Not long ago I was reading an email from a list I’m on that was making the point about the difference between principles and tactics in that particular industry.
And that got me thinking about you and your golf game and all the confusion that exists out there in this industry.
Namely because blokes s are so caught up in teaching tactics rather than principles when it comes to the game of golf.
You see the definition of a principle is “a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation” – that’s the short version – the long version has your eye lids drooping and you snatching 40 winks before you can yell fore!
The definition of a tactic is “a planned way of doing something”
The first requires some thought, and that’s why any teacher worth his salt will teach along the lines of principles and not tactics.
Case in point.
Let’s take the grip for example and how you hold the club.
Debate has raged for centuries as to the correct way to grip a golf club, and will continue on well past when I’ve joined the choir invisible.
Should the player use an interlocking grip? Should a player use the overlapping grip? Or should a player just use the ten finger baseball grip?
Arguments abound for both.
Not important. That’s tactics right there.
A fundamental principle is that when you put your hands on the club, they are joined together i.e. they are not separated on the handle.
Big difference.
One dictates what a player should do, the other allows for the individual traits of a player.
And if you look hard at the game of golf, particularly at instruction you can see that tactics rather than principles abound all over the place. Follow principles and you will get much better much quicker.
It’s how I cannot play for three months or so and walk out onto a course and keep it around par, because I learned principles when I was younger and not tactics.
Now moving on, one thing that can undoubtedly help a player is to pick up a few yards off the tee. But did you know that the majority of average weekend recreational players are being robbed of game changing yardage off the tee?
Check out the #1 Distance Killer E-book, it’s free and might just radically improve your golf game for good, you can find a copy at this link here.
Bob James PGA