Golf Fundamentals - The Takeaway

“A golf swing is a collection of corrected mistakes.” - Carol Mann

In baseball, you see the ball coming, you swing the bat back, then swing it forward, toward the oncoming ball. Your aim is to strike the ball in a way that gives you or your teammate the best chance to advance.

Golf is no different; you have both hands on the club, you swing back, you swing forward, you hit the ball. It’s simple, isn’t it, until you hit the ball. Where the ball goes after you hit it is anybody’s guess. It depends on so many different factors; grip and address are just two.

This is the game of golf, a game of frustration and joy all at the same time. It’s a Swing Sequence. Be relaxed, check your grip, is it held in your fingers. Check your address has all the fundamentals, good posture, good setup to the ball, has no tension in your forearms, and your wrists can twirl the club any which way, just using your hands. This next exercise will help you swing with rhythm and fluidity.

Part 1 Drill

Without a club, stand tall with your feet apart at a comfortable distance, not too wide. Imagine you are standing side-on to the target. Flex your knees a bit, tilt your body forward just enough to let your arms hang.

From your setup, use your shoulders and arms to rock backward, start with rocking your lead shoulder down toward your rear foot until your rear hip can’t go back further, keep the flex in your rear knee, do not straighten it. Hold when you get to the top. Your lead shoulder will be down, your trail shoulder will be higher, your chest will have rotated to at least 45 degrees, or more depending upon flexibility. Your lead arm will be chest high, and your trail arm will be higher and bent with the elbow pointing down to the ground. Your trail hip will have moved back from its original position. You will now feel tension in your right side.

Rock back down in reverse order. Hips first to move your weight onto your front foot, helping your chest rotate then arms and hands. Keep rocking until you find a rhythm.

Try it with a club, check your grip and address first, but do it slowly so you can feel shoulders and arms tilting, chest rotating, and rear hip moving back. When you get to the top of the backswing, the only element to check is your trail wrist being fully cupped. It's like you are holding a weight and you need to bend your wrist to support it.

The downswing movement is faster and will be discussed next.

Part 2 – The Downswing.

When rocking, pay attention to what is happening to your knees and feet, how your hips move when you rock backward and forwards. Notice how your torso rotates, following your arms. If you watch videos of professional golfers, pay attention to the movement of their knees, feet, hips, arms, and torso. The drill will help you shape a swing with those movements.

Comment on how this drill works for you.