Why do Golf Tips Work… Then Stop Working?

I’m taking some time reflect on my summer season of golf coaching in New England.  One thing that I encountered  a lot this past season was the addiction that many golfers have for golf tips.   It’s the number one thing that golfers ask me:  “Dr Rich…. Do you have a quick tip for me to lower my score?”   Almost everyone seems to believe there is a magic short-cut.   And if I they don’t get the golf tip from me, they’re likely to hear something from someone  in their foursome.  Who hasn’t encountered well-meaning but unsolicited advice like “just turn your left shoulder over your right knee,” or the old stand-by “keep your head down,” or “turn your left foot in,” or “turn your right foot out,” etc. The list is endless.   Pity the poor golfers who are so hungry for shortcuts that s/he tries out all these tips and ends up with more layers of confusion. 

Yet, we have all had the occasional experience where a golf tip actually seemed to help, at least for a little while.   For some brief period of time, we hit the ball better.  But soon enough we were back to where we started.  Golf tips don’t truly fix anything, but they can provide some surprisingly effective, though transient, results.  I’ve wondered how this happens.   I’ve concluded that the golf tip is the sports equivalent of a medical placebo.  Everyone knows that placebo pills can have powerful effects that are not due to their chemical content.  It is the  expectation that transforms a “sugar pill” into a powerful drug with demonstrable brain changes.   The expectation of improvement that comes along with a golf tip can also allow us to briefly tap into some inner capability that is usually inaccessible. 

I have also concluded from my reading of the few published studies in this area that it is also the novelty of the golf tip coupled with expectation that briefly allows us to escape from our usual straightjacketed swing.  The golf tip creates a  brief brain-body “re-set” that allows us to get in touch with the capability for a better swing that is already within us, but is overlaid with multiple adjustments that have accumulated over time.  The golf tip,  like a placebo, unlocks our body’s inherent “healing” capacity.  Unfortunately, like the medical placebo, the golf tip effect wears off quickly.  The actual content of the tip may actually be irrelevant.  From another perspective, the golf tip is like the Sunday morning sermon –  it inspires us for a few days, then we’re back to our usual ways. 

We’ve all experienced  the positive results of golf tips.  The brief reward of the golf tip can lead golfers from one tip to the next without actually getting anywhere.   The better a golfer becomes, the more immune s/he is to seeking out golf tips.   Another essay will address the placebo effect of new golf equipment – to answer the question: why does that new putter work so great in the store but not after we put it in play?