You're probably sitting here, reading this, because you (like me!) want to fix your golf swing. There's some move that you don't like, that you want to get rid of but you don't really know how.
Well, good news! Because Dr. Luke Benoit specializes in this. He's recently launched a new program to help his students do it (you can sign up for the next one right here), and was the guest on the most recent Golf IQ podcast, which you can listen to below.
What is the 5x5 method?
The 5x5 method is, quite simply, a way of practicing that will help change your golf swing.
"The goal of this isn't to hit good golf shots," Dr. Benoit explains. "The goal is to change your golf swing, quickly."
No, you won't hit good shots this way, and that's ok. The good shots will come later. This, as Dr. Benoit explains, is designed to re-wire your golf swing.
⚠️ One important note
The way this works is pretty simple. What makes it difficult is that you have to do the correct form five times in a row, with each set of golf balls. Benoit uses his app to verify this with his students—you can use a video camera, too. But either way, you have to do five good golf swings in a row, hitting the position you want. If you don't do that, you have to start again.
With that in mind, let's say you want to change your backswing...
5 golf swings: No club 🚫
Let's say you want to improve your backswing turn. First, put the club across your shoulders, and rehearse that turn.
- Remember, five good ones in a row—or you have to start again.
Oisin Keniry/R&A
5 golf swings: 'Freezer' swings 🥶
Once you've done that, take the club to the top of the backswing in slow motion (about four full seconds), hold it there for a second, then swing through at full speed. Repeat this five times, making sure you land your backswing in the position you want.
5 golf swings: 'Smoothie' swings 🥤
Next, make five swings exactly as you did before, but ditch the pause. Slow motion back, full speed through.
Darren Carroll/PGA of America
5 golf swings: Foam golf balls 🟡
Once you've got that down, it's time to introduce a golf ball—a foam golf ball. You'll use the same methods above for when you actually hit the golf ball.
"You can alternate freezer and smoothie golf swings," Dr. Benoit says. "But you introduce the foam golf ball because it gives you an understanding of how to change your pattern and hit a ball, without chasing the same dopamine hit that hitting an actual golf ball will give you."
5 golf swings: Real golf balls 🏌️♂️
Finally, it's time to make real swings, with real golf balls. You can think about the move you want to make while you make these swings, but now it's your job to get comfortable actually hitting a golf ball.
"The progression is essentially no golf ball, to foam golf ball, to real golf ball," Dr. Benoit says. "I've seen students change their golf swing amazingly fast doing this."
Once again, you can listen to the full episode below, and learn more about Dr. Benoit's program right here.