Inside Comments by Steve Turcotte

It’s was finally time to do something about my ugly swing

I’m sure you all remember the movie Tin Cup. Remember the part of the movie where Roy McAvoy (aka Kevin Costner) walks out of his RV with all of those gadgets on his body trying to find ways to fix his swing which had suddenly developed the shanks.

He is convinced one of these gadgets he has roped around his body can magically fix his swing. He is on his way out of the RV to talk to the Doctor Lady (Rene Russo) to show that there is something behind the gadgets that can fix what ails him and get him ready to hit it straight once again.

Turns out the gadgets did nothing for him. It was all mental.

I wish that was the case for me. In my case it’s both mental and physical.

I’ve had an acute case of the over-the-tops for years I have tried to shake to no avail. I have tried mentally and physically. At age 64 maybe it’s time I just give up.

I’ve got a friend – we will call him Tony. Whoops, sorry that’s his real name. He is all about gadgets and getting better. I understand that. But he’s a two handicap. How much better can you get? He watches videos. He buys things. He just had to buy this wrist deal a while ago to gauge wrist action. He’s more like the Tin Cup guy than me. He doesn’t really need the gadgets but that is why he is a two handicap and works on his game when, well, I don’t.

But he’s also a helluva lot better than I am. Maybe that’s why he buys the gadgets, uses them at the range and figures out how to make them work. OK I will cut him some slack on the gadgets.

I know the days of hitting it long and trying to score low are gone. But I am tired of the over-the-top and hitting the ball left to right. I decided it was time to try and do something about it.

First stop, the gadgets. Well, not really a gadget but I finally broke down and googled videos on how to stop over-the-top. Amazingly there are a million of them. There must are a lot of you out there too. One video was simple and only required a towel. Keep the towel tucked under your right armpit and swing. If the towel stayed in place you were not coming over the top. Easier said than done.

On to another video. This one said have your back face the target and keep the back toward the target as you swung. This worked. For a while. Some drives were straight – and some were longer than normal. Then I took a look at one last video that said to fire the right hip toward the target. That worked too.

Suddenly the over-the-top was not completely gone but lessened and the shots were straighter.

And imagine that – it took only years and years for me to figure out that golf videos actually do work. I will also admit I did try a couple of Tony’s gadgets and they worked too. I will never get down to two handicap land where he is but maybe golf might be a little more enjoyable.

For now, the ball striking is better. But my putting still stinks…time to google some more videos!

Steve Turcotte is editor of Inside Golf Newspaper. He can be reached at sdturcotte@comcast.net.