Implementation: a question of style

Watching Rory McIlroy's golf swing during the Open recently is almost enough to put anyone off their game. I mean the game that he and his colleagues play is so far removed from the pathetic efforts of many a club and social golfer.

Having said that, and following on from my previous post, there might just be a way forward, and I cite two observations to make the point.

Firstly, I recall playing occasionally with a septuagenarian golfer during my first couple of years of playing regular golf, some 15 years ago. What struck me about his golf swing was the fluency and ease of his swing. He had a great deal of style, though naturally without the explosive power of the young tour players. Consequently, he did not hit the ball all that far, but he did hit it far enough and also very straight. He was a very consistent ball striker and had an excellent short game to boot.

I think we can learn something from this, and I'm going to have to disagree with Percy Boomer (the great golf teacher from the first half of the twentieth century) in arguing as follows.

Style does matter. This is contrary to what Percy Boomer said that learning golf's fundamentals. And, looking at the swings of many golf professionals, it would be easy to agree with Percy; there are many types or styles of swing out there. Of course, it is also true that some of the top professionals (Scott, McIlroy and Rose) have very stylish and very efficient and powerful swings.

My argument is that style is closely linked to some of what I consider to be the often neglected true fundamentals of good golf: excellent balance combined with an effortless and unhurried rhythm, creating good sequencing or timing. Therefore, I am saying that in attempting to achieve excellent balance and rhythm, one is simultaneously likely to be developing a pleasing and stylish swing.

I was once complimented on having an easy swing, which I did not take seriously at the time, but I am now becoming convinced that I have wasted far too much time on swing mechanics and far too little time on re-creating the easy and smooth swing I presumably once had.

Recently, as mentioned in my previous blog, I spoke about grip pressure and about achieving a balanced swing. To that, I think I should add the goal of swinging well within oneself, much like my seventy plus year-old colleague did all those years ago.

I recently read that one of the failings of many average golfers when hitting driver was striving for their maximum distance - and consequently tightening their grip, wrists, arms and shoulders - and so actually failing to achieve either distance or, more importantly, accuracy. The cure suggested was to pick an area of fairway well within reach and aim for that, much like the common practice of picking a landing spot for chips and pitches.

Now I'm not sure any of my golfing colleagues will have a bar of this idea, but I think it has merit, and I will try in my next game to implement it, together with my recent resolutions about grip loosening and swinging through to a balanced finish.

Which brings me to another observation about the value of emulating the style of better golfers. It relates to bunker play.

This might sound a bit strange, but tour and good golfers, play bunker shots quite differently from the average golfer. They know that, for most normal bunker shots, it is important to take a full and complete swing (while using the bounce of the sand-wedge). Most average golfers think that extricating themselves from a bunker is an exercise in force and fury, usually with a chopping action and a great deal of wishful thinking.

On the contrary, good players know that a full, flowing swing, taking a sliver of sand (less or more depending on the distance and/or spin required) is the only consistent way of playing bunker shots. This is the same kind of effortless and rhythmic swing that works with all full golf shots. All that's required is a slight lowering of the swing arc by taking a wider stance and bending the knees a little more than usual.

The point is that until one learns this style of bunker play, it is extremely difficult to be an effective bunker shot player. It is a technique, to be sure, but it requires the adoption of a certain kind of free and flowing style of shot that is absent in most golfers' games.

Whether one accepts the style argument or not, I know that my years of frustration in bunkers was overcome when I realised that I had to be bold and take a full and free swing in bunkers. In a sense, I had to look like a good golfer to be one.

Now, I'm hoping that I can translate this realisation about bunker play to the other full shots in golf. That is, I hope I can work towards implementing a better golf swing by developing a better looking swing.

Anyway, to summarise my intentions, I'll be trying to grip the club more loosely (thereby freeing up my wrists and arms as Paul Wilson suggests), while swinging smoothly and easily as I can through (and not at) the ball to a full and hopefully more stylish finish. I'm going to have to trust that the mechanics of swing plane, weight transfer, release, etc, etc, will take care of themselves.

This is a somewhat different approach to be sure; it will be interesting to see how it goes.