Dustin, a comic strip in my local paper, ran a series of strips poking fun at Golf Digest for publishing issues that are all alike.  One day the wife staples a new issue cover on an old issue and the husband doesn’t notice it’s a repeat, on another day the wife tells the husband to stop reading endless articles about how to stop slicing and just “close your stance, strengthen your grip, and hit from the inside out.” Apparently she knows her golf, despite the ridicule.

Of course, if it was that simple we’d all be experts at the low draw, the high fade, the stinger, the high draw, the low fade, etc., etc. We’d just change our stance and grip, swing away, and watch the ball curve around that dogleg and nestle up to the pin. Instead, we plan for a high draw, hit a low push, and watch the ball bang into a tree and skitter into the hazard.

So maybe that’s why Golf Digest repeats lessons on how to stop slicing and stop committing other golf sins. It isn’t simple, and with enough repetition another one of us may hear it said in a way that makes sense. As any good teacher knows, it isn’t so much what is being taught, it’s how it’s taught.

Golf's Sacred Journey

We’ve all heard how important it is to commit to a shot and execute with a clear, confident mind. It’s been said in countless ways, from Bob Rotella’s emphasis on trust and confidence to David Cook’s “See it, feel it, trust it” in Golf’s Sacred Journey.

Some of us hear it best in the more traditional sports psychologist words of Rotella, while others hear it best in the more spiritual approach of Cook.

I doubt that Golf Digest will ever run out of ways to say it, and I’ll always look forward to seeing that new issue in my post office box. I may sometimes wonder if I’ve read some tip before, but it doesn’t matter. I’m still a sinner.