When teaching, I like to break the swing down to three steps. Step one is the take away. Step two is the top of the backswing and Step three is the follow through. Each of these steps has equal importance. However, learning how to do them in the correct order is what makes the golf swing so much easier.
You can play this game for 5 days or 50 years and know what it feels like to hit a good shot. It’s that effortless feeling when the ball takes off and your body feels nothing. We all stand there in amazement thinking to ourselves, wow, what did I do?
It is at this moment that becoming a golfer drives us crazy because once we understand what it truly feels like to hit the ball correctly, we want to feel it every time we strike the ball. It becomes the ultimate mission. So we read every golf magazine we can and get as many tips from our buddies as we can and we tinker with our swing until we find that feeling once again.
So I am going to save you all that time and give you the secret to the golf swing: TIMING. If the timing of the three steps is correct you will feel that effortless feeling more often. Your hands should be the last thing back to the ball but they are often the first. When getting to the top of the backswing, most golfers want to hit the ball so badly, they start their hands or upper body first. This means they have to get out of their own way in order to hit the ball. I call this the “fight to the finish”
The truth is the lower body has to start the downswing and get out of the way in order for the upper body to finish the swing. Can you imagine trying to think about the order while trying to swing the club? Hands, Arms, Shoulders, Hips, Legs and reverse it for the downswing Legs, Hips, Shoulders Arms, Hands. It would be impossible to have so many swing thoughts. So, how do we do this without thinking?
I have the perfect timing drill. It is called the “feet together weight shift drill” First, set up in posture with your feet together. Then swing the club to the top of the backswing using your torso. With your feet together your back should be facing the target.
Next, step squarely with your front foot towards the target into the width of a stance. Then complete the swing with a full finish. This seems so simple but doing it in order will be a challenge at first. You will first feel how out of order you have been swinging the club. Then you will start to feel the correct order.
For a more detail description and to find out the dos and don’ts of this drill and how to incorporate this into your practice sessions on or off the course go to the YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO7vaysRci0