The birds are chirping. The turf is finally softening. And if you’re like most golfers in Sussex, you’ve spent the last four months thinking about your golf swing.
Before you head to the range, here’s what you need to know about your spring golf preparation:
Don’t go looking for your “positions.”
After a winter away from the game, you haven’t “lost” your swing mechanics. What you’ve lost is your feel.
Mechanics are logical. Feel is athletic. And after four months off, your brain and body have lost their rhythm.
Trying to fix that with “elbow tucked” or “wrist flat” thoughts? That’s like trying to fix a radio by hitting it with a hammer.
The Trap Most Golfers Fall Into
Here’s what happens every spring:
You hit your first bucket of balls. A few shots feel okay. Most feel terrible.
You assume your “path” is wrong or your “positions” are off. So you start trying to steer the club into the right spots.
Big mistake.
In the Approach philosophy, steering is the enemy of speed and consistency. When you try to control the club with mechanical thoughts, you override your body’s natural ability to swing athletically.
Your goal this spring isn’t to build a “perfect” swing. It’s to regain club head awareness.
What You Actually Lost Over Winter
You didn’t forget how to swing a golf club.
You forgot what the club head feels like during the swing.
Think about it: You can memorize a position in five minutes. YouTube makes that easy.
But you can’t memorize feel.
Feel only comes through awareness—through actually sensing the weight of the club head, feeling it swing, trusting the motion.
After winter, your hands are numb to the club. You’re gripping tight, trying to control the outcome, which kills the very thing you’re trying to find: the natural rhythm that makes golf athletic instead of mechanical.
Start With Tempo (The Foundation of Everything)
If mechanics are the bricks of your swing, tempo is what holds them together.
Without rhythm, the whole thing falls apart.
Most golfers spend their first three weeks of spring focused on positions: “Where’s my club at the top? Am I shallow enough? Is my hip rotation right?”
Wrong questions.
The right question: “Can I feel a smooth transition from backswing to downswing?”
That transition—the moment between “back” and “through”—is where tempo lives. And tempo is what allows the weight of the club head to do the work.
The Feel You’re Looking For
Think of your swing as a pendulum.
You’re not “hitting” at the ball. You’re not “steering” the club through positions.
You’re swinging the club head through space.
The club has weight. Let that weight pull you through the backswing. Let it fall through transition. Let it release through impact.
That’s what tempo feels like. That’s what you’re trying to find again.
Download the FREE 5-Day Clubhead Awareness Tune-Up and learn the simple approach that makes golf easier, not harder.
Your Spring Preparation Checklist
Here’s what to focus on during your first few weeks back:
1. Prioritize Club Head Awareness Above Everything
If you can’t feel where the club head is during your swing, you can’t swing it athletically.
What to do:
- Start every session with slow, half-swings
- Focus entirely on feeling the weight of the club head
- Notice where the toe of the club is at every point in the motion
- Don’t worry about where the ball goes—just feel the club
When you can feel the club head clearly, everything else gets easier.
2. Lower the Intensity (Way Down)
Don’t try to hit your 7-iron 160 yards on day one.
Swing at 60% speed and focus on one thing: the “thump” and the club brushing the grass through impact.
That thump tells you:
- You’re releasing the club head naturally
- Your tempo is smooth enough to find the bottom
- You’re not steering or forcing it
Once that thump is consistent, you can gradually add speed. But not before.
3. Focus on Your Finish
Here’s a simple test for whether your tempo is right:
Can you hold a balanced finish until the ball lands?
If yes—your tempo is good, your motion is athletic, and you’re trusting the swing.
If no—you’re forcing it, fighting it, or trying to steer it. Slow down and feel the club head again.
Balance is the truth-teller. You can’t fake a balanced finish. Either your motion was good, or it wasn’t.
Why This Approach Works
When you focus on feel and tempo first, something interesting happens:
Your positions tend to fix themselves.
Not because you’re thinking about them, but because good tempo allows your body to organize naturally around the motion.
Your hips rotate when they need to. Your weight shifts when it should. Your arms and club sync up automatically.
This is what athletic motion looks like.
You see it in every sport: the best players aren’t thinking about positions during execution. They’re feeling rhythm, trusting motion, and letting their bodies do what they’ve trained them to do.
Golf is no different.
What Not to Do This Spring
Don’t:
- Film your swing and compare it to a tour pro
- Try to implement three new “fixes” from your winter YouTube watching
- Hit full-speed drivers on day one
- Judge your game by ball flight in the first two weeks
- Practice mechanics when you should be practicing feel
Do:
- Start slow and focus on club head awareness
- Work on tempo and rhythm before anything else
- Give yourself permission to hit bad shots without panicking
- Trust that feel comes back faster than you think
- Remember that spring golf is about shaking off rust, not rebuilding the engine
The Bottom Line
Spring is not the time to chase perfection.
It’s the time to reconnect with the club, rebuild your feel, and trust that rhythm creates consistency.
Skip the mechanical frustration this year.
Lower the intensity. Feel the club head. Focus on tempo.
Your body remembers how to swing. You just need to remind it what the club feels like.
Start with the feel. Everything else follows.
Ready to Build Your Spring Game the Right Way?
If you want personalized guidance on what to work on first—based on your swing, your tendencies, and your goals—let’s get you set up for your best season yet.
Book Your Spring Prep Session →
We’ll focus on clubhead awareness, tempo, and building the feel that makes golf athletic instead of mechanical.
Download the 5-Day Clubhead Awareness Tune-Up → and start rebuilding your feel today with simple drills you can do at home.
Related Reading:
- Winter Practice: Building Motion Without a Ball
- Trust Your Instincts: Feel vs. Think
- The Mike Quinlan Approach: Motion Over Mechanics
The Mike Quinlan Approach: Feel comes back before positions do. Start with tempo, trust the process, and let your athletic ability take over.
