Many golfers make the same mistakes when driving, approaching, pitching, chipping and putting. The problems with most golf swings are not unusual, and there are many well-tested golf tips that can remedy errant swings. But there usually isn't one cure-all; golfers must try a variety of techniques to find one or more that addresses their problems.
Keep Your Elbow In
Moving your outside elbow outward during the backswing causes many problems with forward swing path and club face at contact. Take your club back with a smooth rotation of the upper body, "pushing" your arms back, rather than a motion that has your arms "pulling" your torso back. This will alleviate the tendency to use so much arm strength that your arms separate.
Slow Down
A golf swing should not be an unbroken motion. Taking the club back requires eccentric muscle contractions (where your muscles extend). Bringing the club forward is done using concentric muscle contractions (your muscles contract). In order to make the transition from eccentric to concentric muscle movements, you'll need to slow down prior to finishing your backswing in order to create maximum acceleration going forward. Start with a slight pause at the top of your swing to learn this rhythm, eventually learning a slight slow-down at the top of your swing (not a true stop).
Open Your Hips
Although the analogy of a pendulum is o0ften used to describe the golf backswing and forward swing, you'll want to break this pendulum motion prior to contact by opening up your hips slightly before ball contact. Opening up your hips creates internal shoulder rotation, which provides most of the speed on a golf, baseball or tennis swing. Practice "throwing" your hip at the ball and letting your elbows collapse in and follow into the shot naturally. Just as you get power from your legs and hips when moving a heavy piece of furniture, you will generate more power using the larger parts of your body than just by using your arms.
Snap Your Wrists
The backswing often results in palmar flexion, or the wrists bending backward. In order to get your club head into the proper position at impact, snap your trailing hand forward prior to contact. Experiment with the timing on this movement because snapping too early or too late can produce errant results. The course is not the place to work on this movement. Save wrist-snap practice for the driving range.
References
- Golf Digest: Golf Instruction
- LearnAboutGolf: Golf Tips to Improve your Golf Swing
- "Teaching Golf Lessons That Last"; Milano; 1998
- "Practice Like You Play"; Milano; 1998
Member Comments