Your Own Swing, The Foundation & How Low You Score - by veteran PGA Tour Player John "The Golf Genius" Toepel

Golfers tend to give a huge amount of importance to the swing. A good swing produces a low score is their rationale. George Knutson had a great swing. Tom Purtzer is another. Arnold Palmer is not another, yet Arnold is a house hold name and the other two are well known by only a few. I played with both Tom and George and they could really hit some shots. Arnold's record stands for itself. I think I saw a stat on TV that compared all the good players for their top three year period and it was Arnold with 27 wins from 1960-1963. Don't quote me on this stat but I'm close.

The moral of that paragraph is that it's not how pretty the swing is that's important but how low you can score on a consistent basis. So give up trying to have a perfect swing and hitting nothing but perfect shots. Concern yourself with figuring a way to score low with the game and ball striking you have right now.

Nicklaus was never great with the wedge around the green. The rest of his game made up for the weakness. Did he try to get better with the wedge? Yes, but not at the expense of the rest of his game. His strength was thinking well and making putts when he absolutely needed to. Jack has always had a solid foundation for his golf game and he did nothing to upset that foundation. Leave things the same. That way he knew what to expect from himself, his equipment and his game.

This is true about any of the greats of the game. Byron Nelson, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Hogan, Snead, are some of the greats that won for many years. They don't change anything in their swing or playing style. They know their strengths and weaknesses. They play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses. They don't do anything that would upset their foundation.

Rather than seeking a swing fix or trying a style of play that doesn't suit your personality, learn to play golf your way. Recognize your strengths and your weaknesses and play toward your strengths and away from your weaknesses. Quit trying to change everything so you can be just like……….what's that pro's name?

If you are hitting your driver 155 with an uncontrollable slice, you have some shot quality issues that need to be addressed so you can have a foundation.

Solid Foundation

What would happen to a two-story, 2,800-square-foot house built on sand with no footings? The weak foundation would cause the house to collapse and fall down at some point. There would be nothing solid under the house to hold it upright over time. Why am I talking about houses? I'm not. I'm talking about foundations. A house needs a solid foundation. So does every golfer.

The principles which under gird your ideas of the swing and the game must be solid as a rock. They must be timeless and unchanging in all conditions and situations and at all times. If this is not the case you will likely be frantically searching for quick fixes and solutions every time you hit a bad shot or get into a bad stretch. The player who wins occasionally does not have a solid foundation of swing concepts and playing concepts. He will become a consistent winner only when his constantly changing ideas are replaced by a solid foundation of changeless, timeless principles.

A golfer whose game has a solid foundation is not disturbed by a bad shot. He is not deeply upset by a poor round or a bad tournament. He is willing to adjust his game plan on the day he is not hitting crisp shots, but he is not looking for a quick-fix swing change. This is fundamental to long-term good play. If your foundation is shaky, your scores over time will be erratic at best. The player who scores well one day, then scores poorly the next couple of days, then has a good day is one whose foundation is built on shifting sand.

The five swing principles of Concept Golf give you the rock-solid foundation you need to become a consistent ball striker. They eliminate the swing as a variable in your game. The ideas in Golf Can't be this Simple - Playing the Game will put you on solid footing to consistently play the game well. Concept Golf will teach you how to actually play the game.

Concept Golf is a revolutionary golf instruction system unlike any other, producing
immediate, life-long, dramatic improvements in any golfer from beginners to Pro's. Visit
Concept Golf to learn more.

John Toepel is a Veteran PGA Tour Player, instructor, author and professional speaker. He
is also the discoverer of Concept Golf, the quickest way to immediate, life-long lasting
improvements to anyone's golf game. To learn more about Concept Golf, including the most
comprehensive golf instruction system ever, please visit "The Concept Golf Perfect Shot Making System" and Discover the Par Golfer in You!