For many golfers the game is too hard. While we can play well one minute, the next we are left confused and frustrated. And the continual search for a better (and consistent) game is a minefield of conflicting advice and annoyance. But a small percentage of golfers are able to break free and realise their potential. Golf can be mastered and it is possible to play your best golf more of the time. If you’re interested in making your own breakthrough, please read on.

Note: Some golfers don’t like to read and/or are after a quick-fix tip. If this sounds like you then the below is certainly not for you. Only serious golfers need to go any further.

A lot of golf instructors don't like what I've got to say. As a matter of fact, I often get accused of being a renegade or a rogue. You see I'm convinced that all golfers, of all standards, could be playing better golf, enjoying themselves more and playing to their potential if they simply understood one simple principle.

Yet, I'm also convinced that most will never reach the potential they're capable of because they are not being taught this "missing ingredient". Most golf teachers refuse to let it enter their psyche and instead rely on old-fashioned tips and techniques that have been shown NOT to work. What am I talking about here? It's a natural given ability that I call automatic learning.

The problem is this. Most golf instructors and the golf industry as a whole do not understand automated learning (I also call it natural learning). They keep preaching the latest swing theories and outdated methods. And, because they don't understand automatic learning, their teaching can be ineffective. And because their teaching fails they're forced to keep coming up with new theories, ideas and teaching methodologies. The result? Golf instruction has become a merry-go-round of conflicting and confusing advice. And the problem here? You the golfer have been let down because those in charge have missed the key fundamental.

Now please don’t think I’m beating up on the poor old golf teacher. For the most part they’re all good guys. In fact, many of my mates are golf pros and we get along great (we do have some interesting debates from time to time).

My issue is with the system. The overall golf improvement industry but more on that soon.

So what's this "automatic learning" stuff and why has it been ignored? Let's first discuss how a skill is performed.

A concept that seems lost on most is that for motor skills to be performed successfully we require our subconscious to take over. Sometimes this is referred to as unconscious competence.

No matter what it is called, for a skill to be executed optimally it must be done without conscious control or thought. It’s just the way it is. Humans have been doing this for 1000’s of years and will continue to do so. Any break from subconscious learning will render your learning system useless.

Over the last 100 years mainstream teachers incorrectly believe that the human system is capable of performing fine motor skills with conscious control. They think if they give enough instruction then the client will be able to process that information and get better results. But some teachers take this too far and bombard the golfer with so many instructions that the student blows up! From this point good golf is impossible.

If you’ve ever tried to fix your golf swing you’ll know what I’m talking about here. Something that may appear simple, like fixing your backswing, actually becomes hard. Where is the club going? Am I doing this correctly? Where is my club pointing? Why is this so hard?

Arrrgh! Just thinking about this process makes me shudder.

And it gets worse. Poor golf is cured not by simplification but by delivering more content. The worse you play the more instruction you are fed. And this cycle repeats itself, week after week and year after year all around the golfing world.

If you're not careful you can miss out on experiencing your best golf – despite feeling you’re doing everything correctly. This ignorance of automatic learning is even more profound when we look at how we perform most other activities.

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