Dear Diary, I’m Getting Better

Ben Hogan wrote, "I find it is helpful if I jot down after practice exactly what I have been working on and precisely how it was coming along." Many professional golfers today keep notes on their swings and what they are working on, including Vijay Singh. These notes that relate directly to their personal swings prevent them from having prolonged slumps. All of us have defects in our swings. The ones that keep recurring can be considered "bad habits."

Bad habits have three aspects:

As you practice or take lessons, simply keep a record of what was wrong and what was successful in fixing it, then you have a reference for the future. Now, the next time you start popping up your drives, you won't waste time trying to find the reason. It's very likely that it's the same old bad habit coming back. Simply, refer to your notes, find the time when you had success fixing that fault and what drill, feel or swing thought helped. In time you will have established a personal "faults and cures" reference model. This will save you from a lot of potentially wasted practice time.