Russ good post. I have thought alot about this over the years and have finally come up with a name for it - "Tinkering Thinking" - rhymes with Stinking Thinking (sort of) so more politically correct.
There are several things about Tinkering Thinking that are interesting.
The first and most overlooked fact is that most people don't understand what it takes to learn - I mean really learn - something. I mean learn it so we don't have to give it a second thought - or even a first thought for that matter! To be more correct, they understand, cause they have done it 100s of times in their lives to learn other tasks. But when it comes to learning golf, they forget to utilize the same process. We are wired to learn things a certain, and that doesnt change just because it is a golf swing.
Several months ago, Ham posted a non golf study that documented the number of hours and repetitions someone has to put in learning a task before they achieve expert status. The number is staggering. And before somebody jumps in, I KNOW not all of us want to achieve expert status in our swing and our game. However it is still true that for something to become so ingrained so that it is a habit something we can do without thinking about it takes lots of repetitions. So what happens is someone starts in on Trahan, or Stack and Tilt, Or NG, or IMAand before they have put in the required work they quit they have a bad round, or two, or even whole season it doesnt work and they are off to the next system. We all know this to be true most of us from personal experience!
The second thing is that most people really have no idea on what really makes the golf swing tick. So they are beholden to the next best thing syndrome. Hogan and Bertholy said it over four decades ago and it is still true today to have a good swing is within the capability of 95% of all golfers, all that is really necessary is mastery of a few fundamentals. People that are always changing often dont know what those fundamentals are, and if they do havent mastered the fundamentals. These fundamentals could be compared to the basic structure of a home whereas the model of the home, and its layout, interior decorating, and furnishings could be compared to the various swing methods, the golfers style and his her approach to the game. They are trying to live in a house that isnt finished!
These two phenomena happen because of a third belief - spurned on in part by the golf instruction industry itself. Most people believe that the golf swing is incredibly complex, and that it is folly to try and distill the golf swing down into a few absolutes that can be learned by most anyone. This belief is so innate as to actually hinder some people from ever making a true quantum leap in their golf performance. Brother to this is the refusal to believe that the golf swing can be executed with the same unthinking detachment and unconscious execution that we employ to do countless other tasks like driving a car, or typing this post, or like that boogie woogie pianist and his two dancers that Rem posted about awhile back.
Its like the idiot Mayor of Cleveland said - "It's not that we don't know what the problems are. We've known them for years. It's not that we don't know what the solutions are. We've known those for years. The problem is we haven't done anything about it."
Lack of Knowledge + Lack of Effort + Lack of Belief = Lack Of Progress.
