Your Swing Map -2

Culprits you need to be aware of

As it directly accounts for your ability to create a flowing motion, it is vital that you check your grip regularly. Here are two of the more serious faults to be aware of:

WEAK = NO RELEASE

Here's a classic example of a grip in which the right hand is turned way too far to the left, smothering the left hand. While this may feel strong, it is actually a very weak right-hand position. And this is absolutely the worse grip fault for better players as it prevents the hands 'releasing' properly through impact. It also tends to put too much loft on the clubface, the result often a weak, glancing blow. If you are losing distance, and hitting a lot of high shots to the right, it may well be that your grip is too weak.

TOTALLY AT ODDS

Any time the hands fight each other like this on the grip, the result is a swing that is totally devoid of a good wrist action. So placed, the hands are unable to hinge correctly in the process of making a backswing, and all motion (and speed) is stifled from the word 'go'. Neither wrist can work properly, and it's impossible for the club to 'set' properly. What ends up happening is the elbows take the break, rather than the wrists, which results in a very short and a very weak backswing. Hold the club like this and you have absolutely no chance of creating a free-flowing swinging motion.

The set up

Guidelines on ball position

Compare these regular set-ups with a 9-iron, 5-iron and driver. See how the ball position moves slightly in relation to the left heel? Of course, this is partly down to the fact that the width of the stance widens as you work your way down to the longer shafted clubs, but it is also a conscious effort made with the nature of the shot itself very much in mind.

Basically, you can categorise it like this.

With the shorter irons (let's say wedge through 7-iron), you are aiming to deliver a slightly descending blow, one that creates backspin. To do that you want your hands a little ahead of the ball - hence moving it back towards the middle of your stance. With the mid-to-long irons, you are looking to take the shallowest of divots, the hand position moderated slightly, white with the driver the aim is to catch the ball as the club bottoms out (even, ideally, as it begins its ascent). That being the case, the ball is placed off the left instep, the hands above or even a fraction behind it, ready to sweep it forward.

Weight distribution? For me this is one of the biggest red herrings in golf - that you think about where your weight will be and move through the swing. To swing in balance, you have to start in balance, and I don't believe that you should ever feel your weight favours one foot more than the other, unless you are playing a shot from an uphill or downhill lie, or a specialist short-game shot. Adjusting your weight more to the right foot for the longer clubs, particularly the driver, is adding too much complexity for me. And it's unnecessary. I don't think I've ever met a professional who thinks: "I must settle 60% of my weight on my right side." You can turn properly from an even position. But if you accentuate one side over the other you threaten a good body movement.

Set-up culprits to be aware of

Let me introduce you to a couple of fellows you may have seen out and about on the course -'Sloppy Sam' and 'Geometric George'.

Now Sloppy Sam (left) has read that you have to be loose and be natural, and he's very much of the idea that the set-up is to keep him nice and easy. Sadly, he's taken it all a bit too far. With that degree of sloppiness, the balance cannot function properly and the motion is sloppy in the swing. Typically, he enjoys no coiling in the backswing, loses his 'levers' and finds himself lifting the club with the arms to reach the top. It's a 'lift' and a 'slap'.

Geometric George is a different animal entirely. He has read that good players create 'dynamic tension' in the swing, and he likes the idea. So he has worked hard on creating what he feels is an 'athletic' set-up (right). The problem is, it's not. Such a tight and angular body posture tends to lead to a tight, jerky swing. And while it may well be technically correct in parts, it almost certainly has no flow of motion about it.

The player who suffers this fault - and it's very common - will inevitably struggle to achieve a full backswing because of the inherent tightness in the set-up position.

Balance

Turning your upper body behind the ball in the backswing is always a good swing key. The feeling I want you to have is that you are simply getting your left shoulder over and above your right thigh. Don't worry about the hips. In the backswing the emphasis is on turning the shoulders (which pull the hips); on the downswing it's all about the hips then turning and clearing.

If you choose to focus on this element of balance, you need to be aware that from the address position, the shoulders turn the hips to the top, and then the hips turn the shoulders through the ball. Your conscious thought is not to move in stuttery checkpoints but on simply turning the shoulders all the way to the top of the swing. The blur of motion here is intentional. I want to convey that sense of continuity. Following the change of direction, the hips move across and around and the shoulders unwind - that's the flow of balance in the swing. Be aware that if you disturb that balance you are liable to end up with an empty backswing (i.e. no real 'coil'). If you unwind your shoulders before you have moved across with your hips you will have a problem coming 'over the top' on the way down - a common cause of the slice.