Thursday, January 26, 2012

Golf Swing Basics - Make Yours Precise, Purposeful, and Powerful

Many recreational golfers have never had professional lessons or instruction in the golf swing basics. Many learned their swing from those who introduced them to the game, or by watching other players.

I first swung a golf club at age 25 mimicking what I saw other players doing. I actually fashioned a somewhat usable golf swing with this method and eventually managed about a 15 handicap.

What I had really done was build a trap that took me many years to realize, and more time to get out of.

As I became older and progressively lost arm strength, I found that I was developing a lot of swing problems such as; loss of consistent distance, a very persistent slice, hitting all of my irons about the same distance and these were just the noticeable ones.

The trap was that having never received professional swing training I did not know what to try to correct, I did not even know how to accurately explain what was wrong.

I continued to play and watched my handicap climb to the 25-30 range, and began to decide that I just was not and never was going to be a good golfer. I was confused, my playing partners, most of which were similar in stature to me and about the same age, were still paying well. But I failed to connect the dots.

I did try a few lessons along the way, not finding the solutions to my swing problems. This was not always the teaching pro's fault, when they saw so many problems they probably became overwhelmed and just picked out one thing to try and correct. Of course these band-aid fixes were not the answer.

At about age 50 I finally decided to see if I could actually change my swing, I went for a few more lessons, one of which actually corrected my slice. Researched what a golf swing should be, and went about teaching myself a good golf swing step-by-step.

I found that the classic modern golf swing is a very complicated collection of basic physical and mental building blocks. But when assembled and executed correctly becomes a very precise, and powerful golf swing.

I started with the raw basics of stance, alignment, ball position and grip, I saw the rest of the swing as a series of building blocks that should actually be learned in order and then built on top of each other until the end result is achieved.

The building blocks I identified and the order I took them in are;

Weight shift - At its very basic level the golf swing cannot work without an adequate understanding of the weight shift. A proper weight shift enables the big powerful muscles of the legs and torso to supply the power needed for a quality swing.
One piece takeaway - The idea of taking the club back and into exactly the proper position by moving the shoulders, and allowing the arms to just ride along never occurred to me before.
Backswing - It took me awhile to realize that the backswing is the true engine that powers the entire swing, everything that comes before is just preparation, and everything that come after is directly influenced by the backswing. I spent a lot of time getting my wrist cock working and creating and using lag, the major club head speed producers.
Transition - The transition is where the change of direction happens, the start of so called "dropping into the slot". Some people argue that there is a slight pause at the top, others say the lower body actually begins to unwind just before the backswing is complete.
Downswing and impact - This is the payoff, you have to keep your arms and hands tension free, light grip pressure and let the arms fall naturally, being placed in the proper position by the natural release of the club head at exactly the precise instant it is square to the target line. Sounds really hard but if the backswing was correct and if you have built and are adequate lag this will be almost automatic.
Follow through - A complete follow through contributes greatly to total distance, if you have correct not focused on hitting the ball, but rather swinging through it, maximum club head speed really occurs after impact. The forearms complete their rotation just after impact, the momentum of the swing will pull you completely up on your front leg and fully facing the target in a balanced finish.
If you are having trouble with your swing find a qualified PGA teaching professional in your area. Read the books by some of the great golfers and swing coaches. Practice the correct moves and sequences until they are muscle memory and automatic.

The one caution I would have is be careful of random tips you might find on line, be sure you are trying something that will really help, rather than a band-aid fix that will only work a short time.

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