Golf Swing Guide

Golfer 2008 asked:


Its weird, however i seem to keep a square clubface on my backswing, but my swing plane is across the line. Please help with a drill to overcome closing the face on the halfway back, or some advice please!!!

Darrell

Mike Yardwood asked:


Golf swing training is once of the most vital areas of a prospective golfer’s game. It’s important to note though that not all golf swing training programs are the same. It’s a fact that some training programs are much better than others.

This article will cover the aspects that go towards making a good golf swing training program.

Before getting on the golf course, it’s vital that your body is fully prepared physically and particularly your muscles that will be needed for your golf swing.

Stretching exercises are a vital part of golf swing training. Exercises specific to golf can be very powerful and extremely effective in achieving a better golf swing.

The great thing is that you don’t have to be in the gym for a long period of time or away from your work place to carry out many golf swing stretch exercises. There are loads of stretching exercises that can be done in a spare moment in your office, all through the day.

Using dumbbells as part of a weight training programme can be very useful here too, the idea not being to build bigger muscles but to strengthen your golf swing muscles.

It’s a good idea to consult golf exercise experts who will be able to instruct you how to carry out the dumbbell exercises that will help to build up your strength but without giving you bulging muscles.

This is a main reason why the dumbbell exercise programs are heavily used by women golfers and young teenagers.

These particular golf swing exercises can be directly transferred to the golf course where you can utilize golfing exercise products such as the weighted golf club.

This will help you to enhance and condition your golfing muscles at the same time as you practice the correct golf swing technique.

Once you reach the point of actually hitting golf balls you will discover that your drives will be longer and also your own self-confidence will increase. Golf swing training will make a very big difference in improving your golf game.



April

sebastian foss asked:


There is a big difference between the golf swing basics of pitching the golf ball in and around the edges of the green, over bunkers, over little trees, over a pond, 30 yards, 20 yards, 40 yards, and the golf swing basics of hitting your full pitch shot swing.

Whenever I’m talking about chipping and pitching, I’m talking about golf shots that are in and around the green. If I’m not talking about that, then I’m talking about your full swing.

The technique to hit to the green in front of you is ball in the middle, weight left, handle forward. And it’s an arm swing.

Now, if you want to hit a full wedge shot, it will go way over the green.

With the 90-yard swing, you can see a difference with your golf swing basics at address. Your body turns, your shoulders turn, which moves the weight a little bit over to the right side, and the arms swing up and down.

As you start to bring the golf club back, your shoulders start to turn and your weight moves backwards a little bit. That’s a full golf swing.

And the 40-yard pitch shot is a big difference in the two swings. One, the 100-yard wedge was just like the driver swing, but with a wedge in your hand. The pitch shot is a miniature little tiny golf swing that you don’t move any weight to your right side.

I hope that clears it up for you, and thanks.

You can check out PurePoint Golf instructional DVDs at http://gulfswinggurufield.blogspot.com



Samuel

John Lynch asked:


By John Lynch

You’ve been hearing it since you first learned how to swing a golf club - “you gotta keep your left arm straight during the golf swing”.

The trouble is; how do you learn to keep your left arm straight?

A lotta golfers who think they keep their left arm straight during the golf swing are shocked when they see themselves swing on video…their left elbow usually breaks down somewhere during the backswing…or the downswing.

Some golfers are so intent on keeping their left arm straight during the golf swing they become rigid with little shoulder turn.

So, how do you learn to keep the left arm straight during the golf swing?

First, a little lesson on the physics of the golf swing…

Experts on the physics of golf refer to the “Magic Triangle” or “Eternal Triangle” that is formed in an ideal golf swing. This is the triangle formed by the golfer’s left arm, the golf club, and an imaginary line from the golfer’s left shoulder to the center of the club face. For best results, this triangle should be maintained from the start of the backswing to just before the impact area when you release the club head. This will produce a high speed impact with the ball as described in detail by Joe Dante in his top selling golf instructional book - “Four Magic Moves To Winning Golf”.



By focusing on maintaining the magic triangle throughout the golf swing you are taken advantage of a powerful physical force…the conservation of angular momentum…the principal that states angular momentum of an object remains constant as long as no external force or moment acts on that object.

If the object (club head) is brought closer to the axis (formed by the golfer’s stable spine), it speeds up. If the club head is moved further out, it slows down. In a golf swing, as the player rotates the club, the hands move farther from the body or axis and slow down. This reduction in momentum feeds into the much lighter club and increases the speed of the club head in the last part of the stroke, in a whiplash type of effect, increasing the force of impact on the ball.

The truth is, if your left arm does not stay straight during the golf swing, you are losing out on the benefits of centrifugal force because your swing arc is smaller. Think of your left arm as a spoke in a wheel and your swing arc as the circumference of the wheel. By not keeping your left arm straight you are essentially shortening the spoke thereby reducing the circumference. You are also upsetting the positive effects of conservation of angular momentum and thus reducing the speed between club face and ball.

Now that you understand the physics behind the benefits of keeping your left arm straight during the golf swing…

How do you learn to do so?

Assuming your golf swing fundamentals such as grip, stance, and alignment are relatively sound, all you have to do is simply become aware of this magic triangle. Don’t try to force this triangle…just become aware of it next time you go to the range…

Then, just before impact, release all that stored energy you will have in the club head, like cracking a whip!

After a while you will be shocked at how solidly you can strike the ball…

You’ll be surprised how straight your left arm becomes during the golf swing just by shining the light of awareness upon this magic triangle during the golf swing.

You will now have a tiger by the tail so use this new found power wisely!

Hit ‘em Long and Straight!

John Lynch



Gregory

Sean Cochran asked:


Some PGA Tour players have been playing for a couple of weeks in Hawaii and California. Others like Vijay and Ernie have been playing on the European Tour. Regardless of how many tournaments the pros have played this year, they have been working on their games for more time than most of us realize. Make no mistake about it: in golf - or baseball, football, basketball or any other pro sport - there is no longer an off-season.

So while this may be the first official shot of the season for some, the training process to get ready to make that shot has been quietly going on for months.

The amateur can learn a great deal from the professional golfer. Many parts of the world it is not possible to play golf year around, but there are ways to keep your golf game in shape all year long. Professionals know how to do it and so can you.

Realistically, there is very little time to take a break and do absolutely nothing for professional golfers. While every pro is different, there is a generic blueprint most will follow. After the pro finishes his last golf tournament, they take a little break. A few weeks off to give the body and mind a little rest. Every pro athlete needs that time to just recharge and give the body - both physically as well as mentally - time to recover. The PGA Tour season is one of the longest in sports and even though they may not play every week, it’s very taxing on the body and the time off is essential to ensure positive results when we begin training for the next season.

I would recommend the same recipe for the amateur. Regardless if you are able to play year around or not, take a period of at least 2 weeks to put the golf clubs in the closet. The break away from the game will do wonders. You may even find after you return you are playing better golf and shooting lower scores.

Following the rest time - and like I said, it’s longer for some, shorter for others - its time for the tour player to begin ramping up for the next season by physically improving the parameters of the body for the upcoming year. Just like any other golfer - from the Sunday hacker to the scratch golfer to the club pro - the professional golfer will work on trying to increase flexibility, balance, strength, endurance and power.

The amateur during this time of the year (usually the winter when snow is on the ground) can implement a golf fitness program. A golf fitness program will entail developing the physical capacities of the body around the golf swing. The program will look to develop flexibility, balance, strength, endurance, and power in relation to the golf swing. This is the first step for the amateur to keeping their golf swing in shape all year long.

The amateur during this time of year can also implement swing drills into their training program. The professional may or may not incorporate swing drills into their program at this time year. But for the amateur I recommend it, why? This is the time of year in addition to developing the body for the golf swing. The amateur can work on swing faults that hindered their scores the previous season.

The swing drills can be simply performing “mirror drills” to work on posture and the phases of the golf swing.

You should start putting drills this time of the year. If you are lucky enough to live in a region you can play golf year around, a couple short sessions at the range every week is a good idea. I would recommend the range sessions be kept short and focused on fixing the “problem” areas in your golf swing. The important point is the off-season is a time the amateur can take advantage of working on both their bodies and their golf swing

Professionally when the PGA Tour season approaches, we begin what is essentially the preseason. This is when the player starts to practice the fundamental mechanics of the sport. If it’s a golfer, he’s on the range working on his swing, if it’s a pitcher, he’s throwing getting ready for spring training. Physically, we’re still training the body, but we tone it down while the player fine tunes his game. But make no mistake about it, even though working on the golf game is 75 percent of the focus of this pre-season training program, we’re still working on the basics of flexibility, balance, strength, endurance and power training.

The pre-season for the amateur marks the time of year when the snow is beginning to melt and the “itch” to play golf comes around. I would suggest the amateur follow a similar program as the professional during this time of year. Start spending more time at the range. Working on all aspects of your golf game. Continue with your golf fitness program, but you may want to back off it a little as a result of the increased practice time. Again, keep in mind the body swings the golf club and we must keep the body in shape to do so.

The pre-season program of increased golf practice and a little less golf fitness continues with the professional golfer until their first tournament. This marks the point when we shift to an in-season golf fitness program. The golf fitness exercises don’t stop, but we back off on the intensity. The program doesn’t change much. We’re still focused on flexibility, balance, strength, endurance and power, but the amount or volume of work is much less to accommodate the physical and mental strain of competition.

Four days of tournament play can take a toll on the body. As a result, we must back off on the amount of golf fitness training. The amateur during the golf season is probably in a little different of a situation. They are probably not playing 4 competitive rounds of golf per week plus practice. At most, they may be playing 2-3 rounds per week with a couple practice sessions. As a result of the lower volumes of golf they can spend a little more amount of time with their golf fitness program.

Essentially, the amateur can pretty much stick to pre-season volume of golf fitness training unless they are playing quite a bit. Just make sure the right balance of golf fitness training is in place in relation to your golf practice and playing. This is necessary so that you do not physically over-tax the body. Bottom line if you are looking to keep your golf game in shape and improving year around, I recommend following what the pros do; take a break at the end of the season, implement a golf fitness program, work on your swing faults during the winter, increase your practice time at the range before the season, and during the season keep a good balance of playing, practicing, and working out.

Sean Cochran



Steve

doug a asked:


The ball hooks very sharply with a lot of top spin and no distance, I need help?

Glen

Ryan C. Nagy, M.A. asked:


It’s no secret that improving your golf swing can be exasperating and even seem impossible at times. It’s also fairly obvious that thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of people claim to know some type of “secret” for golf swing instruction.

But is there really a secret to improving your golf swing? The human body is capable of learning virtually any kind of behavior and movement, so why does the golf swing seem so difficult? Many people have problems with their golf swing or golf putt. Why? Because golfing actions are unfamiliar to most people (unless they have been doing them since childhood). There are very few actions that we do in golf that have any relationship to actions that we do in daily life.

What you need is a way to make the unfamiliar become familiar. What you need is way to make golfing feel correct from deep inside the core of your body’s movement.

Golf Swing Instruction: Imitation or Learning?

Golf Pros and instructors often teach us the game by having us imitate other’s actions - like their swing, putt, or hand placement. Imitation is “OK” for a start and we all have to imitate to some extent. But true improvement in your golf swing, true comfort while playing, and true mastery will come from you learning to be true to the often hidden dynamics of your own movement. This type of sensory-motor-learning is how you initially learned about movement as a child. It’s less common in adults, but it is still possible to use it.

What is sensory motor learning?

Sensory motor learning is the best and most effective way to improve your golf swing. Part of the process is getting yourself into a relaxed and open state so that you can learn to feel the inner dynamics of your movement and how you can change them. This type of movement learning involves noticing the proprioceptive (feeling and sensation) core of your body’s movement.

Now, that may sound like a lot of new-age mumbo jumbo to some people, but it’s not. We are talking about sound scientific principles from the field of motor learning and human development. The problem is that the techniques and processes have largely been untapped by the golfing community.

Where do you begin the process of using sensory-motor-learning to improve your golf swing?

I am sorry to say, that you can’t improve your golf swing by reading about the techniques or thinking about the techniques. You will actually have to do the techniques and get comfortable with the idea of trying some new and often strange movements. For instance, what if I had you lie on the floor and engage in an entire sequence of movements designed to improve the coordination of your head, eyes and neck? What if I told you to keep you eyes closed the entire time, so that you could have greater focus on yourself and your body? Would you be willing to do that? If not, you wouldn’t be able to benefit from sensor motor learning systems. If you were willing to explore, you would find a whole wealth of new possibilities and golf swing improvement.

The most evolved practitioners of sensory motor learning are “alternative health practitioners” such as those who do the Feldenkrais Method, Alexander Technique, or Rolfing. The trick is to find someone who understands the needs and desires of golfers. But even if they don’t, consider that a slight improvement in your ability to move from your core could unleash a whole new potential in your ability to improve your swing.



Erin

John Lynch asked:


These are the top 5 golf swing tips handed down by generations of golf pros that are pure RUBBISH!!

These 5 golf swing falsehoods have ruined more golf swings than I care to imagine. I believe these 5 so called “golf swing tips” are the reason the average golfer’s handicap has stayed the same for the past 20 years - Even with all the advancements in golf equipment technology.

I will be pulling the curtain back on some golf swing tips you may consider as gospel…so please keep an open mind.

Top 5 Golf Fallacies That Are Ruining Golfer’s Game:

1. RELAX - Pure rubbish! How many times have you heard this golf swing tip from a golf pro or a playing partner? The golf swing is a violent action - is there any other violent action you take when you relax? - of course not - This is foolish advice.

2. Be Loose. This is the second cousin of “Relax”. When you are “loose” in the golf swing your hips are NOT restricted therefore you will NOT have that important coil in your backswing robbing you of much power.

3. Take The Club Back Inside - More rubbish! I’m sure you’ve heard many times how the correct golf swing is from the inside. So some golfers yank the club way inside early in their backswing thinking this will allow them to hit from the inside. These golfers are shocked when they still hit the golf ball from the outside. Hitting the golf ball from the inside comes from proper hip and shoulder action at the start of the downswing. You can take the club back way outside and still hit the ball from the inside - look at Jim Furyk - he takes the club way back to the outside however his move from the top of the swing is pure and from the inside.

4. The Golf Club Is On The Same Plane Going Back As It Is Coming Down. Again, this golf swing tip has been misguiding golfers for generations. The path of the clubface is much more to the inside during the downswing than during the backswing in a sound golf swing. This is because a proper golf swing has a lateral shift of the hips which drops the club into the all important “slot” early in the downswing. This action of the left hip automatically puts the path of the clubface much more to the inside than the path going back.

5. Turn The Hips To The Left To Start The Downswing. This golf fallacy causes golfers to “spin out” during the downswing and the result is a total mis-hit of the golf ball. Turning the hips to start the downswing forces you to throw the golf club to the outside causing terrible mis-hits. Again, the correct move is a lateral shift of the left hip to start the downswing and the hips will then turn automatically. It is possible to NOT have this lateral shift and still turn the hips from the top - however, it is IMPOSSIBLE to have the lateral shift of the left hip to start the downswing and the hips NOT turn.

Hit ‘em Long and Straight!

John Lynch



Milton

Dave Nimmo asked:


olf shots with a full golf swing involves strategic thinking. First, ask yourself what you want to do with the shot. As you develop skill, strategic concerns such as the ball flight, right or left turn and high or low trajectory become more and more important.

New golfers spend most of their strategy time finding a target and picking a club simply because the number of ways they can hit a shot is limited. Professional players will take all aspects of the shot into account. Wind, lie, slopes, hazards, pin position, green firmness, individual preferences, and other factors all help the professional player decide on ball flight.

As you develop as a player the answer to the question of what to do with the ball will become a matter of adjusting to the conditions set by the golf course and by yourself. The better golf player you are, the more answers you will find and the more variety your golf shots will have.

Once you’ve determined what you want to do, consider how you will get it done, examining your ability to execute the necessary shot. A good player will be able to produce the best shot for any given situation.

Before you can reach a professional level, the most important answer to the question “How” is simply the technique you need to produce the shot. A straight forward golf shot may necessitate your regular full golf swing. For softer ball flight, perhaps a smoother swing with a longer club could do the trick. It isn’t easy to practice strategic thinking for a full golf swing without playing on a golf course. A driving range or practice area usually looks different from the course. Practicing under game-like conditions will help you transfer what you learn in practice to the golf course.

Here are some Full Golf Swing drills to practice:

On the driving range, select a target for your golf shot, such as a different area on the ground, a sign, or an assembly of balls lying on the fairway. Your goal is to hit the target, but on every shot decide on an area around the target about the size of a green. Play at least 20 shots with different clubs and give yourself a point every time you hit the green area.

To increase your difficulty, make your visualized area of the green smaller. To decrease your difficulty, make your visualized area of the green bigger and use all the clubs in the bag all the way up to the driver. Additionally, focus on the target and let your swing take care of itself. At the end of your practice add up all your points and check your success. This is a great way to keep a score going of your golf practice sessions.

Developing a sound full swing is fundamental to playing golf successfully. The full golf swing has three phases: (1) Backswing, (2) Downswing and (3) Follow through. You can execute a full golf swing with nearly any club in the bag. Strategic thinking for the full swing involves understanding club selection, knowing how to hit a variety of shots and adjusting to the ever changing golf course conditions.

The key to developing your full golf swing and success is strategic practice drills. Vary your distances, change clubs and targets until you master your shots.



Samantha

grenter asked:


I would like to play it back and have as many frames as possible. Thanx in advance.

Wanda