Improve Golf Swing

The golf swing that works for one golfer maybe just doesn’t click with another. That is why I try to show you numerous tips on how to make the perfect golf swing for you.

Eighty percent of all golfers don’t get to achieve a handicap of less than 18. This is simply because of inconsistency in their golf swing. While you may have difficulties, it should be simple because the major thing you really need to achieve is consistency.

Achieving this golden consistency can help you hit the ball square, giving you longer distances every time and can shave off 7-10 or more strokes off your score. The key principle to consistency is to have a simple golf swing. It is a swing where there is no wasted movement and is easy to do, no matter what. The best way to do anything, whether it is golf or anything else, is to keep it simple.

Spine

One of the secrets to a good golf swing is to have a stable spine which you can work around. Keeping it straight will enable you to use your spine as an axis for your body rotation. Most golfers with high handicaps have a lot of unnecessary movements, swaying as they swing. This makes them waste a lot of energy in those movements and not let them focus on the ball itself. The best way to achieve that consistency is to coil around your spine and limit hip rotation. This will let you put power into your golf swing.

Limit Hip Movement

By having a stable spine, you are to limit hip rotation in your swing. Hip rotation is good for other sports like boxing, but it is no good in golf. Hip rotation will cause you to sway as you swing, which makes it ineffective. Only swing around your spine, and you can take the sway away from your swing.

Back swing

Power is crucial in a golf swing. You can get this by not swinging the club too far back as all you really need to do is to coil around your spine. This is a key in getting power.

Those are three basic principles you need to keep in mind – swing around a stable spine, limit your hip rotation, and shorten your back swing as you don’t really need to swing it back to parallel. These can help you achieve efficient movement in your swing.

The thing you have to remember is that the best golf swing does not have a lot of movement to it at all. Professional golfers understand this principle, and that is why they have such low scores.

When you have trained well and long and hard, your body “becomes” the golf swing itself, as some golfers put it, and almost effortlessly, your swing becomes consistent. By achieving the most perfect golf swing for you, your confidence will be increased.

In a previous post we learned how to do the symple lower body turn. But what are the advantages of this turn?
Benefits of the Symple Turn

1. Gives you “Synchronized Power” Automatically.
Because you start turning your core (shoulders, chest & abdomen) first, this makes you make a full turn giving you a bigger backswing. Your core will just automatically turn right body parts at the right time. This “simple sequencing” makes the Symple Turn much more powerful than any other way of turning.

2. Reduces The Tendency To Arm Swing
Because you start your swing by turning your core (shoulders, chest & abdomen) you automatically make a bigger more powerful turn than normal reducing the tendency to lift the club with your arms.

3. Reduces Pulls
Making a Symple Turn makes it much less likely that the front hip will open prematurely on the downswing causing an Outside-To-Inside swing path resulting in a pull or a hook. Because you are NOT turning the front hip forward during the first part of your backswing (or not very much) then you don’t have the need to “turn the front hip back to square” which is often the beginning of the motion that opens the front hip too soon in the swing pulling the shoulders to the left (for a right handed golfers) causing a pull.

4. Makes it easier to keep the front leg straight
Since the front hip doesn’t move towards the ball it’s now much easier to keep the front leg straight. This reduces the tendency to move the body up and down which can cause fats shots and topped shots.

5. Gives you a much more consistent repeatable swing.
The Symple Turn is a much easier motion to do so it’s makes your swing much more consistent. Fewer parts of your body are moving so it’s easier to coordinate.

The bottom line is the Symple Lower Body Turn will allow you to hit the ball longer, more accurately and much more consistently.

Don’t bend your front knee and move your front hip towards the ball to begin your backswing. The problem with bending the front knee and moving the front hip toward the ball on the backswing is that you have to straighten the knee and move the front hip back away from the ball on the downswing. It’s when you have to move the front hip back (on the downswing) that most people wind up over rotating that front hip and opening that hip up (moving it past square and back away from the ball). That opens the hips up too much, pulling the shoulders open and causing either a pull or a slice (depending on the position of the club head at impact).

If you do “rotate your hips around the spine” as in the conventional swing that means you have to coordinate the motions of the front hip, front leg, rear hip and rear leg. With the Symple Turn the hinge or rotation point is your front hip so you only really have to move the back hip and back leg. Again the main thing we’re trying to do is create a stable base for the upper body (shoulders, chest & abdomen) to provide the power for the swing.

Don’t just turn your back hip away (turning your core WITH your hips) and then swing with your arms. That motion might be necessary if you have serious back problems but you would be sacrificing significant power. Your power comes from your core so you should see your bellybutton turn a little (from square with your hips), your chest turns a little more and your shoulders turn a little more than that.

The “Symple Power Swing Lower Body Turn” is a less complex method of coordinating the movement of the legs, hips and torso. It also causes less stress on the body. Plus, it will instantaneously help in making solid crisp shots by reducing extraneous lower body motions. The biggest difference with the Symple Turn is keeping the front leg straight and not moving the front hip toward the ball in the back swing.

When using the traditional swing, golfers try to rotate their hips around their spine. In order to turn their hips around their spine they have to bend their front knee which brings their front hip forward (toward the ball) plus sometimes straightening their back leg pushing their back hip away from the ball. While that does rotate the hips it means moving and coordinating a lot of body parts. That requires a lot of timing and practice.

The traditional lower body motion has problems because it tends to over rotate the hips. Over rotating the hips has been tolerated in the conventional swing because most everybody slices and the over rotation of the hips does help somewhat with getting the club face closed.

Here’s how to make a Symple Power Swing Lower Body Turn

Stand up straight with feet a little wider than shoulder width. Then lock your front leg straight. (Important to keep in mind we normally do not “lock” the front leg we just keep it straight but when trying to learn the correct motion it’s okay to lock the knee back) (Your back knee is stays bent at address and through the back swing and downswing.)

Next pull the back hip back away from the ball. As you pull the back hip away from the ball (keeping the front leg locked straight) the front hip should act as pivot point or hinge. Practice this turning a number of times feeling the pivot point of the front hip. Do this a number of times turning your upper body with your hips. Then do it a few more times and don’t turn the upper body much at all, just turn your hips. Next, then get in your address position and try that lower body motion a few more times just as you would in your swing.

Here’s the Symple Turn sequence.

1. Begin the swing by turning the upper torso (chest and shoulders) around the spine.

2. Then let the turning of the upper torso pull that BACK HIP AWAY FROM THE BALL. (Your front hip moves just slightly towards the ball it just becomes the pivot point which allows you to turn your back hip away from the ball.

Do not bend your front knee and move your front hip towards the ball to begin your backswing. The problem with bending the front knee and moving the front hip toward the ball on the backswing is that you have to straighten the knee and move the front hip back away from the ball on the downswing.

It’s when you have to move the front hip back (on the downswing) that most people wind up over rotating that front hip and opening that hip up (moving it past square and back away from the ball). That opens the hips up too much, pulling the shoulders open and causing either a pull or a slice (depending on the position of the club head at impact).

If you do “rotate your hips around the spine” as you would in the conventional swing that means you have to coordinate the motions of the front hip, front leg, rear hip and rear leg. With the Symple Turn the hinge or rotation point is your front hip so you only really have to move the back hip and back leg. Again the main thing we’re trying to do is create a stable base for the upper body (shoulders, chest & abdomen) to provide the power for the swing.

Go to Symple Swing and learn more.

Next post we will discuss the benefits of this simple lower body turn.

Common Takeaway ( backswing ) faults:-

A slide or sway off the ball and onto the back leg. From here the player finds it difficult to get back to the front side during the downswing. He may end up lunging back to the ball and dragging the whole body and the club with him.

The result is often an open face hit and a corresponding slice. Or a topped shot.  Or he may be unable to freely move back to the ball and end up hanging back on the right leg (or left leg if he is lefthanded) while he makes the stroke. This position produces weak shots, slices and topping the ball.

The body, arms, hands and the club are not drawn back in unison but the several parts are moving independent of one another. This creates a less than desirable position at the top, from which it becomes difficult to synchronize all of the parts in the downswing.

It becomes very hard to move the club in a single plane stroke. If the club changes plane during the swing, the player must add additional force (Newton’s first law) to the thrust or the club will decelerate.

In many cases the player is already swinging at his limit and cannot create the extra force needed. Out of synch swings also greatly reduce the chance of a square, on center, contact with the ball. The effective mass of the collision is reduced and the ball goes off line as a weak shot.

Frequently the player initiates the takeaway with his hands. One result is that he wraps the club around the backside and overturns, making it vitually impossible to get back to his front side and to the ball, similar to the sway move described above.

The front arm moves ahead of the torso and virtually flattens onto the chest. This makes a synchronized downswing, with the club head catching up to the hands for a square hit next to impossible. Net result – a block or a slice.

Another common fault is that the player takes the club back with his hands outside the target line. He becomes trapped on his back leg. On the downstroke he initially casts the club backwards in an effort to free himself. He ends up falling back, away from the target, with a weak, slice swing.

Bobbing the front shoulder and head up and down in the takeaway, leading to an erratic swing and miss hits.

Any of these common faults, or combination, prevents a powerful on plane hit and  reduces  energy transfer to the ball. Accuracy is greatly reduced.

With the proper set up and grip, Symple Swing allows the player to arrive at the top of the backswing in a tight, compact position. All he needs to do is rotate the shoulders and top of the spine to initiate the takeaway. He will make a one piece backswing into a defined “slot” at the top. Swaying, elevation changes, casting – all of the above difficulties – are eliminated.