The Proof Is In – You Can’t Buy A Game

By Mike Stevens, USGTF contributing writer

Just ran across a study by a group named ARCCOS, a golf-tracking statistics organization that found over the last three years the average golfer has actually lost distance. Can it be? With all the technology involved in golf these days, from launch monitors to TrackMan to speed slots, the average golfer has lost about three yards. Maybe it is time to refer to that Shakespeare line, “A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Or, as Barnum may or may not have said, there’s one born every minute. Now, I don’t know how many drivers have been introduced over the past three years, but I’d guess in the hundreds. Every club was touted as the longest ever assembled. Yet, for all that $500 or more invested, the net result – three yards less.

Time to be honest. Golf requires effort. I didn’t become good because of my wallet. I spent hours on the range applying sound fundamental techniques. I rehearsed specific motions over and over until they became second nature. Only after that did I settle on a set of clubs that gave me good results. Did I try a new driver now and then? Of course; it’s human nature to fall for the hype sometimes. But the real secret to improving one’s game is to develop a swing that encompasses a good path and getting the clubhead squarely on the ball, then doing it time after time. If it was simply about equipment, then everyone would be good.