Something MOST people will benefit from

I'd just like to post something for people to read. Feel free to reply or add comments if you wish, but this is more for info purposes.

A lot is said about a slow backswing and a smooth transition - but to most people these are terms that work in our minds, but when we get on the course, we wonder how the hell we are supposed to effect these two 'essential' traits in our swings.

I've played golf since i was a young boy, i am now 23 and have a good single figure handicap. Until about a year ago I was fairly happy with my game - I was able to hit my driver 280 with ease, and could push another 40 yards out if needed. I was able to hit my irons comfortable and could shape the ball without too much concious effort. I'd managed to get my handicap to 5 and was happy - that was until i tried to get lower. No matter what i tried, i just wouldn't happen. My putting was good, my wedge play was ok - I looked at my game and couldn't really find an area in which I knew I would be able to sve some strokes. That was until i played 18 holes with a professional golfer in a pro-am. During the round, we commented on eachothers swings, and both had a lot to say about eachothers. Mike, the pro i was playing with said that if he had my swing he would make one change - my transition from backswing to downswing needed to be smoother. For the rest of the round I was trying to achieve this, and with each stroke I didnt really know what i was supposed to be feeling.

I played for a couple more weeks - mindful of Mikes comments, and then all of a sudden I tried something, and since then I have never looked back.

I now make my backswing very slowly and deliberatley, and then when i get to the top, and make the tranition as slowly as possible - basically, i try and get the change of direction to occur smoothly - when done correctly, the club will fall down, and you can hit it as hard as you like from half way down. I now make the point beyond impact the fastest pasrt of my swing.

Since incorporating this change I have removed three strokes from my hanicap. This simple move allows me to swing back slowly, effect a smooth slow transition, and then i just hit tha ball as hard as i can from half way down. Start your downsing really slowly, and you are forces to hit the ball hard from this half way down position.

I am now able to drive 300 yards with relative ease, my irons now fly very low and then rise towards the target, my wedges are very crisp and seem to pick up unimaginable spin.

Next time you go to the course try this - start with the driver. Swing back nice and slow, get to the top, and let the club almost fall, thats the pace your downswing wants to start off at, when you get half way down swing as hard as you can. It almost like your trying to make that 'SWOOSHING' sound after you've hit the ball.

Try it, if you manage it, you'll be amazed - I was.

Wilber,

"EURIKA"


This is great advice, unfortunatley it is a very hard move for most golfers to achieve, the average golfers brain starts the swing then forgets to feel the rest, this is why some players are very difficult to train, you tell them to do something then they swing exactly the same as before.

You are clearly in control of your body and mind hence you ability.


Ian.

This is something I too feel when im playing really well but sadly its all too fleeting

How do you start the downswing in your smooth style? Do you have a kind of one-two count to turn slowly and then accelerate through impact?

Dave Pelz says in the up and coming years starting off at the top of the swing without a back swing may become prevalant and popular.
Ed

A known fact is that amateurs are faster than pros at the beginning of the transition while pros are faster through impact. I played a few weeks ago with a pro and he told me that my back swing was good, it was my transition that was the problem. I have tried to incorporate the same thoughts in my swing and when I get it right I hit it so good [drove a 270 yard par 4 with my 3 -wood, wind slightly helping].

Take a club and hold it by the club head, hold it the other way round basically. Take swings at your normal speed and try to hear where the swoosh is being made. Most amateurs hear it at the transition, before impact. Try to get it so that the swoosh comes after the ball. I find this to a very effective tip, hope it helps...

__________________

Your backswing goes in the opposite direction to your downswing- OBVIOUS.

Now, at some point in your swing, you have to make a complete change of direction, i.e. from backswing to downswing. Now, if your backswing is very quick, you will need alot of energy to 1) stop your backswing 2) start your downswing.

One thing i like to feel is that my lower body starts towrads the ball just before my club finishes my backswing. When you get the feel for this you are essentially moving in two directions for a split second. This really stretches your muscles and allows you to feel the imense power that your body is able to achieve.

If you get this drill mastered you will be amazed - its gives you real fluidity and imense acceleration into the impact zone.

try it, feel like you lower body starts towards the ball just before you hands reach the top of your backswing.

I also like to start my swing with my lower body turning just before my hands drop to the ball. My pro is getting my to extend my arms because i amd short arming and making sure i get my left arm (i'm a lefty) to extended to where i could shake someone's hand that is down the target line. This is helping my drive immensely

This for me is one of the unobtainable holy grails of the swing. I just can master it no matter how hard Ive tried. Its like patting my stomach and rubbing my head ! If I try and do it I feel like I lose my balance completely

What drills/exercises can I do to help me really get this move to work? A conscious bump of the left hip while leaving the hands were they are is the nearest I ever got but I always then struggled with trying to hit too quickly and losing my balance

Well this is because you have never felt the move - i'm guessing, once you've flt it, you'll know how to repeat it.


Try this, place a shaft in the ground just outside your right foot at address, i.e. the grip touching your right hip. As you go back, touch the shaft with you hip, and just before you reach the top focus on getting the hip to move off the shaft.

What do you then feel the shoulders and arms do?

Do they just drop naturally, at which point you can 'catch them up' and accelarate through impact. I think if I know what to feel after Ive done this move and started down it will help me to know Ive done this properly

I take it as well this all happens very slowly, before the real accelartion comes later as you turn the shoulder through?

first of all, NEVER try to swing "slow" this causes a choppy rythm and not much distance. your tempo should be your greatest ally and the most natural part of your game.

Ive always said that your tempo is the speed which you would swing if you lined up about 7 balls in a line, and without thinking just went up and whacked 'em, one right after the other. this is your natural pace and the pace you should play at. trying to swing "harder" or "slower" is only going to lead to inconsistent distance, not to mention inconsistent shots

I went to the range last night and hit some balls and myslelf and a pal videod each others swings. When we got back and studied them it was fascinating and proves the age old adage, feel might not be real !

What was really noticeable was that when I made a smooth transition ( by making a real relaxed slow bump of the left knee and hip), the club would continue on the backswing for a split second as a result of backswing momentum. It would then fall back down (into the slot) to about hip height when I then aggressively turned my shoulders. All these swings were my best shots. Ties nicely into the smooth accelration topic this thread started with as well, although the transition move just really lets the club fall and you apply force through the shoulders later

My bad swings were always where I rushed this move, either bumping violently or jerkily which through me off balance some, or more likely not 'waiting' or keeping it slow and turning the shoulders early. It looked on video like a much less smooth motion and you could visibly see how the accelration was too early meaning the club was decelarating halfway into the follow through

So just seeing it visually really helps prove the theory. A smooth and delibrate tranisition, the falling of the hands and the late whip through of the shoulders (like swinging a baseball bat). It's helped me really see why I hit some balls a long way and some short and squint

Ernie, Tiger and Vijay all have a one-plane swing. If you don't know what that is (versus the two-plane), pick up a copy of the May Golf-Digest and read about it. The fundamental start of that downswing is a quick and rapid turn of the shoulders and upper torso (not a tilt, but a turn) that immediately follows the hip-turn start back towards the target. There is no "pause" at the top of the swing, and the arms get into the "slot" simply by remaining attached to the chest and staying passive (along with hands) throughout the very rapid and aggessive downswing and it is the right arm rolling over the left at impact that "hits" the ball...the arms are simply "along for the ride"

The "pause" and "dropping of the arms" prior to turning shoulders is all very true and relevant to a two-plane swing, but not to the one-plane. Look at any of these three players, especially in slow-motion, and you'll see how quickly and aggessively they begin turning their shoulders at the immediate start of the downswing. If you are looking for a two-plane swing emphasizing the delayed downswing with no "stress" at the top of the swing and a true "arm swing", check out Freddy Couples or David Toms. You'll see a very big difference between the two types, and one needs to know which of these types he/she is adopting before knowing which fundamentals and swing thoughts to develop.

I use a one plane swing myself, with this swing you can start your attack from the top using (right handers) your whole left side, once you hit the halfway down point your right side takes over increasing the speed and power that you hit the ball with.