The Perfect Golf SwingHome
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I receive a lot of questions about how to achieve the ideal golf swing. According to the questions I receive, most golfers were never taught appropriate swing mechanics or followed the many poorly written instructional books on the subject, resulting in numerous swing flaws.

Before diving into a full swing analysis, I'd want to note out that, in my opinion, Ben Hogan's "Five Lessons" is the only good book on the subject (and by far the finest book). This book will teach you all you need to know about producing the ideal golf swing.

First and foremost, assess your club grip. Every golfer I've met feels they have a good grip, which is only true about 10% of the time. Believe me when I tell that practically all swing flaws are the result of a poor grip. The best grip is actually fairly simple: whether you use a Vardon grip, an overlapping grip, or a ten finger grip, the back of the left hand (for right-handed golfers) should face the target, and the palm of the right hand should face the target. Most golfers make the mistake of holding the club too tightly with their right hand, palm pointing upwards rather than down the aim line. In terms of finger pressure, I prefer to use the last three fingers of my left hand and the middle two fingers of my right hand to grasp the club. If you're a right-handed golfer, your trigger finger should apply little to no pressure on the grip. Many golfers have wrecked their swing by putting too much pressure with this finger to control the club or add power. When I see a flaw in my swing, I instantly raise my right trigger finger completely off the grip and keep it there throughout the swing. This one change will frequently solve the problem.

The second issue we'd want to discuss is your address. Keep an erect posture and avoid leaning over or grasping for the ball. Your knees should be slightly bent, as if you were ready to sit on a high stool. You should stand flat-footed and balanced rather than leaning forward or on the balls of your feet, and your weight should be evenly distributed between your feet. Your lead foot should be extended out somewhat toward the target, while your rear foot should be straight to the target line (this keeps you from over-swinging).

Straighten your lead arm (for right-handed golfers, this is the left arm) (no elbow bend). Tuck your trailing arm's elbow towards your side on the backswing so it may circle your waist and fold inwards.

Another important thing to remember is to keep the insides of your elbows as high as possible. This is done by trying to bring your elbows together. Squeeze the sides of your chest gently with your upper arms. This removes the opposing muscle swing defect and ensures that your swing speed is optimised. My Ezine article "Relax for a Further Powerful Golf Swing" contains more information on the opposing muscle swing fault.

You should now make a modest forward press with the club. The reasoning is not what you may think. It's just a manoeuvre to bring your wrists into the proper impact position, in which your left hand's wrist (right-handed golfer) bends slightly towards the target and leads your left hand through the shot. Make a fist with your left hand, maintaining the back of your hand and forearm straight, and then slightly inward bend your hand. This location of your left wrist produces the opposite impact on your right wrist. During the swing and contact, you want your wrists to be in this posture. Never change your posture by snapping your wrists on the backswing or downswing.

Let's start with the backswing, which we'll do from a right-handed posture to minimise confusion. Simply turn your body to the right from the previously specified address posture such that your back confronts the target. Maintain the same position of your arms and hands/wrists in relation to your shoulders as they were at address. In other words, move your shoulders and arms together as if they were one piece (thus the term "one-piece takeout"), such that the triangle formed by your shoulders and arms at address now faces to the right. Viola! You're approximately halfway through your backswing at this point.

Here are a few highlights:

• When turning, rotate your body around your hips rather than wobbling to the right laterally.

• Try to keep your hips steady and pointing forward. The greater the torque between your hips and your torso, the more stable they are. This torque is where the majority of your power originates from in a golf swing, which is why we recommended keeping your right foot square to the target line at address rather than flaring out to the right. This keeps your hips from twisting.

Check your hips if you think you can rotate your torso even farther; they've moved to the right, which is a huge error if you're trying to generate power. When your back is to the target and your shoulders and arms are pointing to the right, stop turning your body and allow your left arm to continue travelling around your chest and to the back. This stretches your shoulder muscles and increases the torque in your chest and left shoulder. Keep your left arm as straight as possible (no elbow bending) and your wrists in the same posture as at address (do not break your wrists). This extra stretching is made possible by your right elbow tucking in to your right side (like a chicken wing). Maintaining your right elbow against your side and your right forearm bending rearward from the elbow is crucial. Allowing the right elbow to fly out to the side at this point is one of the most prevalent swing faults (and the reason 95% of all golfers slice the ball). The two most significant problems associated with a "flying elbow" are:

  1. Absence of authority. A tennis player's right elbow is curled in towards his side and bent backwards to achieve maximum stretching when hitting a side shot. When unleashed through a shot, the strength provided by this forearm/upper arm stance is scary.

  2. A rising elbow always results in an outside-to-inside swing path, which is ideal for a slice.

Stop for a second before commencing your downswing when your left arm cannot stretch any farther across your chest and your right elbow is fully flexed. Here are a few crucial points to keep in mind:

• Keep your left arm straight to prevent breaking your wrists. One of the worst golf teaching ideas is to pull the club back until the shaft is behind you and parallel to the ground at the top of the backswing. Believe me when I say that just one in every 300 people on the earth possesses the flexibility to achieve this posture without bending their left elbow and breaking their wrists. However, 95% of all golfers will attempt to obtain this impossible position at the top of their swing by using these two fatal swing flaws. When you're watching a tournament on TV, pay attention to where the bulk of pros finish up at the peak of their backswing. The shaft of an iron is often perpendicular to the ground or somewhat behind them, but not completely behind them and parallel to the ground. It's also worth noting that their left arm is rigid and their wrists never fracture.

• For power and control, I emphasise keeping the left arm straight with no elbow bend. Bending the elbow reduces the torque created between the left shoulder and arm, as well as the torque's built-up power. When you start your downswing with a bent elbow, your first inclination is to cast the club outwards to straighten your arm, which throws your balance and swing plane off, resulting in a slice or push to the right with little force. The same logic applies to avoiding wrist fractures: strength and control. If you allow your wrists to crack at the top of your swing (which you will feel), you will hurl the club outwards as your downswing begins. You'll cast it so far that your knuckles will be directing your hand's heel into contact (just the opposite of the wrist position you were in at address). You'll nearly always hit the ball fat or over the top, and you'll practically never have any power.

• At this time, pay attention to your Uncle Dave. When you have extended your torso and upper arm to the utmost with a straight left arm and no wrist break, you have attained your full potential power. Attempting to purposely exceed this through the aforementioned swing flaws would only destroy this power and result in a weak, off-plane swing. I've seen countless golfers who, despite being able to only move the club halfway back due to their flexibility, generate maximum torque and stretch, allowing them to generate enormous power and incredible control shot after shot. I can only take my irons back about halfway, but with my #3 iron, I can outdrive the majority of my playing partners.

As previously said, come to a complete halt at the pinnacle of your swing before commencing your downswing. This is important since it allows you to establish your position. If you don't have this pause and the club is still sliding back when you start the downswing, everything will be out of position and you'll struggle to get back on plane for the rest of the swing. To begin your downswing, just twist your hips to the left. Remember that I said to twist your hips to the left rather than swing them. Lateral swinging is prohibited in the golf swing. By the time you reach impact, your hips should be towards the goal. This is why you should gently extend your left foot during address, allowing your hips to fully rotate. I enjoy the feeling of hitting the ball with my right hip. Your torso will begin to spin to the left as your hips begin to rotate to the left. Because of the force produced between your hips and torso during your backswing, your torso will spin far faster than your hips (primary power move). As your body rotates, the stretch produced between your left shoulder and left arm allows your shoulders to whip your arms around at a far faster rate than your torso is moving (secondary power move). As you approach the impact zone, your extended right elbow/forearm will relax, causing you to accelerate dramatically (third power move). When you make contact, your right forearm will roll over or literally whip over your left forearm due to centrifugal force (this is known as the "crack the whip" effect), adding another exponential speed component to your swing. In summary, your hips rotate first, which causes your body to spin and your arms to revolve. It's important to emphasise the final point here - read it again. Never, ever, ever start your downswing with your arms, as all top handicappers do. Always focus on swinging with your torso and allowing your arms to follow along for the ride.

After the moment of collision, everything will happen naturally. Continue with your hips towards the target, your club lifted high, and shooting down the target line. To clarify, if you let go of the club in the final moments of your follow through, it will strike your target directly.

I'd want to explain one more point: we've all heard about the wrist unhinging owing to impact. This is a frequent misunderstanding that causes issues for high handicappers since it implies that the wrists should break or unhinge on impact. During the swing, the wrists should never fracture or unhinge. Unhinging is the natural action of the right forearm moving over the left at the bottom of the swing arc. This happens naturally as a result of centrifugal force, and there is nothing you can do about it. We've all heard of the "late hit," and intentionally striving to do so would almost certainly eliminate any possibility of producing the best swing possible. Remember that the downswing lasts only a fraction of a second and that there is nothing you can do to alter it.

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Finally, consider the following:

  1. You customise it at address in terms of the swing plane. Keep in mind that your torso is somewhat bent over owing to your address position, so as you shift to the right, your arms will go in an upwards arc and continue to the peak of your backswing.

  2. Do not read this and then try to apply it to your next round of golf because you will waste your time. The range is the only location to start modifying your swing, never the course. It takes several trips to the range to develop the feel and timing.

  3. Only worry about your swing, position, and so on at the range, never on the course. Conscious thought on the first tee will wreck your entire round since it is impossible to think your way through a golf swing. The goal is to practise your swing on the range until it becomes automatic, then bring it with you when you play golf.

As a last thought, I'd want to address a concern highlighted by the vast majority of our subscribers and 1 Iron players. That is, if you utilise standard golf clubs and combine the above-mentioned optimal swing training, you will need to learn and ingrain thirteen distinct "perfect" swings. You only need to learn and remember one iron if you only play one. When utilising traditional golf clubs of variable lengths, weight, flex, and clubhead lie angles, your swing plane, address posture, ball position, and timing must shift from club to club, making it virtually difficult for the ordinary golfer to maintain consistent solid ball contact throughout their set. However, when playing 1 Irons, this becomes automatic.