How I Learned to Play Scratch Golf
No matter what I did or how hard I tried I couldn’t get any better than a bogey golfer.
I watch the Golf Channel and read Golf Digest religiously – there was something missing in my golf swing and I could not put my finger on it.
I was your typical bogey golfer – if I started my round of golf on a good note I usually did pretty well and would shoot mid to high 80’s. If the wheels on my golf swing began to wobble I would find myself tinkering with my golf swing on the golf course – a recipe for disaster!
My golf swing was not perfect, however I got by. I had incorporated an early move in my backswing that allowed me to swing the club more to the inside and at the same time fan the club face open. I learned this move because if I timed my impact just right, I seemed to hit the golf ball farther.
However this move in my golf swing was hit or miss – sometimes I smoked the golf ball down the middle of the fairway – and sometimes I snap hooked it into the woods.
So ended my 2006 golf season and still no progress – handicap 18 and holding steady.
The 2006-07 winter here in New England had been unusually cold, snowy, and LONG! – It was now spring and my golf swing still rusty from the long winter layoff.
Needless to say, I was anxious to start my 2007 golf season with high hopes of really making an impact on lowering my golf handicap from the 18 I had been sitting at for so long.
Then in early May 2007 my brother in law told me about this golf swing move he learned from an old dusty golf book that had done wonders for him – a move he said puts his golf swing on plane early in the swing.
What is this move you ask??
Read on…
The early backward wrist break!
As I began to practice the early backward wrist break my golf swing felt very weird. I said to myself “this has gotta be wrong.” However I stayed with it and continued practicing this early backward wrist break.
I gradually began to notice the golf club felt much lighter as I swung. I also began to find it easier to drop the golf club into the “slot” during my downswing allowing me to really attack the golf ball from the inside.
Then I suddenly realized, “I’ve been yanking the golf club way too far to the inside at the start of my backswing, and now my golf swing is on plane!”
“This is why the golf club feels so much lighter; I am now swinging the golf club on plane!”
I noticed a more penetrating ball flight with my irons AND my woods…
The golf ball was now exploding off my clubface! Also, I noticed the golf ball was sounding different coming off my club face – it sounded like – “click.”
And this story gets even better…
Five days after learning the early backward wrist break I carded my first ever hole-in-one!
To read the story on my hole-in-one, simply Google: “john lynch hole-in-one” spelled exactly as is without the quotes.
I quickly developed much more confidence in my golf swing – I now knew where the golf ball was going. This confidence transferred to my short game and I began to score on the golf course.
I was now thoroughly enjoying the game of golf!
I was no longer happy with pars; I now wanted birdies and eagles!
In three short months my handicap had already dropped to a 10 – that’s 8 strokes!
My dream came true in May 2008 when my handicap dropped to 0 – scratch golf!!
All because of this one move early in my backswing!
I can truly say without a shadow of a doubt the early backward wrist break has totally transformed my golf game and I want to shout this out to the world!
One year ago I was an 18 handicap, I am now a scratch golfer.
Hit ‘em Long and Straight!
by John Lynch
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