John Lucas

I was reading a book called ”Quotable Hogan” and it gave me some thoughts about practicing. Ben Hogan said, “Practice doesn’t make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect.”

 

Also, “I realize that in some ways I can be a demanding person and that some things are harder for certain people to do than I may appreciate, but it really cuts me up to watch some golfer sweating over his shots on the practice tee, throwing away his energy to no constructive purpose, and nine times out of ten, he’s doing the same thing years back when he first took up golf ... He’s going to get worse and worse because he’s going to get his bad habits more deeply ingrained.”  

 

I couldn’t agree more! I believe that unless one is working something in his swing that is a correct move he is better off not practicing at all. Another quote: “You simply cannot bypass the fundamentals in golf any more than you sit down at the piano and play Mozart or Beethoven.”

 

Try reading Hogan’s book, “Five lessons-The Modern Fundamentals of Golf.” Have a friend take a moving recording of you hitting a golf ball and then compare it to the swings of the PGA pros on television and to the thoughts and pictures in his book. Start by learning good posture.

 

No good swing comes from a golfer who slumps over and has incorrect alignments and body angles. It’s all covered in his first two lessons in his book.

 

Finally, a last quote: “I can’t recall ever having a golf lesson, but I’ve learned thousands of things by watching good players play and practice golf. You can learn how to teach yourself.”

Rules teaser:
A player entered a bunker and placed his bag of clubs in the bunker, then played his next shot. Ruling?

Answer to last column’s teaser:

A player casually flicked some range balls back to a nearby driving range while playing the hole. Ruling? No penalty.

 

John Lucas is the professional at SkyRidge Golf Course and can be reached at john98382@olypen.com.