Update March 2012

It's been an eventful couple of months since I adopted the Paul Wilson 'Swing Machine Golf' method. My handicap has gone down to 13, I won the club championships for my grade and broke 80 for the first time on my home course.

Some of that is due to the better weather and greater concentration on the short game. However, the PW method of swinging the golf club has given me much greater confidence that I can play what I have long referred to as 'real' golf.

The Wilson method emphasises the lower body as the initiator of the downswing with the arms and hands relegated largely to being devices for connecting the body to the golf club. The overall concept is an emphasis on connected rotation. leg action and powerless arms, based on the rotating cylinder of the Iron Byron. I won't repeat it all now.

Suffice to say I think Wilson's ideas represent an excellent way forward for the average golfer who has been struggling for years to develop a repeating and relatively efficient golf swing. His method might seem simplistic to some, but it actually works because it takes the emphasis away from trying to 'hit' the ball with the arms and hands and relocates the emphasis on proper sequencing of the golf swing.

I hope to continue to develop the technique over the coming months - it's not easy to break old habits - so we shall see where it leads me.