Back to basics - again

Last weekend I had planned to change my grip, takeaway, wrist position, transition, and a few other things, but on Friday I got lucky.

I happened on a website that contained the most detailed, technical, analytical and, I hesitate to say, long-winded golf swing discussion I've ever seen. The material on this site (and I won't name it) was the result of one person's quest to understand and then explain the swing.

Since I've gone through the same kind of search and felt the same kind of urge to discuss what I've learnt, I fully support the effort made. But, to be perfectly honest, much of what this person said, though undoubtedly correct, is of little use to the battling golfer.

The average player, no matter how intelligent or persistent or athletic, cannot absorb so much material, let alone incorporate it into her or his game. The reason is, of course, that too much information will lead to the proverbial paralysis by analysis.

The 'secret', and I use that word advisedly, is to identify the key elements of a good golf swing and put them into practice.

Seeing that website reminded me that a simple approach is what's needed - not more analysis. So, I dropped all my plans and set to work identifying two (and only two) key elements of a good golf swing.

It didn't take long. One look at a good golfer's swing (preferably in slow motion) should be enough to identify what they do and what the average player doesn't do. They are as follows:

1. The good golfer swings on an 'in-square-in' plane. That is, they do not cast or throw the clubhead out and around on the downswing. The way to achieve this swing plane is simple but difficult. The trailing elbow must pass close to the trailing hip pocket on the downswing. Whatever else is done with one's grip, takeaway, backswing, transition, etc. is personal choice. How the trailing elbow finds this position is the challenge. This comes down to persistent practice during which it almost feels like you are practising to be a contortionist. This move has, however, been likened to skipping a stone or a side-underarm pitch, and it is achievable, although it just doesn't feel 'natural' in the golf swing - at first. Believe me, I know!

2. The good golfer also swings with rhythm and balance. This sounds like a 'motherhood statement'. That's obvious, I hear you say. But how many weekend golfers instead swing out of their shoes in the mistaken belief that they will generate more clubhead speed this way? I'd say 80 - 90 percent of us. The simple reality is that clubhead speed (let alone accuracy of contact) comes from the timing that occurs when the club is swung easily and smoothly. Tempos vary, certainly, some people are quick moving, some slow, but good golfers have a rhythm that allows them to stay in balance and hit the ball powerfully and consistently.

The good golf swing comes in many shapes and sizes. Professional and top amateur golfers come in all shapes and sizes. But all good golfers have the above elements to their games - although no. 2 might desert them on their rare bad days. Very few average golfers have ever experienced or retained the feeling of a rhythmic and on-plane golf swing. If they had, they would no longer be destined to stay average.

Thanks to that website I now feel strongly that I need to consign most of my technical golfing knowledge to my brain archives. I'm not going to reject or ignore the fundamentals of a good grip, athletic set up, proper alignment and so forth, but as for the golf swing itself, it's back to basics - again.