How to perform a back swing movement.

As I stated on the home page, how you perform the back swing will determine the success or failure of the golf swing.

At the address position you must form the shoulders and the arms into a very compact unit and rotate the shoulders and the arms whilst firmly held in this compact condition and you use the rotational movement of the compact upper body unit to literally push the passive arms to the end of the back swing movement but without any conscious rotation of the forearms, thus ensuring that the club face will remain in the same position relative to the shoulders throughout the back swing movement.

(The key to playing very good golf is to be able to control the alignment of the club face at all times which can only be achieved by eliminating any unnecessary movement of the forearms.)

Therefore to reiterate, once the upper body unit has been formed into this very compact condition, it must remain in this condition throughout the complete back swing movement.

When you have formed the shoulders and the arms into this very compact condition, you must then tilt the upper body to your right, using the waist as the pivotal point but ensuring that the left shoulder is slightly higher than the right shoulder.

Check to see if the shoulders are parallel to the target line, with the head positioned so that the left eye is slightly behind the ball and finally check to make sure that the uppermost part of the right arm is pulled against the upper body.
(Once you set the upper body in this position, it must be maintained until well after the ball has been struck.)

You cannot hold the upper body unit too tightly together as you perform the back swing movement and therefore whilst holding the compact upper body unit this condition and not allowing the forearms to rotate you may feel that the back swing is restricted, but I can assure you that the tighter you hold the shoulders and arms together and totally resist the urge to rotate the forearms, the better.

It is vital that you form the muscles of the legs, the thighs and the buttocks into a firm condition so that the lower part of the body totally resists the movement of the upper body and and you must keep the heel of the left foot firmly on the ground.

The back swing movement is performed by rotating the shoulders and the arms around the central core of the spine whilst held together as a a very compact upper body unit, but focusing on the left shoulder/left arm to be in over-all control thus using the left shoulder/left arm to push the passive right arm/golf club to the end of the back swing movement, but importantly, it is absolutely vital that you do not consciously rotate the forearms during the back swing movement, in fact you have to make a conscious effect to stop the forearms from rotating.
( As the back swing movement is performed the right arm will gradually begin to fold which will automatically cause the forearms to rotate in a clockwise motion - no other action is required.)

However all this is performed whilst the heel of the left foot remains firmly on the ground.

As the shoulders/arms-unit rotates into the back swing movement, it is vital that the elbows remain held as close together as is physically possible so that the shoulders and the arms remain firmly bonded as one, but importantly you must not consciously allow the forearms to rotate.
( The back swing movement will feel very stiff and mechanical and totally unnatural at first, but what it does is to maintain the alignment of the clubface relative to the shoulders throughout the back swing movement.)

The end of the back swing is not necessarily when the golf club is parallel to the ground, the end of the back swing movement is when you are unable to rotate the shoulders any further without allowing the heel of the left foot to lift off the ground.

Therefore at the end of the back swing movement the whole body has been formed into a fully twisted condition and the elbows remain as close together as is physically possible.

However it is absolutely vital that you do not physically try to force the shoulders to rotate into the down swing movement simply allow the movement of the hips to force the upper body unit to rotate about its axis.

Therefore as long as you keep the upper body unit in a passive condition, the shoulders will automatically be forced to rotate into the down swing movement by the movement of the hips.

Notice how the rotational movement of the shoulders force the hips to follow, but also notice how the left foot remains firmly on the ground.

As the unit rotates around the central core of the spine, the golfer must focus on the left shoulder/left arm as being in over-all control of the compact upper body unit so that the left shoulder/left arm literally pushes the passive right arm/golf club to the end of the back swing movement.
(You must not lift the arms to the end of the back swing movement.)

Therefore as the back swing movement is performed it is absolutely vital that the whole upper body unit rotates around the central core of the spine as a very solid one piece unit without any conscious independent movement of the arms and definitely without allowing the forearms to rotate. ( As the right arm folds the forearms will automatically rotate but you must definitely not assist in the movement.)

( I cannot stress too strongly how firmly the upper body unit is held throughout the complete back swing movement - the shoulders and the arm move as if they are welded together as a one piece unit with not independently moving components.)

However, notice how the head is positioned so that the left eye is slightly behind the ball at the address position and I try to hold the head firmly in the original address position as the back swing is performed.

But equally important, as the back swing movement is performed the heel of the left foot must remain firmly on the ground thus ensuring that the hips only follow the movement of the upper body unit.

Therefore at the end of the back swing movement the whole body has achieved a twisted condition whilst the left arm remain fully straight. The folding of the right arm has caused the forearms to slightly rotate thus causing the arms to move independently of the shoulders for a short distance, but importantly the upper body unit remains tightly held together as a very compact unit.

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Therefore whilst the back swing is performed you must adhere to the following points:-

1) The left shoulder/left arm is in over-all control as a very compact upper body unit rotates to the end of the back swing movement.

2) The upper body unit has been held tightly together to such an extent that the passive arms are literally pushed to the end of the back swing movement, but importantly, the forearms have not been consciously rotated, thus controlling the alignment of the club face at all times.

3) You must not fall into the trap of lifting the arms to the end of the back swing movement.

4) The head must not be allowed to move away from the original address position.

6) The forearms must not be consciously allowed to rotate.
( As the right arm begins to bend, the forearms will automatically begin to rotate.)

Do not worry too much about achieving the perfect back swing position of having the golf club pointing to the target area, just ensure that you rotate the shoulders and the arms whilst held as a very compact upper body unit, around the central core of the spine as far as it is physically possible whilst the elbows remain as close together as is physically possible, but focus on the left shoulder/left arm as being in over-all control so that the left shoulder/left arm literally push the passive right arm/golf club to the end of the back swing movement.

However I cannot stress too strongly that you must not allow the arms to be lifted to the end of the back swing movement or consciously allow the forearms to rotate.

All of the above is performed whilst the shoulders and the arms remain bonded as a one piece unit and the heel of the foot remains firmly on the ground.

However it is absolutely vital that you do not physically try to force the shoulders to rotate into the down swing movement -- as long as you keep the upper body unit in a passive condition, the shoulders will automatically be forced to rotate into the down swing movement by the movement of the hips.

There are three important points that will help you to perform the back swing movement correctly:-

1) You must not allow the arms to be lifted to the end of the back swing movement, the shoulders and the arms must be held firmly together so that the shoulders and the arms move as a solid one piece unit thus using the rotational movement of the shoulders to literally push the passive arms to the end of the back swing movement.

2) You must not consciously rotate the forearms - simply keep the back of the left hand square to the ball for as long as possible.

3) You must create a very slight pause in the rotational movement of the compact upper body unit as it reaches the very end of the back swing movement.

These three actions will go a long way to help you perform the correct down swing sequence of movements.

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