Chi-Power Golf Part 19 - 4 Fundamental Actions for Better Golf

Instead of sitting back on your heels (and easily being pushed off balance!) sit down into the tops of your quad muscles, creasing the area where your legs join your torso – together with emptying your chest, these actions will enhance your
connection to the ground and generate more power

Using Tai Chi’s 4 Fundamental Actions keeps Craig rooted into the ground at the top of his backswing thus maintaining his lower-body stability as I try again to push him off-balance!

The 4 Fundamental Actions of Tai Chi

1) Hollow your chest by breathing out and slightly sinking your sternum

2) Draw in the navel and neutralize the pelvis, allowing tailbone to point downwards

3) Sit down into the tops of your quad muscles, slightly creasing the tops of the legs where they join your torso

4) Fill up your footprints, by becoming aware of your feet in contact with the ground

Applying the 4 Fundamental Actions to Your Game

At address

Relaxation is the key to explosive power and this begins at address where any use of force or tension will rob you of energy and reduce your ability to swing smoothly and freely. Moreover as the mind and body intimately affect each other, tension in your body at set-up will produce mental anxiety.

After driving through the ball and unwinding all your power, you again come to a point of stillness and relaxation, being balanced and rooted into the ground.

Top of your back-swing

Tension or use of force at the top of your backswing is a waste of energy and negates power. In fact, I don’t even like the term “swing” as this implies a pendulum- like motion where there is equal and opposite energy back and through whereas what’s required is a winding up of your energy (torque) so you can release it though the ball.

Finish

At finish any tension or force held in the position clearly indicates you’re still holding on to energy that should have exploded through the ball. At finish you should again be relaxed and rooted – your body now fully unwound and the energy now fully emitted and driven through the ball.

To learn more about Chi-Power Golf, visit www.chipowergolf.comwhere you can find out about personal tuition, talks and workshops, and also sign up for a free newsletter, "The Mindful Golfer".

To contact Jayne Storey, ring 07986 447250

Reproduced with kind permission of Golf International Magazine