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- Clubhead lag
- Head behind the ball
- The late hit
- Balance
- Overswinging
- Freewheeling
- Control
- Hitting down through the ball
- Distance control
- Accuracy
- Distance
The one major thing that differentiates the successful golfers swing from an amateurs is muscular effort. There is little muscular effort in an efficient swing. We all admire it. Ernie, Vijay, Furyk. All have effortless swings but bomb the ball with accuracy. Yes, professionals go to the gym etc but this is to keep the body in a condition that enables them to swing effortlessly, not put more into it because "beefing up gives you more muscular control". Muscular control serves only a very small purpose in the efficient golf swing..............otherwise it wouldn't be efficient.
I'm sure you've all heard it or said it to yourselves at one time or another "If I could put my practice swing on the ball I'd be a golfing god" (or words to that effect!).
The major difference between our practice swings and our swings at the ball is rhythm. On this point (and I digress a little) I have seen many posts of forums members swings in slow motion, followed up by people stating that they have great rhythm............ You can't tell what a persons true rhythm is in slow motion!
Rhythm and tempo. If you want to sort out a host of problems in your swing, look no further than rhythm and tempo.
If you have the facility, video your swing from face on whilst performing your practice swing. Do three, four, five, however many you like. Be relaxed and just swing the club through to that metronome. One, two. One, two.
Then hit a ball. Just one ball. Now look at the video and compare the practice swing with the swing at the ball. I don't know how many of you video your practice swings, but you definately should. You will find so many good things in there.
For me, when I first filmed my practice swings I was amazed and thoroughly pleased. Not least for the fact that when performing a practice swing, I could see that I was doing all the things I wanted when over the ball but couldn't. A short swing, plenty of lag, hands infront of the ball, head behind it, balance, no body lunge etc etc etc.
It was like a confirmation that "I can do it". If your results on this are anything like mine were, you will see all the positions you thought you could never have achieved (and cannot achieve via muscular effort), and a fizz of the clubhead through the bottom of swing arc. All in balance, all in a smooth tempo. For evidence of the results of good and bad tempo on a professionals game, get hold of a copy of the 2006 Ryder Cup and watch Jim Furyks 1st tee shot on day one (found the fairway) then watch Tiger Woods tempo on his 1st tee shot (found the lake). Tiger snatched at it from the top in an effort to crunch one down the fairway. That's the only reason he missed the shot. Jim's is smooth as a baby's proverbial.
Two final points.
1. The difference between a downswing on a practice swing, and the real thing is the length of time it takes to get back to the ball. On the practice swing it gets there a lot slower than the real thing (if your having problems, that is). Learn to resist the temptation to get back to the ball quick in order to produce power. If you're already at full speed coming into the ball, you can't accelerate through it. You can try, but wrists break down, balance disappears (along with accuracy and distance), the body gets overly involved, the clubhead passes the hands too early etc etc etc. Resisting the urge to hit the ball is done through trusting your rhythm.
A good rhythm allows balanced, controlled acceleration through through the ball with almost no effort. It's the natural acceleration of the arc, gravity and inertia that does the trick.
2. In terms of any true muscular effort when swinging a golf club, the only real point at which a player uses his body to propel the club is within the first two feet of the backswing. This is why fundamentals are important. Like a car, 1st gear is the most powerful. It's designed to get the car moving. The same with the golf swing. Get your fundamentals sound. Then start your swing right. Anything beyond it regarding other muscular effort is a compensation. Unlike a car, the human body doesn't have a steering wheel and should be treated as such. Learn without effort and you'll soon find your own natural, controlled powerful golf swing.
Please try filming your practice swings vs your actual swings and let me know how it goes.
To hit the ball longer and straighter, we try less.
Stupid 'kin game.
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