The three amigos

My previous post was about release and before that I had spoken about having a flat left wrist and about not trying to hit too hard. I'm about to try to put those three elements of the golf swing together to form a system or way of tackling the golf swing.

I should mention that I have also given quite a lot of attention to weight placement and balance, but I am more than ever inclined to believe that weight transfer and balance are bi-products of not trying to swing too hard.

What this means is that by taking the time to swing smoothly, the quite natural movements that are involved in any reasonably athletic throwing action take care of the weight transfer and the balance needed for a successful throw or swing.

When throwing or skipping a stone, for example, there is no thinking about where to place the weight, and there is no concern about balance; the whole action just happens. The weight goes back a little as the arm extends backwards and then reverses as the arm fires forward with the release. A smooth, coordinated throw will generally produce the best results, just as a smooth and coordinated swing with a golf club will produce the best results.

The flat front (left for righties) wrist is a more technical issue, because it is something that does require some preparation and a greater awareness of ones actions. The flat front wrist is achieved by taking a neutral grip (explained in many other golf instruction sources), rather than a more radical strong or (an uncommon) weak grip.

This wrist position is only important because it is something that guarantees that the clubface is not open during or at the top of the backswing. A square to slightly closed clubface during the backswing gives the average player a much better chance of having a square to slightly closed clubface at impact. In contrast, an open clubface during the backswing requires a golfer to rotate the arms with perfect timing to achieve the essential square to slightly closed clubface at impact.

I can't go into the crucial swing-plane to clubface relationship that is part of the now well-known ball flight laws, but suffice to say, the average player does not want to open the clubface during the backswing if s/he wants to hit a straight ball. Maintaining a flat front wrist is the key.

Having said that, it is actually important that the arms to roll over in the follow through. This is the release - or the most common type of release. It is not something that many average players will ever have thought about, but it is something that is a big issue for players of quality.

The release is, in fact, something that happens after the ball is struck, but it is something that is in preparation, as it were, in the final stages of the downswing. That is, the player must be accelerating into impact, by extending and straightening both arms towards the target. This is the crucial impact zone. Not much can be manipulated in the tiny fraction of a second before impact, but the golfer must have premeditated their intention to achieve this acceleration for it to occur.

This is a difficult thing to describe, particularly as the release move is so much in this out of control stage of the golf swing. However, it is a crucial third element of an efficient and powerful golf swing and I intend to further investigate it.

So, those are my three amigos: swing smoothly, maintain a flat front wrist and release through the ball. An update will follow soon.