You need Mental AND Physical CONTROL to be a good golfer. This Swing Tip uses key points from a recent blog published by Golf-Info-Guide by Thomas Golf to help develop control for a consistent swing. We are not robots so we find it hard to repeat the perfect swing. Knowing the right body positions for your setup, impact and finish are a good starting point. Mentally, you also need to tie these positions together with the right tempo to avoid those unwanted violent moves that create duck hooks and slices.
Next time you watch golf on TV, pay attention to the swings so that you can guess if the result will be a good or bad shot. Near the end of each telecast they have to show the swings for every shot to fill-in time between shots so you see the good, the bad and the ugly. During each poor shot you may start to notice a faster backswing or an extra rush in the downswing which causes an ugly result. Last week Justin Rose lost his cool during the final 9 holes of the DP Tour Championship in the Race to Dubai. You could actually predict an ugly shot before they showed the result.
For Consistent Full Swing Shots: “Imagine a pole running down your spine and into the ground and avoiding that pole from popping out of the ground during your backswing .” It’s a good thought but we do move forward through the ball during the downswing.
This is my favorite slow motion swing video of Rory McIlroy performed with Chariots of Fire background music. You can image a pole running down his spine as his head and back are rotating but never swaying in the backswing.
3 Keys for your Consistent Swing.
1/ Spine Axis: For a consistent golf swing your shoulders should be rotating around the axis of your spine as your head remains in approximately the same horizontal and vertical position. When we try to put more power into a swing we tend to sway back like a baseball player at bat. GOLF is NOT Baseball. Diving down at the ball will drop your shoulders and bury your club in the turf. So just relax, rotate and release.
2/ Flexed Trailing Knee: To avoid swaying back in your backswing, “keep your trailing knee flexed and stationary.” Minimize your lower body movement during your backswing by only allowing the rotation of your hips.
3/ Neck On-plane: During your backswing and downswing the depth from your neck to your ball should remain on the same plane (same distance to the ball) for a consistent impact point.
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Excellent and sound advice .Each time you get out of your normal tempo (It varies from player to player ) you get into trouble .The “normal tempo is 2/1 :two on the backswing ,one in the throughswing :the total time of the swing varies from player to player .You have to find what works the best for you and stick to it .When I swing ,I “count ” in my head and tell to myself “SMOOTH AND SLOW “
Good one. When you say words to yourself during your swing, you can’t think of a second swing thought at the same instant. By saying 2, 1 you are just blocking out all other thoughts. This is the best trick for your mind when you are making a golf swing.
I use the words “Calm and Relaxed” during my setup, followed by my swing reminders: before my swing “Straight Arm” and during my swing “Sweep in Finish”