Getting the club light is only possible from a correct grip
Getting the club light in the backswing not only loads the right arm for power but allows any golfer to swing the club back faster and with more control. This light and levered condition can be easily obtained as it is established at address from a correct grip. With a good grip the club is already light as it is already in an up condition and only needs to be swung back.
In the picture above we see a most talented junior golfer Austin Shah in perfect posture made possible from the grip. This club is already up at address as seen with the angle formed by the clubshaft and arms. With his grip the heel pad of the left hand is on top, the thumb is slightly on the side of the handle and the wrist joint is on top of the shaft allowing for a square clubface at impact. Since the arms and clubshaft are not in a straight line it is already light and ready to be swung back.
Now as the left arm swings across the chest the right arm can naturally fold and the right wrist can hinge back putting the club into a light and levered condition. This golfer has control over his golf swing.
But with a grip that is too much in the palm the posture gets erect and the clubshaft assumes a straight line with the arms, a heavy starting position one that is difficult to swing and get light.
Make sure to get the heel pad of the left hand on top of the shaft, the thumb on the side of the handle with the wrist joint on top of the clubshaft with a square clubface and you too can swing the club back into a light and loaded condition.
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The World of Long Driving The long drive championship was hosted by eight incredibly athletic finalists, each one capable of hitting drives upwards of four hundred yards or more. Looking at these swings one can see some rather obvious similarities. The first is that most of them are truly beasts or at least slightly different. Not only are they large and or powerful individuals but all used drivers measuring 48 inches, the maximum allowed creating a wide swing base and prodigiously long drives. All had very strong grips especially with the left hand. This makes since as it gives one more clubface control and allows for use of the legs and hips. However Joe Miller, the linebacker of a golfer, had very much an upper body dominated motion and with slow hips was seen to jump as he delivered his release to the ball. Here is a golfer who uses vertical forces when …
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How to get better without trying Instant improvement with the golf swing is easily achieved from a correct set up and swing concept. Set up is the starting position of stance, posture, grip, ball position and aim & alignment. These elements determine how one swings the club and should facilitate and or offset what the body can or cannot do to hit the ball. Swing concepts happen between the two positions of address and finish and are what you do when swinging the club so as to hit the ball flush and square with power and direction. But nearly all of what happens between these two positions is naturally occurring and doesn’t require much involvement on the part of the golfer to make them happen. In fact most of the time if the golfer gets involved in trying to make certain things happen it is usually done at the expense …
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Jordan Spieth’s Hit Hold Move Jordan Spieth’s hit hold move is considered by many to be a secret move, one that gives him an advantage over the field. Lets take a look at his swing in slow motion to see what is happening. The first thing one can see is that he does not have a straight left arm at the top. And it is not straight coming down, into the ball or afterwards. This shows how the golf swing is based on momentum rather than through positions. With his dominate hand, the right, he is getting the right arm as long as possible through the shot. With the right arm fold at the top of the backswing it straightens down to the point where both arms are straight. This is the point of release and it is past the ball as the body is somewhat open. It is also …
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The Misleading Modern Golf Swing The phrase: The Modern Golf Swing has been used on more than one occasion during the season, usually in response to a spectacular shot from some extraordinarily pleasing swing such as a Charles Schwartzel or a Justin Rose; however, I feel that this remark could be quit misleading. The reason is that this comment comes with an implied that the golf swing should have a preferred look and motion, that it has arrived at some evolved state with both its appearance and function, one that all should copy. Copying The Professionals Modern Golf Swing On occasion I have seen golfers trying to swing like their favorite player, maybe an Ernie Els, Justin Rose or Tiger Woods. Also I have seen golfers being taught the same set of fundaments and swing concepts. A one size fits all program and that by achieving a collection of perfect or preferred …
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Junior Golf Swing Requirements Junior golf swing requirements are quite similar to any adult swing in that they both gain momentum from the ground up by using the chain reaction of legs, hips, shoulders and arms through strength, flexibility and balance. Both adult and juniors create coil by getting the upper body wound against the resistance of the lower body through arm swing. But since juniors can be very flexible the focus for them should shift from achieving some degree turn to capturing some degree of coil . This does not mean that they don’t get turned but rather what they need to prioritize in their swing is coil. This is achieved but first squaring the feet and then having the youngster do nothing as they swing the club back. They will still get turned but now they have the ability to create coil. In all golf swings it is all about achieving a balance, that is why one either …
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Jordan Spieth’s Practice Swing Jordan Spieth’s practice swing from waist high to waist high captures the golf swing’s core principals of plane, path, clubface and sequence. With little or no effort, he has these four elements in complete control. Here’s why. His practice swing starts with the right arm folding in the backswing and then the left arm folding in the through swing. As he does this back and forth several times the arms are traveling the wrists are hinging. This is arm swing and it is also perfect path. Path is the direction the club travels specifically the sweet spot of the clubface. Referenced to the target line at any one time this can be down the line, in to out, out to in, up or down. In motion the swing goes through all of these directions. As the arms swing back and forth the shoulders are controlling the …
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The Benefits of loft and Bounce in the Sand wedge The Sand Wedge has great flexibility as it possesses the two advantages of loft and bounce. Looking at a typical sand wedge it usually possesses 56 degrees of loft but this loft can easily be decreased or increased making the ball run, walk or stop when hitting shots around the green. When hitting these shots the bounce gives this club a resistance to digging while also giving it an ability to glide and slide through the sand with green side bunkers. Turning the club upside down reveals how the back part is higher than the front. This angle from back to front is the bounce and can range, hopefully, from no less than 12 degrees to 22 degrees or more. Several tour grinds can go even higher. When sitting on the ground the club is resting on the back part as it is lower and so when one is …
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Golf Swing Tempo Golf swing tempo. As golfers we can all appreciate the effortless unhurried power found in the swings of an Ernie Els or a Phil Mickelson. How do these golfers acquire this perfect tempo even when hitting a 300 yard drive? The answer is that they swing the club and they swing it at their natural tempo. This is good news because if this is the case, what they are doing is incredible easy to do quite simple and requires absolutely no effort on the part of the golfer to do it. Let’s start by going to the dictionary and looking at the definition of the word Swing. Here it defines the word swing as: unrestricted uninterrupted continuous backward and forward motion. Now comes the easy part. The only part of the body in position to swing the club are the arms and since they are attached to …
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X Factor can be viewed 4 ways Golf swing and the X Factor is a term used to describe the difference in turn angle between the shoulders (upper body) and the hips (pelvis), in the backswing. Added to this is the X Factor Stretch which is an increase in the X Factor at the beginning of the downswing produced by the hips starting down before the shoulders. This new revved up version, referred to as downswing loading, intensifies the coil created in the backswing. OK everything here is completely correct and horrible wrong at the same time. From this definition it is saying that good golf is directly proportional to how much differential one can achieve between the upper and lower body. And also from this, every golfer is obligated to start the downswing from the hips, that you as a golfer must actively be involved in doing this or one will suffer the consequence …
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Ground Forces Ground forces power the golf swing with vertical, rotary and linear motions. And any three of these to all of these can be used as a dominate force. They become layered in varying degrees based on the individual to create maximum acceleration on the ball. Golf swings develop momentum from the ground up with a chain reaction of legs, hips, shoulders and arms. This chain develops from a transference of energy that works up through the body; accelerations created from braking actions, not unlike a car when moving at speed, applying its brakes is felt in the restraints of the seat belts. Beginning with the legs before each part of the chain has finished the next part has already started to accelerate, causing the forces to sum as they add to each other vertically through the body. As the swing begins back to the ball the stored energy, …
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The Posture is Adjusted to Match the Clubshaft Golf swing distance Vs direction requiring only a simple adjustment with the posture as the club changes from short and steep to long and flat. This posture change will allow any golfer to easily move from one club to the next or from the two extremes of wedge to driver, this done without any concern on the part of the golfer to modify the swing so as to make the club work. Here’s how. From Wedge to Driver the clubshaft progressively changes from very short and upright to longer and flatter. When short it will swing more straight back and through and when longer it will swing more around. As the shaft becomes shorter the posture will become more bent over with the torso or more lowered down from the knees and hips, done to ideally get the clubshaft at right angles to the spine at address. The longer …
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For Every Effect There is a Cause Golf swing cause and effects are born out a most cherished principle in physics that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, called conservation of energy. This fundamental law can be seen in all aspects or our lives from the heat one uses to make a pot of coffee, the gas put in our cars to make them run, the food one eats to keep oneself moving, the orbit that the earth takes around the sun and when one makes a golf swing. The principal of conservation of energy has been validated many time over by scientist, however it was put on very firm ground some 100 years ago from a German mathematician by the name of Emmy Noether, who observed that all conservation laws are based on symmetries of nature. Physical laws can be perfectly symmetrical. Example: the passage of time does not change the laws of nature for if one were to …
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The Backswing and Downswing Plane do not need to be the Same Over the top with the golf swing is a term that should be redefined. It was said of Brendon de Jonge’s golf swing that he is over the top with the golf swing implying that his swing possesses something wrong and that perhaps this is where golf swings go to die. Ok but it seems to me that we need to ask our self’s what does it mean to be over the top with the golf swing? Yes his downswing plane is definitely over his backswing plane however, golfers do not hit the ball with their backswings. It seems to me that this comment is a perfect example of trying to impose a preferred look on the golf swing. Instead would it not be better if we put the preferred down and embrace that every swing is unique to the individual and …
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The Importance of Posture in the Golf Swing Determines How One Swings the Club The importance of posture in the golf swing is such that it takes precedence over the other four elements in the set up but ironically it is released and even abandoned in order to reach the finish of one’s swing. Posture is achieved by bending backwards from the knees and forward from the hips same time and same amount which lowers one down into a balanced athlete starting position. Said another way: stick your back end out. The importance of posture shows that the golfer is down to the ball and has room for arm swing and by lowering down like this the torso can be matched to the incline, an ideal, determined by the clubshaft at address putting the club and spine at a right angle. This means that the shoulders can easily assist the arm swing back to the ball. Here the motion is …
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I just watched a video of a golfer who was being described as having a” one plane” swing due to his left arm being parallel to his shoulder line at the top of the backswing. The golfer in question is a one plane golfer but having his left arm in line with his shoulders, as seen down the line at the top, is not why he is “one plane.” I think this might be misleading and confusing to the reader. Let’s start by using logic and common sense here this way we can all avoid the inherent problems of sounding like a know it all. If a golfer can setup with the club shaft at right angles to the spine at address they are well on their way to having a “one plane” golf swing. If a golfer cannot do this they are well on their way to having a …