Practice Your Swing

Getting the right swing, as Tiger Woods has so often emphasized, isn't as easy as you might think. You can go to a driving range everyday and swing until you drop but you will not find the correct swing unless you know the facts behind the correct way to swing. Different people have different ideas about how a correct swing should be. Fortunately for us, science has provided invaluable help in establishing the standards for the correct swing.

What is needed for the right swing? First, you need to see how the right swing is done and have the mechanics and philosophy behind it explained to you. You can start working on your technique afterwards. Stand in front of a mirror and see how you go about the motion of swinging. Correct the wrong motions and maintain the correct moves.

When working on different kinds of shots, such as fades and draws, try to work your shots around targets (i.e. a flag, a tree or a marker). This will help your eye and feel for the shots.

Try to hit your fades from the right side of the practice tee and your draws from the left side. This will help you see the actual amount of movement you are getting on your shots.

Tiger Woods had worked hard since his early days on the PGA Tour to slow his hips and legs during the downswing. Amateurs tend to use their bodies too much during the downswing. This fault is hardly surprising when virtually everything you read tells you to start your downswing with the hips and/or legs sliding and/or turning and miraculously your arms and hands and club will follow down in the correct path. This is simply not true.

Your hands control the club and cause its motion. The body, in turn, responds. When throwing a ball or hitting a baseball, the body and arms move as a response to your intention to throw or hit. You do not think about your legs and body; you focus solely on the outcome.

In golf, the body does and must move, but not to fling the hands/arms/club into the swinging motion back and down. The benefits of hitting the ball this way is that the body does not wrench itself to create the motion of the swing, thereby causing strain and injury to itself.

The body should be passive and respond to the swing created by the hands and arms. You don't hold the body still, but instead let it comfortably respond. That is why a correct setup is vital.

Here's an example of the ideal hitting action: Imagine taking a driver with zero loft and, in one blow, completely drive a six-inch nail into the base of a tree. Throughout the swing, you keep your view of the nail head constant (i.e. a stable head) and make the swing without flinging your body about to generate force (no control).

Instead, you allow your body to comfortably respond to the swing/hitting motion of the hands/arms/club. This is very close to the ideal hitting action.

How you would need to do this should be very similar to your golf swing: a constant, unchanging view of the nail or tee; hands controlling the club; arms swinging, body motion stable and responsive.

It's an easy drill. Take your driver and swing it back and forth from address to the top and back to address with out stopping. Do this several times.

While doing this, notice how your body stabilizes, your hands take charge, your arms awing, your eyes maintain and unchanging view and your body follows naturally and athletically.

Practice this technique a few times to stimulate your thought processes and help train your body to create a more stable base and you will see some real improvement in your golf swing.

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Hit the driving range and get your swing in order. Exercise due diligence and I just might see you on TV with Tiger over at Augusta.