Set Your Swing in Motion

 

Grab a club and follow these simple ideas to discover just how easy it can be to enjoy the makings of a natural, flowing golf swing - in just 20 minutes you can transform the way you play.

KEEP THE TRIANGLE OF THE ARMS INTACT AS YOU SET OFF...

 A great drill for the range: place a second ball a grip's length or so behind the one you are aiming to hit, and then simply knock it away as you start your backswing. With your arms and shoulders are relaxed, all you have to do is imagine you are making a putt as you sweep that rear ball away in one continues motion.

 

As I emphasised last time, it is vital that you take on board the basics of grip and posture – the starting points for every golfer – before moving on to the swing itself.

 

And the key to enjoying that chain reaction lies in getting the swing underway as efficiently as possible – which is where the simple drill you see me helping Louise to master here will really help you.

SHOULDERS & ARMS TOGETHER

 

 

Imagine you are making a stroke - that simple thought will help you to rock your shoulders to move the triangle of the arms and the club away in one synchronised motion.

‘Rock your shoulders like you are hitting a long putt’, that’s my advice to Louise as she works on getting her swing underway. If you rock the shoulders and keep the arms in this triangle you will get off to the perfect start. It’s as simple as that. We are less than 5 minutes into this lesson and just look at how good and ‘together’ the takeaway move looks. The arms and body are working in harmony – there is no independent movement of any single component. Knocking away the second ball gives a real purpose to this all-important first move, and from here it’s a case of adding wrist hinge to get the club swinging on its way to the top of the backswing.

FEEL THE RADIUS OF YOUR SWING, ONE ARM AT A TIME

Place your 'free' hand on your stomach - a reminder that you have to rotate corel. There’s a wonderful (and quite simple) symmetry in a good golf swing, and this exercise will help you to feel the way the radius of the swing is governed first by the left arm in the backswing, and then the right in the through-swing. Training those components individually will help you to greatly improve the shape of your swing with both hands on the club.

First up, the one-handed drill you see Louise rehearsing here will help you to appreciate the way the left arm governs the radius in the backswing, with the right arm then extending that radius into the followthrough. The idea is to flip a club around, so that you grip the shaft near the head (which makes the club feel light in your hand), placing your free hand on your stomach, so that you can sense the rotation of your middle as you repeat the exercise, left then right.

 

Try to keep your swinging arm as straight as you can as you allow the wrist to hinge up. With each repetition you will be strengthening the heart of your natural swinging motion.

 

 

Left arm is straight to create the radius on the way back, with the  wrist hinged .... right arm is straight on the way through, again with the wrist hinged to swing the club to the finish. Alternate between hands to ger this feeling.

FEEL SWING, HEAR SWISH

 

 

Feet together, grip the shaft down near the clubhead and make free, uninhibited swing through hitting area.. The wrists hinge up again in the through swing as right arm controls the radius - a mirror innage of the backswing. 
 

The third exercise I recommend involves extending the club up through your fingers until the butt end rests in your belly button, and simply reminding yourself of the need to have the club, arms and body working together on either side of the ball (below). Do this in between the rehearsal swings, just to remind yourself of the rotation that exists in a solid swing and also the way the arms remain in their ‘triangle’, working in tandem with your body.
 

 

Work on this simple rotation excercise in between rehearsing the L-to-L drill. This is great way to appreciate the sensation of the arms staying in their triangle at the start of the swing, through impact and again in the follow-through. Do this at home, and then go after the same feeling in the swing.

FINE-TUNE WRIST ACTION FOR SPEED & SWOOSH
 

A good wrist action gets together the movement of the arms, club and body - and it is the quality of that coupling that enables you to create speed and swoosh.

You can see from the images on this page just how well Louise has taken on board the lessons covered within this feature. In the 20 minutes or so that it took to shoot these photographs, she displays all the encouraging signs that I look for as a beginner builds on good fundamentals with a basic idea of what it takes to create a natural swing.
 

Best of all, your arms will pull your body into a series of good positions...without you having to think about it!.