The most fanatic people you will find anywhere are those who are converts to something or other. Ex-smokers are a fine example.

Me, I'm a convert to golf lessons.

My standard approach in years gone by was this: "Gee, I'm having trouble hitting my driver on the course today. I'd better go to the range and work it out".

So, off I'd go and just pound balls for a while trying to "work out" whatever problem I thought I had. Sometimes, I'd hit good shots on the range; often I wouldn't.

End result: ingraining the problem further.

Last Sunday, my wife and I played a quick nine in the morning. We were paired up with a couple of nice guys who were out for perhaps the third time this season.

One of them was hitting his driver and most of his irons pretty well; the other guy was having trouble. He was erratic with his big stick. It went left, it went right, it went high, it burned worms.

Each time he'd say" well, I'd better go to the range after this and work it out".

Been there and done that. It doesn't work.

I remember reading an article by a golf psychologist (what has the world come to when we have GOLF psychologists?) who stated that the adage that "practice makes perfect" was an error.

"There is no such thing", he said. "Perfect practice makes perfect". And, when I read that, well, it made perfect sense.

What we all need to remember about golf is often what we need to remember about ourselves.

Others don't see us the way we do.

So if you can't hit your driver and you think it's because your ball position is wrong or your takeaway is too far inside or outside, stop right there.

Find a good teacher and have him or her tell you what the problem is. I can almost guarantee you it will be something you never considered.

You'll save a helluva lot of time beating balls ineffectively as your "practice becomes perfect" and you'll get your game on track a lot faster.

Don't reinvent the wheel; it's already been perfected.