How To Build Your Golf Swing

This process is multi fold

1. Learn what YOUR neutral grip is
2. The CORRECT ball position for every club
3. The CORRECT swing shape
4. How far back YOU can take the club
5. How to play within YOUR style

You will have many options to choose from and I'll show you how to find the ones that will work for you. Once you have all of your "components" you won't need to experiment any longer!

WHERE TO START - GRIP AND POSTURE

While this may be obvious to some you would be surprised by the number of people that work on their swing without starting with their grip. There is only ONE neutral grip for any golfer! That grip is where YOUR arm hangs down from the shoulder socket and the angle of YOUR target side hand. It makes no difference whether you use an overlapping, interlocking, and ten-finger (baseball) grip. What IS critical is the angle the club lies in your hand.

To find YOUR neutral grip, first take your address position, but without a club, and let both arms hang downward from the shoulder sockets with NO TENSION. Most golfers will find that their target side arm hangs somewhere between the middle of the target side thigh to the inside of the thigh (depending on the width of stance and/or the width of the chest). As you look down at your target side hand pay attention to the angle it hangs. Some of you will see two knuckles of the hand, some will see three, and some may even see four. It doesn't matter how many you see! Whatever the number, this is YOUR bodies way of telling you its natural tendency and that is the neutral angle for YOUR grip! When you place your target side hand on the club it should be at the same angle you just saw.

The club then runs diagonally from between the first and second joint of the index finger to just under the heel pad. Close the fingers and then close the hand with the heel pad on top of the shaft with the thumb to the backside of the shaft. This supplies pressure from the heel pad downward and the last three fingers exert pressure upward. Then take the lifeline of the trailing hand, located between the thumb and heel pads, and place it on the thumb of the target side hand. The lifeline against the thumb exerts the pressure here; the right forefinger should be separated, in a "triggering position", but with no pressure. It is important to understand that the forefinger and target side thumb both be on the same side and angle of the shaft for the best support. The trailing thumb should be on the target side of the shaft. You never want the thumbs to exert any pressure. Finally, in order for the hands to work together, they must be parallel to each other.

POSTURE

Regardless of the player's level of golf anyone can get into a posture that looks as good as any Tour Player, it takes no athletic ability to get into a proper posture! For full swing shots, other than a Driver, the inside of the heels should be as wide as the outside of the hips (for a Driver the inside of the heels as wide as the outside of the shoulders). Push the hips sockets back and up so that the pelvis is at an angle, not horizontal to the ground. As you push the hips back, and up, this will lower the chest and place the weight toward the back of the arch of the foot. Simply unlock your knees, you'll feel a little pressure above the kneecaps, and let the arms hang limply downward from the shoulder socket. There should be NO TENSION in the arms or shoulders. Some players like to tilt their upper bodies slightly away from target as the final set-up adjustment and just because your trailing hand is lower than the target side hand this is acceptable, just don't overdue it. Now you have YOUR grip and posture.

BALL POSITION

Ball position is the most misunderstood portion of the entire set-up. There have been many opinions about ball position. Some say one position for every shot, others say move it around depending on the club. All of the guesswork is taken out however if the golfer would set the club at address as the manufacturer designed it. All clubs, except for the Driver, are designed so that the grip end of the club is ahead of the clubhead if soled properly, this means the shaft leans forward, not vertical or backwards! If you address the ball, with say a 5 iron, and the shaft is vertical then even before you swing you've added loft and turned it into a seven iron! That same 5 iron is designed to have approximately 8 degrees of forward lean at address. The best players in the world, using that same 5 iron, have upwards of 15 degrees at Impact! This turns it into a 3 iron! Having said that you have the option of setting up to the ball with the shaft vertical as long as you can get into the proper Impact position…the shaft leans forward at Impact!

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER start with the shaft leaning backward! We also need to cover where the ball is located in relation to the player's upper body, not the feet. The width of the stance changes during the course of a round but the width of the upper body does not. In addition, the target side shoulder socket is the low point of the arc and the fulcrum of the target side arm swing. Therefore the ball with a wedge will be in the center of the chest, in line with the sternum, for full swing shots, the 5 iron under the target side of the chest, and the Driver at the low point, which is the shoulder socket. This could vary depending on whether the player has exceptionally wide shoulders, but for the most part these locations will be fine for irons but the target side shoulder socket IS the LOW POINT and the Driver MUST be played at this location for straight shots! Back of this location produces a fade, with no manipulation, and forward of this location produces a draw, with no manipulation. You may see some players playing the ball back, or forward, of the target side shoulder socket but these players must either change the shoulder location at Impact, by leaning backward with the upper body, or must manipulate the clubface to hit a straight shot.

AIM and ALIGNMENT

As you take your grip you must be sure the leading edge of the clubface square. The leading edge is the edge closest to the ball. Always set the clubface first, perpendicular to the target line, then set your feet, knees, hips, eyes, and shoulders parallel to the target line.

THESE LINES ARE PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER! NEVER AIM YOUR BODY AT THE TARGET! What is the object of golf? To get the ball in the hole with the fewest strokes as possible! To aid in alignment it is imperative that you utilize a procedure called an "Intermediate Target". The intermediate target is something between the ball and the target. It could be a piece of discolored grass, an edge of a divot, a broken tee, etc. It should be within your peripheral vision, so that you don't have to lift your head.

MOVING THE CLUB

Because we play golf on an Inclined Plane this dictates that the club MUST move on an arc. That means the club head is only on the base on the Plane Line approximately 2 inches during the swing! It also means that the club always moves in 3 dimensions. The Backstroke dimension is backward, upward, and inward all simultaneously and On Plane. The keyword for Backstroke is "BACK". The hands and arms control the backward and upward movement of the club. Therefore, if you did not make a shoulder turn the clubhead WOULD NOT move inside the baseline. The shoulder turn moves the club inward, NOT back and up. So if the player just turned their shoulders, without any hand or arm movement, then the club would be inside but not back and up. These two movements MUST work together to achieve the proper sequence. The trailing forearm moves the club on Plane by "tracing" the Plane. The bending, and folding of the trailing elbow also raises and lowers the club and cocks and uncocks the target side wrist. Never raise the arms and club by lifting from the shoulders sockets!

The Downstroke dimension is downward, outward, and forward. Once the player has reached full extension (follow-through) then the club moves again upward, inward, and backward. This completes the 3 dimensional swing.

LENGTH OF ARC

What does this term mean? Simply put, length of arc means how far back YOU can take the club. Some players may be able to take their hands high above their heads in the backswing while others can only get their hands to shoulder height, or less. It doesn't matter! However far you can take the club and still maintain structure is the end of YOUR swing! You can increase your length of arc by increasing your range of motion. (see your local physical therapist for exercises to increase your range of motion).

LET'S GET STARTED

Before every shot you play there must be a sequential order of events. First of course we have to find our golf ball. Once the ball is located we then must examine the type of lie we have, the distance to the target, the shot shape desired, the wind conditions (if any), how we're feeling that particular day, whether to play aggressively or conservatively or somewhere in between (this depends on our style), and finally choosing the correct club for the type of shot. We can't call this a "pre-shot routine" because there is nothing routine about a golf shot! There are always factors to be decided and these factors constantly change. So we would encourage you to use the phrase "PRE-SHOT". Pre-shot may or may not include a dress rehearsal of the swing, a practice swing. During the practice swing you're getting a feel for the mechanics involved in hitting the shot and visualizing the ball flight.

ADDRESS AND SET-UP

Once we have gone through our pre-shot we now start the initial mechanical and mental programming procedures. Approach the ball from behind and follow this order for success. Verify these six Impact Alignments.

1. Clubface to Target Line
2. Grip to Clubface
3. Hands to Ball
4. the Plane Angle
5. Pressure Points
6. Position of the Trailing Forearm

Balance, Grip, and Plane Line MUST be verified before EVERY shot!

Now we're ready to start the backstroke.

BACKSTROKE

Now that address is completed we can start the backstroke. As discussed earlier, this involves two separate movements. These movements are controlled from the waist up. The lower body should be moved by the upper body if the player is flexible enough, if not, then allow it to move freely in both directions.

1. The hands and arms … the vertical plane
2. The shoulders … the horizontal or inclined plane

At this point I would like to remind you that Address and Impact are NOT THE SAME! The only thing that has not changed is the ball position.

You may use any backstroke procedure you choose and there are basically three that the announcers use to describe them.

1. A one piece takeaway…Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods
2. A two piece takeaway…Ernie Els, David Duval, Karrie Webb, Anika Sorenstam
3. A three piece takeaway…Raymond Floyd, Nancy Lopez

Choose anyone you wish that feels comfortable and natural. What initiates the backstroke? Ask ten different instructors and you will get ten different answers. Some player's feel it starts with turning the shoulders, some feel it may be the hips, and still others think and feel it's the hands. I believe it is a combination of the hands, trailing forearm, AND shoulder turn that start the backstroke. Earlier I talked about the role of the hands, arms, and shoulders during the backstroke. They absolutely must work together and synchronous if the club is to stay on plane!

As the club starts back the clubhead must point at the base of the plane line until the clubshaft reaches parallel to the plane line and horizontal to the ground. As the club starts upward then the butt of the club must point at an extension of the base of the plane until it reaches the top of the swing. If you can't get the clubshaft to parallel, then the butt of the club Must point to the base of the plane line. If you are one of the few that can get the shaft to parallel, then it should be parallel to the base of the plane line.

The hip sequence (how the hips move) for full swing shots is always the same. They Turn, Slide, Turn. A great majority of players think the hips slide in the backstroke (shifting weight). While this certainly is an option it eliminates creating any rotating force of the body. A better procedure would be the one described above and is the option that the majority of the world's best players use.

Achieving The Perfect Golf Swing

The perfect golf swing drill is a joy to behold. And yet it is not too hard to achieve.

The perfect golf swing drill starts with a proper back swing with the golf club swung right back to the limit of your body. At this segment of the perfect golf swing drill your mind should be preparing for the rotation of your body and the arm extension.

Next, the movements of the perfect golf swing drill moves to the down swing, which starts with the lower part of the body, including the legs and hips. A transfer of weight will take place from back to front with the knees, thighs and hips all moving forward.

The perfect golf swing drill ends with the body weight on the outside of the front heel and the inside of the rear foot.

The perfect golf swing drill is easy when your body is prepared and conditioned to achieve it. However the perfect golf swing drill can be very difficult for a golfer not involved in any golf specific exercise designed to condition and prepare their muscles and body in general for the strain and pressure that golf usually brings.

Most professionals take their golf-specific exercises very seriously, but some amateurs are reluctant to let go of the so-called good old days when exercise had no role in the leisure sport of golf. Still they are finding the going increasingly difficult as more and more golfers embrace golf exercise programs.

There is no doubt that the perfect golf swing drill happens only with those whose muscles and bodies have been prepared.

A More Consistent And More Accurate Swing

When I get my golf club in my hand, I feel like knocking the cover right off the ball. It makes me feel great when I hit the ball using all of my strength. Just being able to hit the ball hard does not mean that I play a good golf game though. If you just want to relieve a little stress go ahead, by all means but this is better left to the driving range. If you want to play a good game of golf, you need to hold back on the power a little. One of the biggest mistakes that golfers’ make is to swing their golf club too hard. This shows that you have power, but you need accuracy to play a good game of golf.

Tensing up can cause you to use too much effort. When you are swinging your golf club, you just need to relax and swing easily. This will help to reduce your power. Putting your feet closer together will also help reduce the strength of your swing. You should only use the amount of power that you are able to control. Accuracy, not power is the key to playing a good game. Distance will come from a clean, correct swing, not by how much power you put into your swing. Tensing up when you are swinging your golf club will throw your balance off causing an inaccurate shot. Your club head should travel in a straight line with the ball. A smooth consistent swing with very little effort should be your goal. If the ball is hit correctly it will feel smooth and easy.

Your center of gravity is very important. You need a stable center of gravity that stays consistent. You can accomplish this by keeping your head still and both of your feet in the same position throughout your swing. You have to keep your feet planted firmly so that your weight is concentrated in your feet when you make contact with the ball. This will make your center of gravity more stable. Focus on the ball and try not to jerk your body or move your head while swinging your club. This will throw your center of gravity off, causing a bad swing and an inaccurate shot.

A tip to help correct slicing is to see how centered you can hit the ball with your club and how low you can keep the ball. If the ball flies too high, it can get caught up in the wind and can go left or right on rough ground.

After you master a smooth, more consistent and more accurate swing you may gradually want to increase your speed.

Better Control Of Your Body

The golfing tip I would like to give in this article is that by working on improving control over your body, you will in effect also gain more control over your mind.

This is simply because the mind gains more confidence that the body will be able to perform whatever instructions the mind communicates to the body.

This is the single golfing tip that has the potential of transforming any golfer’s game literally overnight. Many times golfers work very hard on their minds and preparing them for the ideal golf game they would like to enjoy.

In fact many business executives, who have used the power of the mind to improve their businesses or even to build huge successful businesses, fully understand the potential of the mind in improving their golf games.

Still, many of them end up feeling discouraged and puzzled when things do not work out with their golf game quite the way they do in the corporate world.

They lack the simple golf tip that the game has a physical side to be taken care of, if one is to reap the full power of a mind prepared for ideal golf.

The second part of this golf tip is that there is only one known way of gaining better control of your body and it involves exercise.

Simple weight training that is golf-specific will instantly give you much better control over your body. When you strengthen your muscles, you improve functional strength which automatically gives you more control and balance. Some people believe that weight training will cause them to lose feel.

The weight training I am talking about in this golfing tip is not a program for weight-lifters and to build colossal muscles. This golfing tip is about the weight training specific to golf that conditions muscles used in golf and builds up strength.

This kind of program rather than making somebody lose feel, in fact increases feel tremendously.

This is an amazing golfing tip that is bound to have an profound impact on your game.

Playing Well Under Pressure

Get Every Putt to the Hole

In team formats, it pays to get the ball to the hole, if only to give your partners a good read. Most putts come up short because the player decelerates on the through-stroke. Instead, make sure your through-stroke is as long or slightly longer than your backstroke.

Minimize Your Swing Thoughts

Keep your game plan simple. Put it on a piece of paper on the cart steering wheel and refer to it before each full shot.

Preshot: Visualize what you want the ball to do.

Address: Align the clubface where you want the ball to go.

Swing thought: Freely swing the clubhead.

Survive The First-tee Jitters

Nervousness makes you speed up your tempo, which affects consistency and accuracy. Take several deep breaths as you get ready to hit, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. Swing your driver smoothly, like you want to hit it only 100 yards.

Make More Tough Short Putts

Playing a format that requires you to putt everything out? Set your putterface square to the desired line, then square your feet and shoulders to that line. Make a smooth stroke while looking at the target, not at the ball.

Take More Club on Par 3s

Few amateurs hit the ball over or through the green on par 3s; most come up short. Select a club that will get you to the yardage at the back of the green. If you hit it flush, you're on; if you hit it less than solidly, you still might make it to the putting surface.

Score Lower on Par 5s

Take a "do the math" approach. Most par 5s are 500 yards or more. Make the last shot your favorite yardage into the green. Subtract that yardage, then divide the difference by two. With this strategy, you're hitting lofted clubs that are easier to hit and more accurate.

Get Out of the Sand in One Try

Good greenside bunker players accelerate the clubhead through the shot, letting the sand "splash" the ball out. Set up with the face of your sand wedge slightly open, the ball slightly forward in your stance. Hit the sand behind the ball, and finish your swing like you're hitting a full 5-iron.

Chip with Your Putting Stroke

To avoid chunking or skulling your chip shots, take a lofted club like a 7-, 8- or 9-iron and grip it like your putter. Lean the shaft and your body toward the target for a slightly descending blow. Make your putting stroke, allowing the loft of the club to carry the ball over the unpredictable turf onto the green.

Get Your Irons Airborne

Most topped shots occur when you try to help the ball into the air with a scooping motion. To hit down on the ball, set up with more weight on your left foot than your right. Take the club back more vertically and return it on a downward angle of attack.

Golf Swing Technique

Golf, it's probably one of the most difficult sports to play, and there are more people trying to peddle solutions for your problems then you can shake a stick at. If you don't believe me flick on the golf channel for an hour and see how many commercials you see for the next greatest training aid.

Some of these training aids work, I can't argue that how ever I've often wondered if we need to have this perfect swing in order to enjoy the game and shoot a half decent score.

Golf Swing Realities

While we all want to critique everyones golf swing, or at least I do, the reality is all the little things we talk about in not lifting our head, turn our hips, keep your arms straight are all to ensure one thing occurs. When our golf club comes through the down swing to make impact with the ball, that club face is perfectly square so that the ball goes straight.

Now I'm not suggesting that you don't need to pay attention to keeping your head down, feet straight and all those other finer points of the swing. How ever what I am saying is that you don't always need the perfect swing to play a half decent round of golf. So with that being said what does it take to develop a good swing?

Facts about the Swing

Okay so it's not so much facts plural as it is a fact. While your buddies on the course will be very quick to tell you that you lifted your head or you're not aimed correctly there is really only one key thing that must happen to make that ball go straight. You must have the face of the club square to the ball at time of impact.

Of course all those other points your buddies continually bug you about are important but they are all spin offs of that one key point we must ensure the club face is connecting with the ball square on to make sure it goes straight, and as far as possible. So if all of those points we scrutinize over about the golf swing aren't as important as we thought what does it take to develop a good swing?

The Bare Minimum to make it go Straight

There are five points I am going to mention that I think are the “lazy” way to hitting the ball straight.

Knees: This might not seem all that important but when you're addressing the ball you should have your knees slightly bent. No so much that your knees are interfering with your swing, but ever so slightly to give you perfect balance.

Back: I see a lot of golfers when I'm out on the course hunched over the ball and trying to whack away at it with no success. With your knees being slightly bent as mentioned in the previous point bind at the hips and keep your back straight. The pivot point should be your hips and you should maintain approximately the same height through your back swing, and down swing until you've completed your follow through.

Arms: This is another difficult one, many of us want to swing the club like a base ball bat or a hockey stick depending on the other sports we play. Golf is a game of finesse no powering through the ball. As you take your club up in the back swing try to think about keeping your front arm (left for right handed golfers) straight. This will help keep the club head on the same plane as it comes through the down swing to impact.

Head: We already touch on this, but keeping an eye on the ball is important. One point to note here is that you shouldn't have your head turned down so much that your face is parallel to the ground. Tilt the head forwards and look downwards at the ball, but keep your chin up enough so that your arms and shoulders can come through as you swing.

Hips: This is where you're going to generate the power in your swing. You don't want to lean forward during the swing, you can to tray and maintain no movement below the waist until you're making contact with the ball. At this point you should make a twisting motion at the hips so that your trailing hip turns through the swing and once completed your belt buckle is pointing at your target.

So, these are the “finer” points we'll say about helping to achieve a consistent golf swing. You're not going to be swinging the club like Tiger anytime soon, but as this article has tried to get across do you really have to? As you improve your game, you'll enjoy it more.

Putting Tips

Putting is one of the most important aspects of golf and it is also the part of the game that can make the biggest difference to your scores regardless of whether you are a high or low or even scratch golfer. Here are a few tips to help you on your endeavor to make more putts and lower your handicap.

Tip 1: Do not get obsessed with putting mechanics

Putting is an interesting part of golf because it really is primarily a mental game. Putting mechanics are important so do not ignore them. Pick a putting style you feel comfortable with and then stick with it. Practice your mechanics regularly but do not spend hours on it thinking that developing perfect mechanics is the solution to making more putts.

Remember that putting is also more of an art than a science. You need to trust your feelings and intuitions about the reads on a green and many times you will make a good stroke and the ball will not go in for any number of factors you have no control over. If you get obsessed with the idea of developing the perfect roll or if you are always getting the latest putter in an effort to putt better then you risk developing the putting yips.

The putting yips usually results from thinking too much about mechanics and also caring too much about the result of a putt. You become obsessed with trying to make every putt and lose your ability to forget the misses. The best way to cure the yips is to simply get back the confidence you naturally have about putting. You need to think of yourself as a great putter and replay all the great putts you have made in the past and forget the misses.

Tip 2: Develop a selective memory

In putting learning to forget is very important in order to maintain confidence and be the best putter you can be. Every time you miss a putt you must simply shrug it off and believe the next putt will go in the hole.

If you misread a green then you again need to shrug that off and believe that the next time you will make a perfect read. Putting really is a game of confidence and your ability to maintain confidence will determine how well you putt and how good you can become as a putter.

Tip 3: Practice short putts

Short putts are critical to any round of golf as they can save you a significant number of shots so spend more time practicing them. Also by hitting a lot of short putts you will be boosting your confidence levels too since your eyes will see a lot putts going in the hole. This will program your subconscious mind for greater confidence each time you step on the green.

Tip 4: Focus on the target

At the moment of truth when you are about to hit the putt it is important to avoid mechanical thoughts. At this point your mind needs to be sharply focused on the target. This focus on the target will allow your body and mind to make the best stroke possible that will send the ball to the hole at the right speed. Trust that you have good touch and do not think about green speed when you are putting.

If you want to get used to speed of the greens then hit some long practice putts before the round until you feel you know the speeds and then when you are on the course trust your feel on each putt. Also when you are reading greens trust your first impression because it is usually right. Remember that even the pros misread greens so be gentle on yourself. Take action and apply some of these tips to help you become a better putter.