The Downswing - Start Small

"You swing your best when you have the fewest things to think about." - Bobby Jones

Bobby Jones

At times, the golf swing can feel like a mysterious beast, even to some very experienced golfers. The variables in the swing are so numerous that expressing them seems to be limitless, just watch social media. I will break it down to make it as simple as possible, that way you can enjoy your social round of golf.

The Rocking Drill

You will find descriptions of it in earlier posts. Put yourself into the address position, rock your shoulders, lead shoulder down toward your trail foot, when you can’t go back any further, reverse your rocking motion, swinging through the imaginary ball in front of you.

Keep rocking until you find a rhythm. Remember what your feet, knees, hips, torso, shoulders do while rocking. Stay relaxed while doing this drill, all parts of your body will react naturally to the rocking motion.

Start Small

Use a short club, put yourself in the address position with the clubface square to where the imaginary ball is, then start the rocking drill. Let your wrists, knees and elbows flex while in motion. Rock small until your hands are at waist height on the takeaway, small pause, now rock back, on the downswing through the imaginary ball until your hands are again at waist height. Continue rocking until you find your own rhythm. Now you begin to understand how both the takeaway and downswing happen.

Track the Club.

Get into the habit of seeing where the club the club is throughout the rocking motion. This is the main reason you should start with a small swing, using a short club. Knowing where the club is anywhere in the swing, will definitely help you for a bigger swing with a longer club.

Most important of all is good contact between the clubface and the ball. Starting small matters.

Next Time

In the next blog I will deal with some technical factors, checkpoints, to look for when swinging small. The big swing will be better with this knowledge.