was stored in a room where the temp was below freezing. Some jerk accidentally turned up the thermostat and the creature came to life!!! "The Thing" terrorized the citizenry of the North Pole and scared the hell out of me. I could not get "The Thing" out of my mind. I slept with the lights on until just recently.

The first time I broke 80, I was 15 years old...shot 77. This was in Colorado, in the fall. During the winter months, I decided to read a golf instruction book, as it was tough to play in 4 feet of snow. There was a very popular book out at the time that told you EVERYTHING to think of in the golf swing. Many pages were devoted to the right knee, for example. I read the book several times and couldn't wait for the snow to melt. To my horror, I couldn't break 90. I was thinking of a bazillion things and could NOT get all this JUNK out of my mind. Just like...You guessed it.. "THE THING."

What does "The Thing" and golf instruction have in common...? Just this. . . Once you get something in your mind that shouldn't be there, it is tough to get it OUT. Sleeping with the lights on won't help. The more you know about real estate and the stock market, the richer you can be. Golf Pros think the more information they dish out, the better off you will be. Wrong again. The more you think during your golf swing, the WORSE you will get!!! I guarantee it.

Golf pros try to impress their students with razzle-dazzle that has NOTHING to do with discovering your best swing. Most of the information (YES, 99.9%) will definitely do more harm than good. Their goal is to snow you with some hi-tech insanity that will keep you coming back for more lessons. More confusion means more money for them. Fire da Bum. He is NOT going to do anything positive for your golf game and the chances are real good that he will confuse you and screw you up to the point where you will join millions of golfers who get discouraged and quit!!! You have read golf tips, and books, and taken lessons. . . what do you think?

The golf swing is learned with the part of the brain that controls motor skills. . . like walking. Get the point? A golf instructor worth a plastic ball maker will SHOW the student WHAT to do so the student can COPY it. If the student is doing something incorrectly, a golf pro with an IQ in the double digits will SHOW the student HOW they are swinging and then SHOW them, once again, the correct way. Nothing fancy here if a 3-year-old can savvy.

If your instructor has you hitting golf balls before you have the fundamentals of your best swing, fire the bum he's going to kill ya! If, after a couple of lessons, you are not pleased with your progress, fire the bum. It's not going to get any better. Have you ever watched a bad movie that you thought was going to get better, but it doesn't?

Less than a handful of golf instructors deserve to be called "golf professionals." The rest should be called con-artists because that, my friend, is exactly what they are. They take your money and give you bad habits, discouragement, confusion, and frustration in exchange. Remember "The Thing." Don't be a victim. Recognize the warning signs of these monsters and run like hell. But first, fire da bum!