Your Swing Map -3

Plane

To simplify the issue of plane, think of the left arm swinging over the turning right shoulder to make your backswing, the right arm then swinging over the turning left shoulder to make the through-swing. In other words, focus on making a continuous and reflective motion, a true mirror-image, back and through. The grip and the wrist action itself determines where the clubface is in relation to the plane of the swing, and I prefer this to be natural to the player. The only thing that matters is that you learn to get the club into a consistent position at the top of the swing, the hands over the turning right shoulder and the clubshaft parallel to your intended target.

Don't worry too much about the exact angle between your left wrist and the clubface. Some of the great golfers of all time have played with a bowed left wrist (Tom Watson for one). Others play from square to slightly closed (e.g. Tiger Woods). Colin Montgomerie has a distinct cupping in the wrists and plays with the toe hanging wide open - and he's one of the finest ball strikers in the game.

Leverage

Rather than worrying about checkpoints along the way, remember this: the wrists must be allowed to hinge in response to the swinging arms and the weight of the clubhead. Don't stand there and think "I must hinge my wrists". Just let it happen.

In these sequences, the left arm and left shoulder swing together to initiate the swing; the wrists pick up on that motion and the momentum is continued as they hinge. The wrists have simply responded to this movement (thanks to a light grip pressure), making their own hinge as they do so. If the wrists are allowed to respond they will hinge in a way that is natural to you as an individual. It doesn't matter if they hinge back a little, or open a fraction, providing you don't try to do anything else in your backswing other than allow the wrists to hinge up as you swing your left arm over your right shoulder. Plane is more important than clubface position. If you aren't hingeing the wrists you are probably gripping too tight.

What does your hinge do?

My feeling is that the details of the backswing position are entirely down to the individual. My map provides the basics and fundamentals (i.e. grip, set-up, balance, plane, leverage and motion etc), and yet different golfers will interpret them differently, and we all arrive at a slightly different position at the top of the backswing.

Unless you want to spend all your time fighting your particular tendency, I think it's best to accept what you do naturally. No two players are ever identical. Look around and you see great ball-strikers displaying any one of the positions identified above - you simply have to understand your own tendency, and hone it.

Developing the "whip" and release

People often ask me: "What's a good player got that a poor player hasn't?", and the answer probably lies right here in the picture immediately after impact -the right hand/forearm release. Take a close look and note the way the right wrist has been allowed to release fully towards the target. This is something good golfers build into their games instinctively by hitting lots of shots, using their minds to picture good swings and trusting the release of the club through the ball to pull it off.

The later you take to this game, the harder it is to develop this trust through impact. If you fall into that category, the exercise above is very useful because it will help you to get the feeling of the arms swinging - both in the backswing and through-swing. Try it as a pre-shot exercise. The key is to make this a practice swing, not a practice position. Make the noise of the swish coincide with the area through impact - "Two turns and a swish", as John Jacobs once memorably described it all.

Its all about motion

I don't like to prescribe a lot of swing drills, but this one (right) can do your game nothing but good. All I am doing here is teeing the ball high and going through the full range of motion, but at different speeds. Take a mid-iron, tee it up quite high, start at what feels like half-speed and gradually build it up. The overall picture here is that the swing is a flowing motion, and not a collection of positions.

For those of you who like to study the golf swing, the recommended reading here would be the classic text Swing the Clubhead by Ernest Jones.

Focus on the right hand

For my money, this 'snap' of the wrist action through the ball has been missed out in modern teaching. We tend to think of this as an automatic reaction, when it is not. For some players it is automatic, and they are aware of hingeing and un-hingeing; others need to remind themselves of this ingredient for solid ball-striking. When you swing freely, the wrists 'snap' on the ball and the full speed potential is delivered.

Using the right hand 'whip' correctly

Some final thoughts on this hand-and-forearm action through the ball.

First, be aware that it's not enough for the right forearm simply to cross over the left. That does not necessarily guarantee a true release. You have to look at what the back of the right wrist is doing. And, as you can see, it goes into a straighter position just after impact. That confirms that both the forearm and the wrist are fully released -one of the sure-fire keys to solid ball striking.

Simply swinging the clubhead backwards and forwards is a terrific way to get a feel for this release in your full swing. Try to feel the crossover in the wrists, and time the thrust of the swish to coincide with the ball. The back of your right wrist should be in a straight line as the club is released - any 'holding off' and you will experience shots that drift to the right, or are blocked, and certainly never experience your full power potential.

A common flaw among good players (who are often afraid of hooking) is this delayed release (left), which usually results in a blocked shot to the right. High-handicappers often suffer a similar fate, but they are simply too afraid to let it all go. Two other faults can often be attributed to a poor body action - the 'flick' of the wrists (centre) and the classic 'crumple' (right), reflecting a lack of real zest in the body motion, and no clubhead speed through the ball.