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Beginner Golf Swing Instruction – 5 Easy Steps to Getting a Grasp on the Grip!

September 16, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Students in beginner golf swing instruction programs have a difficult time learning how to correctly grip the club.

With the right instruction however, knowing how to correctly grip the club can be easily understood.

Beginner golf swing instruction programs use different methods and techniques to help their students properly grasp the grip!

Some beginner golf swing instruction programs use check lists and check points to assist their students in properly gripping the club at the address.

In the book, “How to Master the Irons, an Illustrated Guide to Better Golf”, authors Gene Littler and Don Collett provide some beginner golf swing instruction to help guide student golfers through to the correct grip.

They write;

“…check points concerning the grip are:

1. The V formed by the thumb and forefinger of the right hand should be pointing toward your right shoulder.

2. Pressure points of the right hand are the two middle fingers. They are the gripping fingers, while the forefinger and thumb provide the finesse and feel of the grip.

3. Position the right forefinger (as noted above) so that it points directly toward the target and intended line of flight during address.

4. The right-thumb position is on the left side of the shaft—not straight down the shaft.

5. Do not allow more gripping pressure in the right thumb and forefinger than in the two middle fingers. The thumb and forefinger tend to “take over” too soon if they are in firm control of the swing during the backswing and early part of the downswing. They are the agents which help destroy your rhythm and timing, and they forcefully come into play only as the hands enter the hitting area.

All things considered, you must, create the feeling in molding a good grip that the hands are working as one. The closer you can come to this—and it“.

Beginner golf swing instruction programs use different methods and techniques to help their students get a grasp on the grip!

Use Littler and Collett’s checklist as a guide to help you properly grip the golf club.

Check back soon for more beginner golf swing instruction articles and posts to help quickly improve your golf swing and game!

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The Proper Golf Swing – 8 O’ Clock – The Best Time To Begin The Downswing!

September 15, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The true definition of what constitutes a proper golf swing is open to debate.

It is universally accepted however, that to create a proper golf swing pattern, different movements of the body and club must rhythmically come together.

Fusing both the body and club together into one well coordinated and timed mechanism is critical to consistently executing a proper golf swing.

In the book, “The Master Key to Success at Golf” author Leslie King uses the hands as an example to illustrate the important role correct coordination and timing play in executing a proper golf swing.

King writes;

“The club head is released into the delivery when the hands have descended to a point almost level with the ball, at which point the club head is still lagging, POINTING TO EIGHT O’CLOCK, maybe even higher but certainly not lower.

My experience is that pupils generally find this eight o’clock position of the club head one of the most difficult features of the swing to achieve. But how worthwhile it is to strive for. The hallmark of the outstanding player is one who lets the club head go into the same hitting area and maintains the club-line through the ball consistently with each shot. It makes for constant accuracy with the various clubs.

Let me put it this way. Take a fairish golfer with a good-looking shape to their swing but with an unsure delivery. Inferior timing and hand-control cause them to vary the position of the club head as it comes in for release into the hitting area.

There they are with three balls lined up to be struck from the same spot with, say, their seven iron to the green. With their inconsistent delivery the landing area for these three balls is liable to be extensive. They are likely to pitch one on the back of the green, one on the front, and the third probably short. This takes no account of any deviation from the line which may occur.

Work and train yourself to give the hands time and room to bring the club into the eight o’clock position from which you will be poised to make that carpet-beater action at and through the ball.

Now do you see why the shaped swing must be harnessed to a shaped delivery? Let me repeat that the way to train your hands to give you this eight o’clock position is to give them time. Wait for it before you let the power pour into the back of the ball”.

A proper golf swing is the result of successfully fusing together the body and club into a well coordinated and timed mechanism.

Use King’s expert advice to help get the most from your swing pattern!

Check back soon for more articles and posts to help you achieve a proper golf swing!

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Golf Swing Tip – 6 Simple Tips To Drive The Maximum Distance!

September 14, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Golfers are constantly on the search for that elusive golf swing tip holding the hidden secret to longer drives.

Truth be told, one reliable golf swing tip could instantly transform both your drives and your game, saving a golfer years of struggle and frustration.

Great news! Here at www.golfswingstip.com we’ve found not just one such golf swing tip, we’ve uncovered six of them!

Each golf swing tip listed below, implemented alone or collectively, has the power to narrow the gap between the promise and reality – helping golfers drive the ball to the maximum distance and to their fullest potential.

In the book, “The Winning Touch in Golf, A Psychological Approach” author Peter G. Cranford, Ph.D. reveals six such tips to improve the golfers driving game. Each golf swing tip could make all the difference in your golf game!

Cranford writes;

“The first requirement for obtaining greater length is an understanding of the fact that very few golfers attain their maximum effective distance, and that it is not likely that the reader has. Some day we shall have a test that will indicate the maximum distance for each golfer, but until that time we must believe that there is a good bit of difference between how far we do hit and how far we could hit the ball.

The second requirement for distance is exercise of the will to hit. Many golfers do not obtain the distance they should because they do not hit the ball as hard as they can. Somewhere along the way they found a method of hitting the ball more squarely by hitting it easily. This produced the common golfing delusion that you can hit a ball just as far by hitting it easily as you can by hitting it hard. Those who have made this “discovery” or have picked it up on hearsay are convinced that they cannot hit it hard and squarely. They lose the will to hit hard. This becomes a habit, difficult to overcome.

One reason for the difficulty is that as soon as a “soft” hitter begins trying to use more power, they add a variable and begins to miss the ball. To hit a ball easily and squarely is quite different from hitting it hard and squarely. The latter requires a completely new set of attitudes and learning habits. This re-learning produces a temporary slump which will cause many golfers to return to the “soft” hit. In fact, golfers who can hit a shot hard and straight will have difficulty hitting the same shot easily and straight. For power then, the golfer must exercise the will to hit and then learn how to apply it mechanically.

The third important requirement for distance is a proper image of how the ball should behave in flight. The best trajectory has an angle of 11 degrees. Many golfers go for years sacrificing distance because they accept a trajectory that varies greatly from this angle. Even worse, many become reconciled to a high cut shot, the greatest distance-killer known to man after the outright dub or shank.

The fourth requirement for gaining distance is avoidance of the attempt to get distance with straightness in a piecemeal fashion. One golfer says, “First, I will learn to hit it straight and then I will hit it hard.” A second golfer says, “First, I will learn to hit it hard, then I will learn to hit it straight.” Of the two, the second is more apt to eventually wind up with a long straight shot. But even this method can be improved upon. A third golfer who concentrates from the beginning on the long and straight shot will come out soonest with the longest straight drive. This involves the psychological principle of learning by wholes rather than parts—a method which is generally advantageous.

Golfers who concentrate first on learning to hit hard or to hit straight are both in danger of having their game disintegrate when they try to put the two pieces together. This will occur because old tricks of timing will have to undergo readjustment.

The club will be moving faster or slower. Old muscles will be given new tasks. The whole natural feel is changed, arousing anxiety. This mental conflict is sufficient to demoralize learning. Slumps and discouragement generally follow, and the golfer tends to return to old inefficient ways, blocking long range improvement. Out of all this have grown the well known observations, “They hit it a mile, but you never can tell where it’s going,” and “They hit it straight, but they just won’t hit the ball.”

The fifth requirement for probable additional yardage is experimentation with club-head weight, club weight, length of shaft, and stiffness of shaft. No formal research has been done in this area that I know of. I have done some experimenting and have been able to lengthen my tee shot some twenty yards by the use of shafts which have varied from 46 to 50 inches, and which, peculiarly enough, have given me greater accuracy.

There is a shaft length and club weight which is just right for each individual golfer. This variation is much greater than it is generally considered to be. A slow but strong swinger, such as I am can get more leverage and hence greater speed with longer shafts. A very fast but weak swinger would be at the other extreme and could do better with shorter and lighter clubs.

The sixth requirement for distance is a type of ball that suits one’s swing. Not everyone can get maximum distance out of the high-pressure balls. Also for winter play, it is an advantage to use a ball-warmer. A ball travels best at 87 degrees. At 40-50 degrees, a ball will be appreciably shorter. Finally, there is an advantage in using a new ball, and one with a record of uniform compression. The advantage may be only a few yards per shot, but this advantage is multiplied by two on long holes“.

Just one solid golf swing tip could totally transform your driving and propel your golf game forward!

Use Cranford’s professional advice and tips to help you drive to your fullest potential.

Check back soon for more golf swing tip articles and posts!

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Golf Swing Mechanics – Elbow Your Way To A Winning Swing!

September 13, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Many golfers intensely examine any and all of the golf swing mechanics relating to the hands, hips and feet.

Some golfers however, fail to properly consider the right elbow and its important contribution to sound golf swing mechanics.

Correct placement and function of the right elbow is crucial to maintaining balance, hand position and power. All these are the goal of solid golf swing mechanics.

In his book, “Golf Can Be an Easy Game”, author Joe Novak describes in greater detail the role of the right elbow and its place in winning golf swing mechanics.

Novak writes;

“…if the right elbow is locked tight against the right side on the backswing, a whirling, twisting body turn must result. Of course, from such a back-swing there is bound to be that all too early hit with the right hand, which will throw the club to the outside of the line of flight and only an outside-in hit can be executed.

A majority opinion in golf is that the right elbow should be tucked in close to the right side as the backswing is made. In many cases pupils have been asked to place a handkerchief on their right side and told to hold it there by pressing their right elbow against it. The players are then asked to prevent the handkerchief from falling out during the swing.

Such practice tightens and tenses the player body-wise, and forces them into an excessive body turn.

In all golf swings done correctly the left knee kicks straight forward and as this is done the right elbow kicks straight back, all of which provides a very balanced position. As the right elbow kicks back it naturally bends and the elbow goes free of the body—in fact, it is this bending of the elbow and the contraction of the right arm that actually raises the club to the top of the swing so naturally.

This act of letting the right elbow go free on the back-swing is of great value in ultimately developing the proper hitting position of the hands at the time of impact with the ball.

With the right elbow going free and away from the body on the backswing, it becomes possible for the right elbow to drop straight down as the downswing starts. This permits the right hand to remain on an inside position on the downswing, and from this inside position, the right hand creates a strong base against which the left hand and left arm can pull the club into the ball. This combination of the right hand being on the inside as the hands come into the hitting area helps to naturally produce a powerful one-two action of the hands as the ball is contacted. As a result, the natural hit from the inside ability that has been so strongly and properly urged throughout the years occurs quite readily. This is, of course, the hand action that all big hitters in golf acquire; in fact, it is the only way for the hands to work“.

Correct use of the elbow is essential to performing sound golf swing mechanics

Use Novak’s expert advice to properly position the right elbow and get the most out of your swing pattern!

Check back soon for more tips and posts to help improve your golf swing mechanics!

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Improve Golf Swing – Using “Reverse” To Put Drive Back Into Your Swing!

September 12, 2010 by Leave a Comment

In their efforts to improve golf swing performance, many golfers dissect the golf swing into separate phases and components.

Though most of the swing pattern can be divided into generally defined phases, there are some hidden, local movements which do not fit neatly into these groupings. One such phase is the reverse.

To improve golf swing performance golfers need to understand the reverse and its role in a successful swing pattern.

The reverse is the point of the swing which shapes both movement and flow. Done incorrectly the reverse will destroy any golfers chance to improve golf swing performance.

In his book, “On Learning Golf”, author Percy Boomer offers some expert advice to help golfers improve golf swing performance. He eloquently explains the reverse in greater detail.

Boomer writes;

“Now let me describe an important little local movement hidden in this part of the swing—the reverse. The reverse is the part of the swing in which the club head is thrown over and pulled down. It requires a special name because it has a special feel, a feel curiously detached from that of the rest of the swing. We have our main feel of control and power down in our nether regions, but at the moment of reverse we are conscious of something happening up above, which is not in accordance with what we are doing down below.

What happens at the reverse is that the club head-having so far to go—takes longer to get to the end of its journey back than does the body, the turn of which is soon exhausted. So before the club head has arrived, the body has begun to come back. As to check the return body movement, or to check the completion of the club head’s travel, would create an undesirable pause in the flow, we let them go on, and the club finds itself behind the body movement both in time and in position. This is as it should be.

When we are told to allow our wrists free play at the summit of the swing, it is so that we shall not break up—by introducing muscular hand force—the flow of movement which we have intentionally set up in the reverse region.

The feel in this region is that the club head is still going back when our force center begins to pull forward. The wrists do not break at a given point; their break is a retarded action set up to delay the club head and yet to keep the movement smooth. The swing is a continuous flow of movement, and we destroy its continuous character if we divide it arbitrarily into two parts—”up swing” and “down swing.” There is no up swing and no down swing; there is the swing complete. For the first three feet back from the ball we are “all together,” but after that the club head—owing to the longer path it must take—loses ground, which it only catches up at the moment of impact with the ball. It will catch up then, even if you try to prevent it, and the further it has lagged behind, the faster it must travel to catch up.

So far in this chapter we have been concerned in analyzing the local feels which occur in the course of the swing, but this is only because, like the musician, the golfer has to decompose a piece before they can play it. But the feel at golf is a transitory one, and soon these transitory local feels blend into the feel of the swing as a whole”.

Improve golf swing performance by mastering the reverse!

Try implementing Boomer’s advice into your golf swing practice routine.

Check back soon for more posts and tips to improve golf swing performance!

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Beginner Golf Swing Instruction – Properly Addressing the Address!

September 11, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Beginner golf swing instruction programs teach their student golfers the importance of correctly addressing the ball.

Beginner golf swing instruction programs know the basic principle of swing mechanics – initiating a swing from an improper address position results in a faulty golf swing pattern.

Some student golfers struggle to learn the various stances of address and how/when to apply them properly.

Beginner golf swing instruction programs make a sincere effort to simplify this potentially confusing topic for their students.

In the book, “How to Master the Irons, an Illustrated Guide to Better Golf”, authors Gene Littler and Don Collett provide some beginner golf swing instruction on the address and its various stances.

They write;

“The more skilled a player becomes, the more they realize the importance of aligning themselves properly with the ball. This technique involves more than just stepping up to the ball and hitting it down the fairway or toward a distant green. It involves knowing how to address the ball and where to address it in relationship to the stance and the direction in which they are aiming. In the fundamental sense of the word, we refer to the basic body position over the ball as the address. Within the framework of the address come the basic stances, or foot positions, we use for hitting various shots.

The Address

Squaring up to the ball is an important feature of a good golfer’s swing, and it simply means your feet, hips, and shoulders should be square, or parallel to the line of flight. It is a basic tenet of golf that if you are out of position at the address you will be out of position during the swing. It is important, therefore, to practice setting up to the ball properly so that it becomes an automatic procedure. You will then be able to concentrate fully on hitting the shot without having to worry about where it is going.

The Stances

THE SQUARE STANCE. Although there are 14 different positions for the feet, or as many as there are clubs in the bag, there are only three basic stances: the square, open, and closed. In the square stance the feet are positioned on a line which should parallel the intended line of flight. The ball is between the feet and on a line slightly left of center. The weight is equally distributed. The hands are positioned ahead of the ball so that the shaft of the club and the inside line of the left arm form a straight line from the shoulder to the clubface.

The square position permits a free, full shoulder turn and is recommended for hitting the medium irons, the four, five, and six. The only modification I make in each iron is in the position of my right foot. For a five-iron, my feet are about the width of my shoulders. I widen my right foot for a four-iron about an inch, and narrow it an inch for the six-iron in relation to my five-iron stance.

Whatever stance you take, always remember to be comfortable, yet firmly set up over the ball.

THE CLOSED STANCE. This is the power stance used for hitting the long irons and wood shots. In this stance, the right foot is withdrawn from the line of flight, permitting a fuller body turn than the other stances. The ball is positioned about two inches inside the left heel, and the hands are directly over the ball. Weight is evenly distributed between the feet.

THE OPEN STANCE. In the open stance your left foot is withdrawn slightly from the line of flight. This tends to “open” the entire left side toward the hole, particularly the hips, which initiate the downswing. The weight is about 60 per cent on the left side and 40 per cent on the right side. This allows the weight to become more centered on the back-swing rather than on the right side as in fuller shots. Less physical effort is thus required in shifting the weight to the left side on the downswing. In setting up on the ball, position the hands so they are ahead of the ball, which is centered midway between the feet. This stance is recommended for the short irons and all pitch shots and chip shots“.

Beginner golf swing instruction programs know the important role a proper address plays in a winning swing pattern.

Try incorporating Littler and Collett’s expert advice on address positions and their various stances into your next practice session.

Check back soon for more beginner golf swing instruction articles and posts to help quickly improve your golf swing and game!

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Proper Golf Swing – 2 Actions That Destroy a Proper Golf Swing!

September 10, 2010 by Leave a Comment

A proper golf swing requires the correct initiation of the downswing phase of the swing pattern.

Many golfers perform two fatal movements when beginning the downswing phase – taking the club back inside the line and keeping the club-head close to the ground.

Both these actions rob the golfer of any chance to execute a proper golf swing.

Understanding exactly how these two movements destroy a proper golf swing may help golfers more effectively avoid them.

In the book, “The Master Key to Success at Golf” author Leslie King explains in greater detail the negative consequences these two actions have on a proper golf swing.

King writes;

“What is of the utmost importance is achieving a smooth and correct start to the backswing, and straight away I want to warn you against those two misleading pieces of oft-repeated advice which you may have heard and to which I referred in my opening chapter.

I say most emphatically you do NOT take the club back inside the line; you do NOT concentrate on keeping the club head close to the ground in the initial stage of the backswing.

Let me explain. If you take the club back inside the line with the hands you either produce a flat concave plane or cramp the backswing. This results in a loop at the top of the swing which throws the club head outside the line on its way to the ball. As you will see, the correct turn of the body must bring the club head back inside without a conscious effort to ensure it. And the extended left arm will give full width to the movement.

A deliberate endeavor to keep the club head low and close to the ground in the initial stage of the backswing is almost certain to have the effect of bringing the left shoulder too far down and collapsing the left side, two evils which we want to avoid at all costs. The correct body-action, incorporating a free smooth turn of the shoulders can only be accomplished by keeping the left shoulder UP, not down.

I want to straighten out these two dangerous misconceptions before detailing the correct backswing“.

A proper golf swing involves the correct initiation of the backswing phase of the swing pattern.

Try implementing King’s expert advice to help avoid these destructive actions and improve proper golf swing performance!

Check back soon for more articles and posts to help you achieve a proper golf swing!

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