Golf Swing Power

Jason Hobbs asked:


Most experts say there are 3 parts to the golf swing sequence, but there are actually 4 parts. It is the first part that seems to get left out of most golf instructions, yet is a very important part of the sequence. This part is called the set up.

When you are performing the set up, your feet need to be shoulder width apart as well as parallel to your target. Your ball should be opposite of your left heel with the face of your club aiming at the green. You might try using the shaft of your club to mark a straight line from your ball to the hole. Choosing something like a mark on the turf or a piece of grass that stands out can serve as a marker. Once you have this worked out, you can line up your club face to the marker you chose.

The next part of the golf swing sequence is the back swing. This is a very important part of the full golf swing. It is so vital to get this part right because if it isn’t correct at this stage, then the rest of the swing sequence will be off, making for an appalling drive. This part of the swing sequence needs to be on body rotation along with club and arm extension.

The next stage, called the downswing, begins with the hips and legs instead of the arms. Your knees, thighs, and hips should begin to move forward, shifting your body weight from the back to the front. Following this form is the correct way of performing this part of the golf swing sequence.

The final step is impacting the ball. Your body weight should fall on the outside of your forward heel and the inside of your rear foot. There is no other correct way to follow through on this stage.

The only way to get your golf swing sequence down the right way is to perform some exercises that are golf specific. These will strengthen the right muscles. You need to be aware that the golf swing, in general, is not a natural body movement. This is why it is so hard to do it the right way. If you have a favorite professional golfer that you like, try watching him or her and mimic the moves you see. That can be a rather effective way to find your own way of doing things.



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Jeff O`Brien asked:


The sliced golf shot is probably the most chronic problem that beginning and higher handicap golfers struggle with.

It’s an easy thing to explain, but certainly a much tougher problem to correct. So, without getting into a very lengthy article on the subject of the sliced golf shot, I’ll do my best to give you an understanding of what causes the slice and a couple of tips that will get you on your way to forever correcting this game robbing problem.

First of all let me make perfectly clear that there is a difference in a fade (shaping your golf shot from left to right) and slicing your golf shots. A fade is a perfectly legitimate shot that many people and professionals use. A slice is not.

Let’s begin with the bottom line cause of the slice.

When your clubface enters the hitting zone either the clubface itself is open or your swing path is coming from the outside in (from away from your body coming toward your body).

The part about the outside to in swing path is probably the more difficult of the two swing anomalies to correct, so in the interest of time let’s take a look at working on that for you.

Let’s fast forward just a bit, and envision that you are now at the top of your golf swing. And let’s assume that all has gone well to this point. You’ve made a good shoulder turn. The majority of your weight is on your back foot braced against the instep of your right foot and not rolled over to the outside of your back foot.

O.K., so we feel pretty good about the swing so far. Now what do we do about transitioning to the downswing?

Well… for those of you who struggle with the slice and are reading this article, the next action to occur that sets the stage for a slice is to initiate the downswing with the hands and arms. You may have heard the term that someone is swinging from the top or coming over the top. When this happens you’ve set into motion and outside in swing path in which the result for the vast majority of cases with be a slice. When you swing path comes through the hitting zone in an outside in fashion, your clubface ‘cuts’ across the golf ball.

First let’s discuss physically what you need to do, then a quick drill.

In order to correctly transition from the top of your swing to the downswing, you have to initiate this from the ground up not the top down.

Let’s try to grasp this by breaking this down into a smaller more manageable movement first.

From your setup position, just start slightly swinging your club to and fro only a small distance each way. The key element here is I want to set your club in motion by using a slight weight shift from front back and back to front… just like a pendulum on a clock… right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, … tic toc, tic, toc. Keep the hands and arms relaxed and passive. Work you way up to about only a half backswing at this point using only weight shift and a slight hip rotation to propel your mini-golf swing. As you do this, watch and make note of your swing path. We want to achieve a slight 7 o’clock to 1 o’clock swing path (inside out through the hitting zone).

Once you feel good about your mini swing path, try this drill. Pick out a divot or mark on the ground that will represent your ball (we aren’t hitting a golf ball at this point) and set up to. Now, from your setup position mark with a couple of tees a nice 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock swing path that passes through your divot mark. Now take a 3rd tee and place it a few inches in front of your divot mark (pseudo golf ball) at about 1 o’clock.

With the tees in place, begin your right foot, left foot… tic, toc swing as mentioned before; only this time our goal is to just clip the 3rd tee ( your 1 o’clock tee) on our follow through.

One very important key at this point is to accomplish this… the proper weight shift accompanied by the hip rotation… not by moving your head and your entire body forward. Keep your head positioned over your divot mark (pseudo golf ball) and let the proper weight shift and swing path take care of hitting that 3rd tee as you being to get proper extension and follow through.

As you become more proficient at this with your mini or half swing, use this same drill as you work your way into a full swing.

As this become habit through repetition and practice, the good inside out swing path will begin to become the norm and what once felt awkward will feel natural; and what once felt natural (your slice golf swing) will feel awkward.



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Mike Pedersen asked:


Correcting a golf slice on course is not easy since the pressure of hitting the fairway or the green is too great to enable you to relax and work it out. The practice range is the best place to correct your slice since you can try out several small adjustments till you get it just right.

Most golfers slice the ball sometimes, and when it happens you shouldn’t panic. Just keep in mind what causes it and you should be able to resolve it, given time.

If you start to slice during a round you can get by through a slight adjustment, such as strengthening your grip by holding the club slightly more clockwise than normal. This will do temporarily, and if this doesn’t work, try aiming further left.

Sometimes you Have to Break the Rules

“What? You’re not supposed to do that!”, I can hear you yell. But hold on just a minute. This is emergency time. You are in the middle of a round with no time to practice and you have just tried a stronger grip without success.

“Needs must when the devil drives” or so they say, and a very appropriate saying that is. It means do what is necessary to solve the problem, no matter how wrong it seems.

After your round, correct your slice properly on the practice range. Check your stance. It should be as wide as your shoulders, but feel comfortable. Your shoulders themselves should be lined up towards the target as should your hands. You grip is important in ensuring that you don’t slice. The back of your left hand should point at the target with the back of the right hand in the opposite direction.

Practice and Adjust - Then Practice Again

Play a few practice shots and if you are still slicing adjust your grip slightly around the club. When you are hitting the ball either the club face has not quite turned enough to be square to the ball, or it is square and you are hitting across the ball. The adjustments you make to correct the slice are designed to resolve either of these two problems.

Hence, if you grip the club slightly more clockwise than normal, you will turn the club face round to the left slightly so that it is squarer to the ball when you hit it. Adjusting your stance simple by moving your feet more in the direction of the target should stop you from hitting across the ball.

Watch Your Shoulders

Another problem that can cause you to swing across the ball is lifting your left shoulder during the swing This will pull your swing across the ball, as would rotating your chest past the ball before you hit it. These are all problems that you can work at on the practice range. There is little you can do about such faults during your round.

If you can visualize what is happening when you slice the ball you will recognize the two situations whereby the club face can impart clockwise spin on ball, and the various faults in your grip, stance and swing mechanics that can create these situations.

Correcting a golf slice is simply a matter of correcting these faults, and this is best done on the driving range where you can test a number of adjustments to your stance, grip and swing.



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