Pitfalls

I've now completed five rounds using Paul Wilson's 'Swing Machine Golf' method. That is, for five rounds I have been trying to implement his method for swing the golf club. This doesn't mean I have always succeeded, not at all. It just means I have been trying to:

Coil from the top, and
Uncoil from the bottom.

This is his method in its simplest form. It is all about trying to stop hitting the ball predominantly with the arms and shoulders Wilson wants us to swing with powerless arms and focus on the contribution of the lower body - legs, hips and core - as we turn onto our front foot.

The method is derived from observations of the mechanics of the 'perfect swing machine' - Iron Byron - the golf club and golf ball testing machine invented some years ago by golfers inspired by the great golfer Byron Nelson. The machine has a powered core that rotates and swings a flexible, powerless, arm that is in turn connected via a hinging device to the handle of the golf club.

Wilson's method incorporates three principles that are based on the physical structure of this machine:

Powerless arms
Flexible wrists
Constant forward tilt.

While acknowledging that human beings are not machines and have two arms and two legs to complicate the rotation, Wilson says we can still copy the basic operation of the machine: coil and uncoil, and swing powered by our core, not our arms.

The only trouble is after years of applying power to the golf swing primarily by the use of arms, shoulders and wrists it is very hard to turn these off and rely on rotational (core) speed and powerless arms to swing the golf club.

The good news is that when applied correctly the powerless arms, flexible wrists and constant forward tilt (just like the machine) work absolutely beautifully in producing powerful, consistent and straight shots.

The bad news is that the average golfer (me) will continue to be bombarded by all sorts of tips and theories about how to play golf - many of them sounding perfectly valid and worth a try. The difficulty is in resisting these lures and sticking to the simple swing machine method.

So far, Wilson has been accurate in his predictions: several bad rounds, a gradual increase in the number of very good shots and a stabilisation of scoring. But the proof will come after maybe another five rounds when, according to Wilson, greater consistency and better scores should start to emerge.

I like the swing machine method because it is an integrated whole, a unified theory, call it what you will, not just a collection of tips, no matter how good they might be in isolation. Like most golfers I need a method that I can follow, stick to, work on, etc., and that will help me ignore the static or white noise of golfing instruction.