Golf instruction and the triangle

My view is that most golf swing lessons, keys, tips, etc. are describing what happens in the swing, the actions that are observable, while failing to point out that nearly all of these actions are performed unconsciously and must be performed unconsciously because of the short time-frame for a golf swing.

I think what really matters is what we can do consciously to improve our swing plane, weight transfer and, most importantly for a full swing, lag, during the swing.

But this is very difficult to observe and almost impossible for good golfers to describe because they have developed an effective technique over many years of practice (so that the technique has become automatic, ie. unconscious).

The technique I am talking about is the main one that Jimmy Ballard described in his famous (or infamous) 1981 book about connection, ie. the need to.'retain the triangle'.

In simple terms, the triangle in question is the one established with the arms at set up. Most importantly, although the wrists cock, the hands remain passive throughout the swing.

At first, this technique feels awkward and powerless, but in a short time the results become obvious - straighter and longer shots.

The swing thought is effective because it is the most efficient way of ensuring that the golfer does nothing to interfere with the club's acceleration late in the downswing nor does anything that will move the club off plane.

I can't do justice to the theory here, but 'retain the triangle' is the one and only conscious swing thought that, after years of research, has taken my ball striking to a new level. I benefited from Paul Wilson's emphasis on passive arms and body rotation and some of the other theory about the impact zone, but 'connection' and 'retain the triangle' are, in my opinion' the 'holy grail' of golf swing instruction.