the broken typewriter

By Brad Brain

The other day I picked up a golf magazine. I play golf a few times a year, but not very well. I’d like to learn more about the how to play the game, and golf magazines are full of information, so what better way to learn, right?

And, admittedly, I have a lot to learn.Take how you grip a golf club for example. I know that you are supposed to hold the golf club very gently as you swing.

Some famous golf dude once said you hold the club as if you were holding a baby bird. But I just don’t get it. I don’t understand how you can hold the club soft and hit the ball hard. That seems counter-intuitive to me.

And just how hard does a guy hold a baby bird anyway? I’ve tried holding the club like I would hold a baby bird and it feels like the club is rotating in my hands as I swing. That can’t be right.

So, aside from having a vague awareness of how you are supposed to grip the club, I really don’t understand the proper grip, and consequently I swing the club the way that I feel should be swinging. I hang on tight, and let it rip.

I wish the grip was the only thing I needed to learn how to do properly. Unfortunately, the proper grip is just one of many things I need to learn.

For years my Dad has been telling me that the club face is open at the top of my swing. Either that, or he says the club face is closed at the top of the swing. Truth is, I can’t remember exactly what it is about the club face, but apparently this is why I hook the ball.

My Dad golfs a lot, and he keeps telling me how I can fix this club-face-at-the-top-of-my-swing thing. But I really don’t know what he is trying to tell me. As far as I know I am swinging the club the way he tells me to, but apparently to him it looks like I have the same old crappy swing, and I am still not doing it right.

Frankly, it’s kind of hard to figure out what he is trying to tell me. And since I don’t really understand what he is saying, I don’t really listen, and I end up continuing to swing the way that I always have. And continuing to consistently hook the ball.

Because I don’t know any better, I keep doing things on the golf course based on how I think I should be doing things instead of how I actually should be doing things. Consequently, my results are sporadic and do not improve, and I get frustrated at my lack of success.

But you know what my real problem is? It isn’t my grip, and it isn’t the club face at the top of my swing. My real problem is that I don’t know what I don’t know.

I played a little of that virtual golf this winter, and one of the cool parts about it is that you can see a video of your golf swing. I’ve never seen my own golf swing before. I have this mental image of my swing as being graceful, balanced and powerful. But the swing that I see in my head looks nothing at all like the swing that I see on the video.

So, after reading the golf magazine, do you think I am a better golfer?

Nope, my game hasn’t changed one bit. I’m not even sure that a person can learn how to golf from a magazine. Sure I might pick up some useful tips, but how can a golf magazine know what I need?

There is a lot of information out there, but how do I know which information is right for me?

So I am going to get some golf lessons. And I am going to get them from a golf professional, not from a magazine.

By the way, this column isn’t really about my golf game.

Just as I won’t learn much about the game of golf from a magazine, you won’t probably won’t learn all that you need to know about financial planning from a magazine either.

If you want to get a grip on your finances, don’t blindly do what you think you should be doing.

What if you are wrong? Have you ever been wrong before? Maybe your finances deserve a second opinion?

If you want to understand what is going on, don’t quit listening to people who know what they are talking about. If you keep doing things in a way that hasn’t really worked in the past, why would you not want to figure out how to do it better?

Find out what you don’t know. Talk to a professional financial planner.

Brad Brain. CFP, R.F.P., CIM, TEP is a Certified Financial Planner in Fort St John, BC. This material is prepared for general circulation and may not reflect your individual financial circumstances. Brad can be reached at www.bradbrainfinancial.com.