A full description of how to perform the complete golf swing movement by the Basic Steps to Perfect Golf

If you look at the impact position as illustrated in this animated movie, you will notice that the hands and the club head go past the centre of my stance before the club head makes contact with the ball.

Throughout this down swing sequence, the movement of the hips is in over-all control over the movement of the shoulder/arms-unit, thus automatically rotating the shoulders back to the position of being parallel to the target line, whilst the lower back muscles are used as a supplementary source of power.

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 back swing and the down swing movement, keep the shoulders and the arms tightly held together as a very compact one piece unit and fully focus on the back edge of the golf ball throughout the complete golf swing movement.

See Videos of the full swing, Front View and a Side View and notice how the shoulders and the arms are held very tightly together so that there is absolutely no conscious independent movement of the arms throughout the back swing movement, but also notice that during the back swing movement how the compact upper body simply rotates around the central core of the spine whilst the hips simultaneously rotate/pivot rotate away from the frontal facing position, whilst the heel of the left foot remains firmly on the ground.

Also notice that during down swing how the upper body angles are maintained and the head remains held so that the left eye is positioned slightly behind the ball until well after the ball has been struck.

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 only 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 past the centre of my stance, before making contact with the ball.

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 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 and the club face is square to the target line.

To complete the set up, I hold the upper body unit as a very compact one piece unit so that as the back swing movement is performed, the whole upper body unit will rotate as a one piece solid unit whilst the left arm remains 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.

Therefore the back swing movement is performed by using a combination of the rotational movement of the shoulder/arms-unit and the rotational/pivotal movement of the hips as described above, but focusing on the left shoulder/left arm as being in over-all control of the compact upper body unit as it rotates around the central core of the spine whilst the right arm remain in a passive condition, thus ensuring that the rotational movement of the compact upper body unit and the arms move in complete synchronisation to the end of the back swing movement, but importantly, I do not consciously rotate the forearms.

The right elbow must remain against the side of the body for as long as possible in order to encourage the correct swing path of the golf club, and you must keep the shoulders and the arms tightly held as a compact one piece unit - if you do not, it means that you are lifting the arms to the end of the back swing movement.

During the back swing movement I try to keep the hips centralised over the centre of my stance as they rotate/pivot whilst keeping the heel of the left foot firmly on the ground thus building up the torsion of the muscles to their maximum.
(In order to perform a fuller rotation of the compact upper body unit, I must also twist the upper torso to its maximum. (See Video)

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

In addition to keeping the heel of the left foot firmly on the ground, I also 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 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.

But importantly, as I reach the end of the back swing movement I ensure that the left thumb is under the golf club.

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

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.

You must keep the shoulders and the arms held very tightly together as the very compact upper body rotates around the central core of the spine, thus moving the arms in complete synchronisation with the movement of the shoulders to the absolute 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 triangular shape of the upper body unit to disintegrate and therefore allowing the arms to move independently of the shoulders.

( I can assure you that you cannot hold the shoulders and the arms too tightly together as you perform the golf swing movement.)

And finally, another major fault is to perform the golf swing too quickly -- you must maintain the swing at a steady and even tempo from the moment you begin the back swing movement, continue with this even tempo right through the back swing movement and then throughout the down swing movement and into the follow through movement.

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

Therefore as soon the shoulders reach the absolute end of the back swing movement, they are held in this position for as long as possible whilst the ball of the left foot is pressed to the ground and the hips are simultaneously forced to rotate /pivot towards the target area, thus initiating the down swing movement.

A fraction of a second after the hips begin to rotate/pivot towards the target area, I allow the the lower back muscles to assist the movement of the hips in order to force the shoulder/arms-unit to rotate around the central core of the spine, thus automatically rotating the shoulders back to the parallel to the target line.

Therefore once the movement of the hips take control of the movement of the shoulder/arms-unit it must remain in over-all control whilst the lower back muscles are simply used to add a small source of supplementary power.

However as the shoulders rotate back to the original address position, the inertia effect will initially force the arms to lag behind the rotational movement of the shoulders, but almost as soon as the shoulders begin to rotate back to the parallel to the target line the left shoulder muscles pull the passive arms/golf club into the contact area.

Therefore my main concentration during the down swing movement is on timing the movement so that the club head makes contact with the ball at the precise moment the shoulders are parallel to the target line but as soon as the club head makes contact with the ball, the muscles of the left shoulder to pull the passive arms/golf club through the contact area.

Importantly, I ensure that I continue to pull the passive arms/golf club right through to the end of the golf swing movement thus ensuring that a full follow through movement is performed.

However it is absolutely vital that you focus your eyes on the back section of the golf ball as the club head is flailed into the contact area, so that you literally see the club head make contact with the ball.

Whilst these actions occur, the head must continue to be held so that the left eye remains slightly behind the ball, the head must remain in the Fixed frontal condition and the upper body angles must be maintained so that the right shoulder will simultaneously rotate under the chin as the arms interact and thereby increasing the accuracy of the shot.

Do not try to "HIT" the ball, simply use the power of the hips to create a rotational movement of the shoulder/arms unit in order to swing the club head into and through the contact area at a steady tempo whilst the lower back muscles are used sparingly as a supplementary source of power.

However during the down swing movement the passive arms/golf club will be moving at a very high speed compared to the rotational movement of the shoulders, thus allowing the muscles of the left shoulder to pull the passive arms/golf club and through the contact area whilst the shoulders are Parallel to the Target Line.

I force myself to keep the head positioned so that the left eye remains slightly behind the ball position and ensures that the club head swings past the point on the ground that the left eye is directly above, before the club head strikes the ball., I also force myself to hold the head in the Fixed Frontal condition until the head is forced to rotate away from this position by the rotational movement of the shoulders.

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.

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 the right arm is straightening, the whole body must also 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.

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