The Natural Golf Swing (17 page)

You can do this drill with a club, as illustrated, or without one. If you haven’t got a club handy, place your hands on your hips. Turn your body to face
the target. Adjust the position of the left foot until you find a location where you run into a resistance in the left knee and hip which stops your body in a position facing the target. Your right foot will be vertical while your entire body – knees, hips, shoulders, and head – faces the target.

Your objective is to transfer weight from a fifty-fifty distribution at the starting position to one hundred per cent of the body weight on the front foot at the finishing position.

Notice these elements while practising this drill: the slide of your right foot forward; the bend in the right leg to accommodate the weight transfer; the position of the right knee during the finishing position; and the position in which you find you must place your left foot to finish flat on the foot with a hundred per cent of your weight transferred there.

This drill is designed to eliminate any unnecessary motion in the hands and wrists during the swing motion. It will confirm in your mind that you need only transfer weight to move the clubhead. You will see that the blade angle does remain constant and stable. The drill will establish the fact that you can achieve clubhead control as long as you leave the clubhead alone. Confidence in the clubhead position during the swing breeds the feeling that you can swing freely through the ball toward the target.

Assume the starting position with a golf club in hand. Transfer weight toward your right foot while noticing the clubhead’s movement. Continue to transfer weight until the clubhead has moved to shoulder height on the backswing. Allow your hands and wrists to remain passive; that is, let them travel as guided by the lower body motion.

Now transfer weight from the right foot to the left foot until the clubhead has moved to shoulder height on the throughswing. Allow the hands and wrists to remain passive. The feet and legs have moved the clubhead to the desired position. The entire body – knees, hips, chest, shoulders, and head – should be facing the target.

This drill is designed to eliminate any unnecessary rotation of the arms during the swing motion.

Assume the starting form as in the “passive hands” drill. This time move the clubhead to waist height on the backswing, keeping the hands and wrists inactive, or passive. The toe of the club should point skyward. Notice that the means of moving the clubhead was a transfer of weight.

Now transfer the weight and thereby move the clubhead to waist height on the followthrough. Once again, the toe of the club should be facing skyward.

You should be aware of the two weight transfers, the legs and the foot – the footwork – being the means of moving the golf club.

Repeat the “passive hands” drill while maintaining the natural extension of the left arm as in the starting position on the backswing. Remember that the clubhead only travels to shoulder-height.

Now transfer weight to move the clubhead to shoulder-height on the followthrough. Maintain the natural extension of the right arm, as in the starting form.

Notice that the right elbow folds automatically on the backswing, while the left elbow folds automatically on the followthrough; the hands and wrists remain passive.

This drill will teach you that there is plenty of room for the shoulders to move as long as you maintain the posture you were in at address.

Place an object such as a pencil between your teeth. Point the pencil in the direction of the ball location or the tee.

Notice the clearance or space between the pencil, the shoulders, and the chin.

Make a swing motion. If the shoulders remain relaxed – that is, hanging naturally – with the head up, the pencil will not interfere with the shoulders, arms, or the chin during the motion. The pencil should be pointing at the target at the completion of the swing motion.

We have found a location for the left foot somewhere outside the left shoulder so that we will arrive at the finishing position in balance with a hundred per cent of our weight on our left side. The location of the left foot is fixed. It’s the same for all shots.

Since the ball is stationary, we set the club to the ball and locate ourselves around the club. The ball and the club become a unit. Because we are in a balanced form with our arms hanging symmetrically from our body and the shaft running straight up and down, bisecting the body, we find that the ball is just ahead of the midway point in our stance for a five-iron shot. The ball location relative to the left foot is the same every time. We move the right foot up and down depending on the width of stance required for each club. The result is that as the club gets longer – a two-iron, for example, rather than a five-iron – the ball will be further ahead of the midpoint in your stance because you have moved your right foot back. But its location relative to your left foot will not have changed.

Now we look for the proper distance to stand from the ball. This will differ for every golfer depending upon flexibility. Simply move your body toward or away from the ball until you have found the location where you can make solid contact.

It might appear that this discussion repeats the section on ball location from chapter five, The Starting Form. But it’s important that you understand how to place yourself relative to the ball. Practise the proper position on the range and when you have a spare minute or two on the course.

T
HE GOLF SWING
can and should be simple. Executed properly, it is relaxing while physically challenging, pleasurable while mentally stimulating.

Every person can play to his potential if he understands the concept of the natural swing motion. The task is to then apply the knowledge in practice in order to develop a repeating, efficient swing. The learning process is as follows: you study the theory of the natural swing motion so that you can understand the fundamentals. As you practise the fundamentals that relate to the theory, you begin to trust yourself. You begin to let go and become more secure because you are working from a logical base. You then begin to enjoy golf much more. You realize that the game does not have to be complicated.

Change is difficult for many people. I know that. We all hang on to what we have learned. But I hope you now understand the concept of the natural golf swing. This understanding, and your ability to evaluate the starting and finishing forms, will enable you to improve day after day. You will find that the deeper your understanding, the
more likely it is that your old habits will fall away. You won’t need them anymore. You are now capable of rationally assessing any of your misconceptions about the swing.

I don’t want to underestimate the difficulty of change. This is why I ask that you let yourself be freed of the past
gradually
. Remember that you have probably played for years going from one tip to another. Your tendency, no doubt, is to give up on a new tip as soon as you hit a bad shot. You may find that you have the same tendency here. But remember: change that lasts takes time.