Most practice is a waste of time.

You find a feel, hit a bucket of balls, declare victory, take it to the course. It falls apart. You go back to square one.

That’s a protocol problem.

Here’s how to fix it.

Pick one thing to work on and commit to it completely.

Often when you start chasing a second thought, the first one starts slipping. It is possible to have a backswing thought and a downswing thought for advanced players but it takes a lot of discipline.

We default to whatever pattern is most familiar. The new one needs enough reps behind it to become the familiar one before you move on.

Change takes longer than feels necessary.

Slow motion first. Always.

Speed is where old habits live. The moment you swing hard, your nervous system reverts to what it knows. It’s faster, it’s grooved, it’s comfortable. The new pattern doesn’t stand a chance.

Slow motion breaks that. It forces your body into the new position without the old reflex firing. It lets you actually feel what you’re trying to do.

Start every session in slow motion. Ghost swings at home, mirror work, weighted club, resistance bands — slow deliberate reps with your body, not just a ball. Your nervous system doesn’t care if there’s a ball involved. It just needs the rep. Both hands. Left and right. Thinking about the pattern, feeling the pattern, letting it live in your brain between sessions.

Then gradually add speed. Not the other way around.

Video is the truth teller. Feel lies.

You’ll think you’re making the change and you won’t be. You can’t trust feel alone — especially early, when everything new feels wrong and everything old feels right.

Film yourself — to verify the movement. Is the pattern actually changing? That’s the only question. Where the ball is going is almost irrelevant right now. A better position producing a worse shot temporarily is progress. Are we making a swing change or not?!

The real timeline.

An hour a day of deliberate practice. Range sessions, slow motion reps, ghost swings, mirror work. A week minimum before you touch a course — and even then, lower your expectations completely.

When you do take it to the course, you’re still training. Conservative game. Not swinging hard. Focused on movement, not score. Notice where the pattern breaks down under pressure, go back to the range, add more reps. Each time the gap between range and course gets smaller. Get some on course video swings to monitor changes.

And when you move to a new thought — keep monitoring the first one on video. Because the moment your attention shifts, your body starts drifting back. That’s not failure. That’s just golf. It’s something you’ll always monitor. The best players in the world still do.

You’re not just building a new movement. You’re building trust. In the pattern, in the process, in yourself. You’re learning, improving, and putting in the work.

That trust doesn’t come from ten good balls. It comes from doing the work long enough that the new movement stops feeling like something you’re trying to do — and starts feeling like something you just do.

That’s a swing change.

Tell me about your swing change journey! Hit reply.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​