Believe it or not

I've had quite a journey in the search for the 'secret of good golf'. Of course, 'secret' is not really the right word, but the fact is that most amateur golfers will never play to their potential because they ignore (or don't know about) a few fundamental principles of the good golf swing.

The instructional models used by professional golf teachers often talk about fundamentals, but they then proceed to bamboozle the average player with all kinds of technical talk. Often, the student is given perfectly correct (although at times conflicting) instruction, but also very often it fails to get into the mind of the student - particularly the older (not to mention frustrated and under-perfoming) 'weekend or weekday golfer.

The outcome is therefore that there really is no outcome - no change to the way the golfer approaches the game. Sometimes, the student can't absorb the instruction in the first place, and sometimes s/he fairly quickly regresses to their old way of playing. The unconscious mind (muscle memory if you like) is very powerful; it resists conscious instruction as hard as it can - without you even knowing it!

The answer, the secret if you like, is to bypass the unconscious process and its resistance (and the lack of understanding) by creating a method that does not rely on endless repetition or much touted practice drills and which sets up a chain reaction of correct moves that lead to a better golf swing. If you have had numerous lessons, bought bigger and better golf equipment, and basically busted a gut trying to improve, yet your handicap is stagnant, read on.

The model I propose is simple. It starts with the grip, it includes your feet, and it relies on your willingness to use LESS effort. It is as follows:

1. Strengthen your grip, ie. rotate your top hand so that you can see four knuckles. Rotate your bottom hand a little to accommodate this turn, but not too much. It's a feel thing.

2. Keep your feet on the ground when you swing back, and ideally a bit longer on the ground throughout the whole swing (though this is not something to think about too much).

3. Swing more slowly and more easily with soft (or non tense) arms and a light grip.

This is all you need to do to improve your swing (and eventually your whole game) much more than a thousand conventional lessons will achieve. The reasons are:

A strong grip sets up a chain reaction of the correct positions and moves in the golf swing. A strong grip virtually forces the golfer to use their legs and hips more on the downswing. Failing to use more 'body' with a very strong grip will result in pulls and smothers. A strong grip also 'encourages' a golfer to swing on a more inside to out and inside plane, with the trailing elbow tucked automatically close to the trailing hip on the downswing, where it should be (look at any vision of a good golfer's downswing). A strong grip has the added benefit of encouraging the hands to stay ahead of the clubhead, so that the club descends with lag for added power and compression (with iron, obviously, adjustments are needed for woods).

This chain reaction of benefits is then enhanced by achieving greater stability or balance by keeping ones feet on the ground, especially during the backswing. Rolling the feet is OK, but lifting encourages the sway and overswinging that is so destructive in terms of consistent ball striking. The stronger grip means that the swing can be shorter and more compact without loss of power (power is increased in reality). Good ball contact is an essential and often underestimated component of a consistent and competent golf swing.

The third fundamental - swinging more easily and effortlessly - is related to the previous issue of balance and stability, but it is important for a couple of other reasons. Swinging more easily allows the golfer to concentrate on the objectives of that particular stroke, that is, how far am I trying to hit that iron? What part of the fairway do I want to hit with my driver? Etcetera. This is about shot making and awareness of the target. It is a crucial final step in the armoury of the good golfer. You cannot think about these things when you are slugging. And there is an added benefit - less strain on ageing bodies. Injuries are easier to avoid. Enjoyment is multiplied. Isn't that an important?

There it is; my formula for significant improvement in the average golfer's golf swing. Scoring is another matter. You still have to pitch, chip and putt well to really make big inroads into your handicap. There are some fundamentals there too - but I'm still working on them.

Swing easy!

A lot can happen

I've come many miles along the road to understanding the golf swing. Much of the time I've been leading myself, or being led, up the garden path. There is no one method, no secret, no magic key to the good golf swing. There is, however, one 'truth' that I am confident about: we all have to find our own swing.

In the past few weeks since my last blog entry I've made a few decisions and adopted a few techniques that I am going to work on for a few more weeks. I think they might (emphasise the might) provide the answers to the questions I had been posing about my swing, eg. why am I still fading the ball too much on too many occasions?

The first decision I've taken is to work on keeping my right elbow as close as possible to my right pocket or hip on the downswing. This mirrors the position that you see in virtually all professional golf swings. It means that the club has been swung down on an inside plane. It doesn't however guarantee a straight (or draw) ball flight.

So, I decided I needed to address the clubface issue, since it is the prime determinant of the spin that you put on the ball, and hence the main factor in a fade (or draw) ball flight. I decided, with lots of positive and some negative commentary, to go to a 'strong' grip. That is, I rotated my hands (mainly my left hand) clockwise (behind the club) so that my hands are more inclined - almost compelled - to close the clubface at (and before) contact. There are pitfalls in this, so it takes time to get used to the extra body rotation needed to balance the closed face with the swing plane.

Finally, I decided that all my focus on a good rhythm, unhurried backswing and transition, etc. etc. was not really giving me the feeling of effortlessness that I've been looking for. Fortunately, someone, somewhere, mentioned soft arms and light grip. And I mean super soft and light (2 on a scale of 1 to 10) much softer than average for an average player. The results were tremendous. The combination of compact swing plane, closed clubface and soft arms produced, for the first time, the kind of ball flight - a soft draw - that I've been looking for. I also gained quite a bit of distance and excellent ball contact.

It's not over yet. There are bound to be ups and downs, eg. my putting has gone to the dogs, but I'll persist with these three ideas. Let's see where we are in a few weeks. A lot can happen.