Are you a “Trigger Finger Golfer”?

Too many golfers pull the trigger too early in their swing. I’m an active recreational golfer and I watch a lot of other golfers (as well as myself) who get so frustrated by their ability to hit a golf ball perfectly 100% of the time. They would even be happy with 50% or any improvement but they can’t seem to calm down and execute the shot. I know the secret.

Unfortunately golfers love to watch the pros on TV executing every shot perfectly. We rarely see the duck hooks or the fat shots or the topped balls, but the pros do it too. The program producers just make sure that they only show the best of shots unless they happen to be following one of the tournament leaders who happens to make a poor shot.

My point here is that the pros have an amazing ability to start the transfer of their weight from the trailing foot to the leading foot during their swing transition at the top of their swing. They have no problem doing this with amazingly fast swings. We see this and our minds think we can repeat it on the golf course.

Ernie Els is a great image to remember your weight transfer starting during your transition. And he holds off on the wrist release.

In the Heat of Battle on the Golf Course
We are always wondering where our bad shots are coming from especially when we do them on the golf course. It seems so simple to repeat great shots on the driving range. But on the course it all changes. When our minds are caught up with our last amazing drive or our last disappointing flub, we tend to internalize our feelings and release them by pulling the trigger too early in our next shot.

The Problem
You rush your downswing with your arms and never give your body the time to transfer your weight from your trailing foot to your leading foot. Your practice swing may be perfect because you are calm and relaxed. I see it all the time. Your practice swing is at 60% of your actual swing. At the moment of truth, YOUR ARMS TAKE OVER. You are already bottoming out the arc of your swing 4 inches before your club head reaches the ball.

The Result
Either you hit a fat shot, a topped-ball or you power through the ball causing a pulled shot or major slice. This is caused by 2 situations. 1/ When you are over confident because of an amazing last shot [often referred to as the PBSU, Post Birdie Screw-Up) or 2/ You are really steamed after a missed last shot and you are trying to make-up for lost distance.

The Solution
Slow down. Realize what is going on in your mind. Take control of your mind. You can’t afford to let your arms take over the swing. Make sure that your backswing takes twice as long as your down swing by saying “1,2,3” during your swing. “1” during your takeaway, “2” during your transition and weight shift and “3” as you swing down to impact.

In your practice swing, feel an early weight shift to allow you to impact your ball before any turf. This is a critical step before you move up to your ball. Feel your weight shift when you practice with your GOLFSTR+. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Golf Truism #12: No golfer ever swung too slowly