Stop Falling for the Fallacy that you have to get Worse Before You Get Better: Day-One Golf Improvement

Hi. ’m Coach Erik Schjolberg. I teach golfers in Scottsdale, Arizona at EJS Golf at McCormick Ranch, and online through The Science of Better Golf. I build ball striking machines. I teach golfers to control low point, compress the golf ball, and produce predictable launch and spin. I offer in-person Scottsdale Golf Lessons and Online Golf Lessons. Golfers should improve on day one. You do not need to get worse first. My standard and expectation for my students is ball first then turf contact with proper shaft lean and rotation. This is done with a powerful and efficient golf swing that produces the intended start line and desired curvature. I am a myth buster. Every claim must be validated by measurement, not slogans.

The mistake: why “get worse first” is a false premise

The phrase sounds like wisdom because learning any complex skill includes exploration, but it becomes harmful when coaches use it to excuse non-functional changes. Most amateurs are not failing due to a lack of effort. They are failing because the inputs they are told to change do not govern impact. If you chase a look instead of collision conditions, contact gets messy and the coach can claim the mess is necessary. That is incorrect.

What drives your score is the quality of the collision between the club head and the ball. If the intervention you practice immediately improves the collision, performance improves in the same session. If performance degrades, either the intervention was wrong for you or it was delivered without feedback loops that guide the motion toward functional impact. The idea that you must temporarily swing worse to earn a future payoff ignores how quickly the ball responds when low point, shaft lean, pressure, and face are matched to your pattern.

Don't get confused with feeling uncomfortable and relaying that to getting worse. It is highly likely that any change you make is going to leave you feeling uncomfortable in your own skin. Do your best to embrace that feeling. On a personal note, when I learned to embrace being uncomfortable, verse searching for that feeling, my golf game took off. I see the same thing happen to my students when I convince them of this.

The deeper issue is language. Phrases like “keep your head down,” “hold lag,” and “stay 50/50” try to control the picture, not the physics. Golfers then add compensations to find the ball: stand up out of posture, stall rotation, and throw the club. The result looks like learning pain when it is actually misdirected training.

What actually controls the ball

The ball only knows collision. That collision is governed by a short list of inputs.

Low point is the bottom of the club head’s arc relative to the ball. With irons, the low point must be forward of the ball so the club travels downward at impact and the divot starts after the ball. Move low point forward and heavy and thin shots decline immediately.

The vertical angle between the ground and the circle that the club head travels on during the bottom portion of the swing arc. Essentially, the Swing Plane measures how steep or flat the plane is relative to the horizontal line, and captures the tilt of the swing arc. Swing Plane uses the three-dimensional position of the club head from approximately knee high in the downswing to knee high in the follow-through.

Shorter/higher lofted clubs generally lead to a higher (more vertical) Swing Plane due to the higher Static Lie on shorter clubs. The height and dynamic posture of the golfer will also have an effect on the Swing Plane. A driver typically has a Swing Plane between 45-50 deg.

Essentially, it indicates whether the overall swing path is directed more to the left or right of the target line. Swing Direction uses the three-dimensional position of the club head from approximately knee high in the downswing to knee high in the follow-through.

Swing Direction is the angle between the base of the plane created by the club head’s geometric center movement and target line. This is essential for understanding the overall direction of the swing and how it affects the ball flight. It is important to understand that Swing Direction is not the same as Club Path. Club Path represents the motion of the club head at one point in time (impact), whereas Swing Direction uses hundreds of points from the club head during the knee high to knee high portion of the swing.

Centerdness of Contact
Start line is face-biased. Curvature is face-to-path. This is simply put, hitting the center of your club face.

The linear speed of the club head’s geometric center just prior to first touch with the golf ball. Club Speed is the speed the club head is traveling just prior to impact.

Club Speed determines a golfer’s potential distance, and is therefore important when players are looking to increase distance. All else equal, higher Club Speed translates to higher Ball Speed, which results in longer shots. Furthermore, Club Speed is important for equipment fitting, ensuring that the clubs and shafts are suited to fit the player.

How I Look at Making Changes

I install a single high-leverage change that impacts the collision right now. I do not start with three tips. I start with the one that moves your low point forward and stabilizes the face, then I protect that change with constraints so performance cannot collapse. Everything must boil down to am I fixing one of three things: impact, power and flight.

Baseline and choice of lever
I capture numerous golf shots to set your current strike pattern, low point, dynamic loft, face, swing direction and start line. I then choose the narrowest lever that fixes the biggest error. For many players that means a grip and wrist change to stabilize the face, or a pressure-timing change in transition to move low point forward. If your face is open and you flip to square it, I fix the face first. If your face is fine but you bottom out early, I fix pressure and handle travel first. Remember, every golfer is different so there isn't one single fix based on each cause. This is due to match-ups.

Constraints and feedback
I design the station so a correct motion produces a correct ball flight. I use a front edge line the club must brush after contact. I add a tee or gate that punishes flip and rewards forward shaft lean. We track numbers so you see the change on screen. Without feedback how can you tell if you have done a drill correctly? Every drill that I give will have feedback as part of it.

Block, then blend
I run short blocks of eight to ten swings with the constraint, then blend that motion into a normal setup without removing the intent. If a blend rep drifts, we go straight back to the constrained station for two confirming reps. The goal is immediate function, not future hope.

A drill: Forward Low-Point Ladder

This installs the belief shift. Improvement happens now.

Setup
Place a thin alignment stick or chalk line on the ground. Position a mid-iron ball one inch behind the line. Narrow stance slightly. Put a tee 2 inches ahead of the line as a visual of forward low point.

Motion
Make your normal backswing. As the hands approach the top, shift pressure to the lead foot so it is clearly forward by the time the lead arm is halfway down. Keep the handle moving with your body through impact. Strike the ball first, then brush the ground on or just ahead of the line. Do not try to add speed with the hands. Let rotation carry the handle.

Reps
Start with 10 brush-only reps without a ball, creating a thin, consistent brush on the target side of the line. Then 3 sets of 10 with a ball. Record strike quality and where the club first contacts the ground relative to the line. Finish with 10 full-speed reps. Note iron launch and spin trends.

Checkpoints
The first mark in the turf must be on or slightly in front of the line. Forward shaft lean at impact. Lead wrist not cupping. Start line stable. No handle stall. If the first ground mark drifts behind the line, reset pressure timing or increase torso rotation through the hit.

What good looks like
Ball first then turf. Divot starting just ahead of the line. Iron launch down one to three degrees. Spin stabilizes. Start line matches intent. The motion feels simpler because you removed the need to flip.

What changes first

I expect measurable improvement in the same session when the inputs are correct.

Strike quality
Fat and thin contacts decline when low point moves forward. Many golfers see the first clear run of ten consecutive ball-first contacts in months. The sound changes. The divot pattern changes. The numbers confirm the feel.

Launch and spin
Forward shaft lean lowers dynamic loft and controls spin loft. Irons launch lower with more predictable spin. Fliers decrease because collision becomes consistent.

Start line and curvature
Face stability improves. Your pattern stops being two-way. If you tend toward a cut, it becomes a predictable cut. If you prefer a draw, the draw stops over-curving.

Distance
You gain distance from better smash and from controlling dynamic loft rather than adding speed with flip. The increase is modest with irons but significant in predictability. With the driver, managing face while setting the correct angle of attack gives you functional distance instead of occasional bursts.

None of this requires getting worse first. It requires changing the inputs that move the collision and constraining practice so the body has no reason to invent compensations.

Where to go next

If you want day-one improvement installed with measurement, work with me in Scottsdale or remotely. In person, we use my indoor/outdoor bay at McCormick Ranch, high-fidelity feedback, and a constrained practice design that protects performance. Remotely, we use live coaching, custom drills, and direct feedback through Online Golf Lessons and the community at The Science of Better Golf. Read more on the blog, learn more about me, and if you are local schedule Scottsdale Golf Lessons. Follow along on YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, and X.

Conclusion

If you control low point you control contact. If you control contact you control distance, curvature, and spin. That is how you become a ball striking machine. You do not need to get worse before you get better. That is The Science of Better Golf.

Signature
Coach Erik Schjolberg
The Science of Better Golf
EJS Golf
Scottsdale Golf Lessons
Online Golf Lessons