Lesson 6 - Complete Swing Process. (Changed - 04/07/2008)

During this lesson I will give you my inner thoughts as I carry out the full golf swing whilst using a seven iron, but remember as you perform the down swing movement, prepare yourself to rotate the right shoulder under the chin at the precise moment the club head makes contact with the ball.

Actual play

I step on to the tee and decide where to place the tee peg and as I am going to use a seven iron, the ball position will be just a fraction to the left of centre of my stance and as I intend to hit a straight shot, I take my stance with the shoulders, hips, the feet aligned Parallel with the Target Line.

I begin the routine of setting up my stance, which is done by setting the angle of the upper body which is done by initially bending the upper body forward at the waist until I am almost falling forward, when I have reached the correct upper body angle, I make a point of pushing my buttocks backwards, so that my backside is sticking out, but I ensure that I retain the natural curvature of the spine.

I then follow this up by slightly bending my legs very slightly and once this has been done, I hold the muscles of the legs, the thighs and the buttocks in a firm condition so that I have a solid base on which to make the back swing movement.

I tilt the upper body to the right so that the left shoulder is slightly higher that the right shoulder, which creates a situation at the address position where the left arm will be straight and the right arm will be slightly bent, but I also check that the shoulders are "Parallel to the Target Line".

I concentrate on holding the head in a position so that it is slightly behind the ball because I am very aware that if I wish to play consistently good golf, the head must remain fixed in this position throughout the complete golf swing movement, especially as the club head swings through the contact area.

I step back from the ball and go through the practice routine, which is an important part of my routine in order to psychologically and physically prepare myself to repeat the correct golf swing movement.

I repeat the routine of checking my feet, my hips, my shoulders and finally the club face to make sure that are all aligned with the Parallel to the Target Line and then I check my grip to ensure that the back of the left hand is square to the target line whilst the club face is square to the target line.

To complete the set up, I hold the arms so that the elbows are drawn as close together as it is physically possible, an action that pull all of the components of the upper body unit tightly together thus forcing the arms to become become fully extended.

Finally, before beginning the back swing movement, I recheck the alignment of the shoulders, check the position of my hands on the club, but importantly I again concentrate on the position of the upper body and the position of my head because I know that I must keep the head fixed in this position with "pin point accuracy" throughout the complete golf swing.

You must focus your eyes intensely on the back of the golf ball at the address position, and keep this focus on the golf ball until the club head strikes the ball.

Back Swing

I begin the back swing movement by simply using the muscles of the left shoulder and the muscles of the left upper arm to left shoulder to literally push the passive arms/golf club with an upwards motion to the end of the back swing movement whilst simultaneously the shoulders are forced to rotate round the central core of the spine, thus ensuring that the whole upper body unit rotates to the end of the back swing as a very compact unit - but importantly keeping the back of the left hand square to the target area for as long as possible.

You must keep the right elbow against the side of the body for as long as possible in order to encourage the correct swing path of the golf club and keep the muscles of the arms in a totally passive condition - if you do not, it means that you are lifting the arms to the end of the back swing movement.

However in order to perform a fuller rotation of the shoulder/arms-unit, I also twist the upper torso to its maximum.

All of the above is performed whilst I totally resist the urge to rotate the forearms during the back swing movement, this will happen automatically as the right arm folds.

As the back swing movement is performed I know that the hips will automatically follow the movement of the upper body unit and rotate away from the frontal facing position, leaving me to fully concentrate solely on performing a pivotal movement of the hips.

I also concentrate on keeping the muscles of the legs, the thighs and the muscles of the buttocks in a firm condition and the heel of the left foot firmly on the ground in order to resist the movement of the upper body unit, but importantly, I concentrate on keeping the head firmly positioned slightly behind the ball.

I also ensure that the left arm and the golf club remain fully extended until the golf club is perpendicular to the ground and I also check to make sure that the clubhead follows the swing path of my shoulders.

As the back swing is performed I ensure that the back of the left hand and the left forearm remain in a straight line, but importantly, as I reach the end of the back swing movement I ensure that the left thumb is under the golf club, thus ensuring that at the end of the back swing movement the club face will be parallel with my left arm, but importantly, if you run a line parallel to the left arm whilst at the end of the back swing movement, the line would point directly to the ball.

(Therefore on no account allow must you allow the right leg to straighten simply to make a fuller back swing movement. You must maintain the right leg in the original address condition of being slightly bent. )

As the back swing movement is performed I ensure that the back of the left hand is initially held square to the target line and thereafter I hold the back of the left hand square to ball position until such times that the right arm begins to fold which causes the forearms to begin to rotate, thus forcing the left hand to turn away from the square to the ball position, but you must hold the back of the left hand square to the ball position for as long as possible.

I try to hold the shoulders at the end of the back swing position for a milli-second thus maintaining the whole body in a fully twisted condition whilst the hips begin to slowly rotate/pivot towards the target area thus creating an overlap.

I can assure you that the most reoccurring fault you will encounter throughout your golfing career will be lifting the arms to the end of the back swing movement instead of using the muscles of the left shoulder and the muscles of the left upper arm to literally push the passive arms to the end of the back swing movement.

Another major fault is to allow the elbows to drift apart as the back swing, the down swing and the follow through movement is performed, thus allowing the upper body unit to disintegrate.

Another major fault is to swing too quickly -- maintain the swing at a very slow and even tempo from the moment you begin the back swing movement, right through the back swing movement and then throughout the down swing movement until the moment when the torsion within the muscles of the shoulder region is released.

Unless you cure these faults, you will never play a consistent game of golf.

Down Swing Movement.

Therefore as soon as I press the the left foot to the ground, I also force the hips to rotate/pivot/sway towards the target area.

As the hips rotate/pivot towards the target area, the torsion of the muscles between the upper part of the body and the lower part of the body reach their maximum and the twisted body unit is literally forced to rotate about its axis and thus follow the movement of the hips which forces the twisted body unit to rotate about its, axis thus automatically returning the shoulders back to the original address position..

However, regardless of how firmly you hold the shoulder/arms-unit together, the inertia effect will not allow the passive arms/golf club to immediately follow the movement of the shoulders -- ( this delay is minuscule but nevertheless it occurs) - and therefore the passive arms/golf club begins to lag slightly further behind the movement of the shoulders thus storing up a large amount of torsion/energy within the upper body which will I will put to good use during the later stages of the down swing and the follow through movement.

However as the shoulders get very close to the original address position, the torsion within the muscles of the shoulder region that was built up during the back swing and the early part of the down swing movement is unable to be contained any longer and the passive arms/golf club are forced to accelerate into the contact area, but judging the movement so that they catch up with the shoulders at the impact position.

At the precise moment the club head returns to the golf ball, the shoulders must be in the original address position, the head must be positioned so that the left eye is slightly behind the ball, the hands must not be ahead of the original address position and the weight of the body predominantly over the left leg

However as soon as the shoulders return to the original address position and the club head makes contact with the ball, it is absolutely vital that you force the right shoulder to rotate under the chin whilst simultaneously the passive arms interact, thus keeping the club face square to the target line for that extra milli-second.

Please Note.

To correctly perform the golf swing movement, it is absolutely vital that the head is firmly held so that the left eye remains slightly behind the ball position and the upper body angles are strictly maintained as the right shoulder is forced to rotate under the chin and simultaneously as the passive arms interact.

Failure to keep the head in this position, especially as the club head swings into and through the contact area will almost invariably cause a sliced shot.

As soon as both arms are straight I pivot the whole body on the left leg and quickly turn to fully face the target area.

Therefore to get the movement right, you must concentrate on holding the very compact shoulder/arms-unit Parallel to the Target Line for that milli-second, keep the head positioned so that the left eye is slightly behind the ball whilst the right shoulder is forced to rotate under the chin and simultaneously the passive arms interact - do not try to "HIT" the ball.

I force myself to keep the head positioned so that the left eye remains slightly behind the ball position, I also force myself to hold the head in the Fixed Frontal condition until both arms are straight.

But importantly, I maintain the upper body angles to the end of the golf swing movement and keep the elbows as close together as it is physically possible so that the upper body unit remains held together as a very compact unit thereby keeping arms fully extended until the left arm is forced to fold.

Concentrate on the mechanical action of the golf swing.

It is important to impress that whether you are playing from the tee, playing from the fairway or simply pitching the ball to the green, the golf swing is performed in exactly the same way.
( The chipping action and the putting stroke are performed in an entirely different way.)

Therefore once you have set yourself up to make a golf swing, you must put aside any thoughts of where the ball will go or how ward to hit the ball, trust your set up and the mechanical action of the golf swing and simply swing the club head to the bottom of the swing arc.

You must watch the ball as the club head swings through the contact area and as soon as the both arms are fully straightened, the whole body must quickly turn to fully face the target area.

By eliminating any thoughts of where the ball will go, it will allow you to fully concentrate on simply performing the mechanical actions of the golf swing.

If you wish to play very good golf, you must fully concentrate on performing the actual golf swing movement and put all other thoughts aside.

Children Story

As a bit of light relief from reading about golf, read the following story to your children or grandchildren about Misti, the Super Hero

Please Note.

If you have any comments relating to this website, or if you want anything clarified about the golf swing as described, please contact me:- Here

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