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This web site was
initially designed to help golfers understand
how the golf swing is performed, but I also realise that
it could enable the golfer to by-pass many years of frustrating
golf and thereby begin to play better golf, sooner rather
than later.
( See introduction
section.)
How accurate are your
golf shots?
Do you consistently
hit a particular part of the fairway, or similarly do
you hit the green with your approach shot.
The
answer is that you probably do not.
The reason for this is that most golfers
use the arms as the main source of power to swing the
golf club, thereby allowing a larger margin of error to
creep into the golf shot.
What they should be doing is using the movement of the
hips to control the rotational movement of a compact upper
body unit and only in the later stages of the down swing
movement allowing the arms to become involved in the golf
swing to inject power into the golf shot.
The golf swing is a controlled sequence of movements
that begins from the moment you start the back swing movement.
The back swing movement is performed by using the
back muscles to rotate a compact upper body unit around
the central core of the spine, whilst the hips put up
a much resistance as is physically possible
Whereas during the back swing movement the rotation
of the upper body unit was seen as the dominant factor
whilst the hips played a much lesser role, from the moment
the back swing movement is completed the sequence of movements
is completely reversed.
During the down swing movement the rotation of the hips
becomes the dominant factor whilst the upper body unit
plays a much lesser - as you will see in the next paragraph.
The down swing movement begins by simultaneously
pressing down with the left foot and also rotating the
hips towards the target area which eventually forces the
compact upper body unit to rotate around the central core
of the spine.
However, regardless of how you perform
the golf swing, one of the most important keys to playing
very good golf is that you must focus your eyes on the
back edge of the golf ball from the moment you begin the
back swing movement and maintaining this focus on the
back edge of the golf ball throughout the back swing,
the down swing movement and continuing to maintain this
focus on the back edge of the golf ball right up to the
precise moment the club head makes contact with the ball.
From my experience, I have found that in order to
play very good golf it is important that you use the back
muscles to rotate the upper body unit around the central
core of the spine during the back swing movement whilst
held firmly together as a very compact unit but with the
hips totally resisting the movement.
Therefore if you wish to consistently hit the ball
like the professional golfers, it is absolutely vital
that you learn to perform the down swing movement and
the follow through movement with the hip movement in total
control over the rotational movement of the compact upper
body unit.
When you watch the professional golfer swinging the
golf club it appears that the upper body unit is doing
most of the work, but I can assure you that with the majority
of professional golfers, the movement of the upper body
unit during the down swing//follow through movement is
mainly a reaction to the rotational movement of the hips.
The only physical actions required during the down swing
movement, other than the use of the hips to rotate the
compact upper body unit around the central core of the
spine, is to force the arms to interact at the point of
contact whilst they swing inside the parallel to the target
line.
This is not an action that can be programmed into
the conscious mind overnight, but with practice and repetition
it can be achieved over a relatively short period.
I am not offering a different way to
perform the golf swing, quite the contrary.
Although I may describe the movements in a way which sounds
different to what you may consider correct, but if
you observe and analyse the golf swing as performed by
most of the professional
golfers, with Graeme McDowell and Lee Westwood as
classic examples, and compare how they perform the golf
swing to what I am teaching, you will notice that I am
simply explaining the golf swing that is common to most
top class golfers.
Exercise.
If you want to have a basic understanding of how the
down swing movement and the follow through movement is
performed, carry out the following sequence in slow motion:-
Whilst holding a nine iron, adopt an open stance so
that you are partially facing the target area and put
a tee peg into the ground to use as an imaginary ball.
Make a half back swing, then in slow motion, use the hip
movement to force the upper body unit to follow.
As the hips force the upper body unit to rotate into the
down swing, still in slow motion, ensure that the arms
lag behind the whole movement. This will ensure that the
right shoulder will begin to rotate under the chin before
the club head returns to the ball position.
Continue to use the hips to force the upper body unit
to rotate into the down swing movement and as the club
head returns to the imaginary ball position you begin
to move into the follow through movement.
Therefore as you perform the follow through movement,
i,e. the club head swinging through the contact area,
you must ensure that the movement of the hips deliberately
pull the arms inside the parallel to the target line whilst
the whole continues to turn to fully face the target area
and whilst maintaining the upper body angles.
This is a very basic description of the golf swing,
but whilst performing this basic exercise your head must
remain absolutely still, and by that I mean that it must
not sway away from the original address position, and
you must maintain the focus of your eyes on the tee peg,
right up to the point the club head makes contact with
it.
That is how the full golf swing should be performed,
which feels very weird at first, and obviously the address
position will be different when performing the full golf
swing but I can assure you that this is how the majority
of professional golfers perform the golf swing.
This web site is written in series of 10 lessons.
The first lesson describes the set up prior to making
a golf swing, the second lesson will describe how to keep
the lower body in a firm and stable condition whilst performing
the golf swing and the third lesson will describe how
to maintain the upper body unit as a compact unit as it
rotates around the central core of the spine.
The remainder of the lessons will cover the Back Swing,
the Down Swing, the Follow Through, Chipping, Putting,
How to Fade the ball, How to Draw the ball.
Therefore if you really want to
play much better golf and you are prepared to absorb this
information, this absolutely free web site will teach
you how to play a very consistent and accurate game of
golf.
How good you become will depend on the amount of time
and effort that you are prepared to put aside to
learn to play golf as per my instructions.
This is not a "quick fix"
course of lessons.
All of the movements that I describe will individually
enhance the quality of your golf, but it important to
understand that you have to practice each movement until
it becomes embodied into the subconscious mind before
you can hope to achieve any benefit on the golf course
- So do not expect too much,
too soon.
As a point of interest, you often hear
top golf
instructors say that that a golfer should only have
one or two swing thoughts as they prepare to make a golf
swing, in reality this only applies to a golfer
who has already developed a well structured golf swing.
Therefore if you want to reach the stage of
having a well structured golf swing it is vital that you
learn the basic
principles and the basic
movements of the golf swing and practice these
movements until they become second nature to perform.
Take a few minutes to read a few of
the many testimonials
that I have received over the years.