The condition of the upper body unit.

Look at this video of the full golf swing -- During the back swing movement a very compact, triangular shaped upper body unit is rotated around the central core of the spine, whilst keeping the head firmly held in the original address position and whilst keeping the heel of the left foot firmly on the ground.

The pressing of the left foot to the ground and simultaneously the rotational/pivotal movement of the hips towards the target area initiate the down swing movement, and from that moment onwards the movement of the hips totally control the rotational movement of the compact upper body unit to the completion of the golf swing movement.

If you observe most high handicapped golfers when they perform a back swing movement you would assume that the movement of the shoulders and the arms are moving together, but I can assure you that the majority of golfers simply lift the arms to the end of the back swing movement, thus creating a situation where the shoulders are forced to follow the movement of the arms.

Therefore if you want to play very good golf, it is absolutely vital to understand that the upper body unit must be tightly held together as a very compact unit throughout the complete golf swing movement so that any movement of the shoulders, regardless of how minute this movement may be, the arms will also instantly move.

This compact condition is achieved by forming the muscles of the chest, the shoulders, the upper back, the upper arms and the forearms into a taut condition and also reinforcing the upper body unit by holding the elbows as close together as is physically possible.

When these action have been completed, the whole upper body unit is formed into a solid triangular one piece unit so that the shoulders and the arms move as if the whole unit has been welded into a solid unit.

(As a guide to indicate how the shoulders and the arms move together during the complete golf swing movement, imagine having gaffer tape wrapped around the whole upper torso at the arms at a point midway between the elbows and the shoulders, thus bonding both upper arms against the body - whilst the arms are held in this condition, the arms are forced to move in complete synchronisation with the movement of the shoulders at all times and this is the exact feeling you must develop as you perform the full golf swing, unfortunately the majority of golfers will not complete the back swing movement as described because they will allow the arms to move independently of the shoulders as they reach the end of the back swing movement.)

Exercise.
To get an idea of how the shoulders and the arms move in relation to the hips during the back swing movement, perform this exercise whilst you are sitting in the chair reading this website.

Raise your arms to shoulder height, hold them out in front of you, pull the elbows close together, keep the arms in a totally passive condition and simply rotate the shoulders into a back swing movement thus causing the shoulders to make a full back swing movement. You will note that you can only rotate the shoulders so far without the lower part of the body being forced to follow the movement of the shoulders.

Therefore in order to play very good golf it is absolutely vital that the shoulders and the arms are held very tightly together, in fact so tightly that the arms are totally restricted from moving independently of the shoulders.
The only exception to this rule is at the precise moment the club head makes contact with the ball when the muscles of the left shoulder pull the passive arms through the contact area, thus counteracting the inertia effect upon the arms and ultimately forcing the right arm to adopt the fully straightened position.
( I cannot stress too strongly how tightly the upper body unit must be held throughout the complete golf swing movement - it will feel very mechanical at first, but the results will convince you of its merits.
If you are concerned about whether the golf club will move in complete synchronisation with the shoulders and the arms, the angle of the golf club will automatically adjust as the wrists begin to cock.)

However the most important point to make is that once the shoulders and the arms have been formed into this very compact triangular shaped condition, the shoulders and the arms must remain in this condition throughout the complete golf swing movement, but especially as the club head swings through the contact area.

Therefore the ability to improve your golf will depend on maintaining the shoulders and the arms in this very compact condition at all times, keeping the head positioned so that the left eye remains slightly behind the ball and ensuring that the club face is correctly aligned as it swings into and through the contact area.

The golf swing performed by the professional golfer appears to be very loose and fluid.
However if you look very carefully at their swing, you will notice that they keep the compete upper body unit tightly held together throughout the back swing movement, thus ensuring that the shoulders and the arms rotate into the back swing movement as a compact one piece unit, but importantly, whilst keeping the left arm perfectly straight and without consciously allowing the forearms to rotate.

At the end of the back swing movement, the whole body will adopt a fully twisted condition and from that point onwards, the upper body unit remain totally passive to the movement of the hips to the completion of the golf swing movement.
( During the down swing and the follow through movement the upper body unit must remain held very tightly together so that it is the rotational movement of the compact upper body unit that causes the arms to move.)

Therefore it is the skill of the golfer to judge the whole movement, so that the club head makes contact with the ball whilst the shoulders are parallel to the target line and the club face correctly aligned.

At the precise moment the club head makes contact with the ball, the shoulders must be parallel to the target line, importantly, the head must be positioned so that the left eye is slightly behind the ball and in the Fixed Frontal condition, the hands must not be ahead of the original address position and the weight of the body slightly over the left leg.

The back swing movement will feel very mechanical and wooden when first performed whilst the shoulders and the arms are tightly held in this rigid triangular condition but persevere and you will soon see how effective this action is.

But remember, the shoulders must be parallel to the target line, the upper body angles must be maintained and the head must be in the original address position at the precise moment the club head makes contact with the ball -- and the head must remain in the Fixed Frontal condition until the head is forced to rotate away from this position by the rotational movement of the shoulders.

Before we go on to the next lesson it is worthwhile giving some guidance on the gripping of the golf club.

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