Perfect Golf Swing

The perfect swing has two whole-body sensations that most amateurs never will feel. They are: “Around” and “Whip”.

The common face-on view of the golf swing usually is confronted on a tv screen or a magazine page. That view gives the swing a back-then-forth appearance. Not surprisingly, “back” and “forth” have become the most frequently used directional indicators in golf instruction (“Take the club back.”, “Backswing”, “Get your weight going forward.”)

However, the back and forth movements in the golf swing are primarily incidental to an overall rotational motion. When you place a camera above a good golfer, overhead, almost everything you see is whirling in circles, first clockwise, then counter-clockwise. Whether your focus is on the clubhead, hands, shoulders, or hips, the first word that comes to mind to describe the action you’re viewing is “Around”.

This coiling and uncoiling of the torso is harder work than it looks like. Sliding the hips back and forth is lots easier. But coiling stretches the most important muscles in the golf swing, and the whole purpose of the “back”swing is to stretch muscles.

Concerning “Whip”, only a very sharp eye can catch that, in a good golfer’s swing, the motion is not divided into two distinct parts: e.g. back then forth, up then down, one then two. The truth is that for ALL good players some lower-body uncoiling overlaps with some upper-body coiling.

By initiating the “down”swing with the thighs and hips about eight hundredths of a second before the shoulders have finished coiling, rotational stretch in large mid-torso muscles between the hips and shoulders is maximized.

So feel these two whole-body sensations, Around and Whip, and enjoy the best shotmaking of your life!

For more golf swing tips, video, articles and information, visit www.swail.com

Golf Swing Improvement

“Counterintuitive” is an understatement when the issue is tension/looseness in the golf swing.

We’re trying to hit the ball with a 1-inch-square sweet spot on the clubface. And, that clubface is moving quickly many feet from the ball and then many feet back to the ball. The intuitive response to this challenge is to try to be in control of the club. Control means using muscles which means tension.

However, just the opposite is true. Jim McLean, in his book The Eight-Step Swing, has a sentence that all golfers should burn into their minds:

To gain control of your shots, you must give up control of your swing.

At no point in the full swing should you feel as if you are in control of your club. You should have at best a vague idea where the clubhead is. The clubhead should feel as if it’s a rock on the end of a string. Your entire body, above your waist, should feel utterly loose, relaxed, throughout the entire motion of hitting the ball. Your “grip” should be as soft as it can be and still enable you to start the backswing.

Find some movies of the swings of Bobby Jones and Julius Boros. Here’s how soft their “grips” were. You’ll see them start their backswings by beginning to move their hands, but their clubheads don’t start to move until their hands have moved around six inches.

At address, above your waist, get as relaxed as you can. Maintain this feeling throughout your attempt to hit the ball. Many muscles above your waist will indeed fire, but you shouldn’t feel them do so.

If you can keep your abdominal muscles loose, then your hips will be able to fire ahead of your shoulders. You’ll no longer be bothered by golf’s most frequent fault: coming over the top.

Get out of control!! The wilder your whirl, the faster your clubhead will move, and the more consistent will be the pathway on which your clubhead is whirling. To gain both accuracy and distance, get out of control. Get utterly loose above the waist, out to the tips of your fingers, and let it rip!!

For more golf swing tips, video, articles and information, visit www.swail.com