New Year's resolutions

The year is almost over and the club championships loom large a few weeks into the new year. What better time to completely change my standard shot shape and my putting grip.

Shot shape, often random in my case, is an important consideration for anyone who is serious about golf. Many weekend golfers will be happy with their regulation fade, but some fanatics like yours truly are always looking for something better - longer, more consistent, more aesthetically pleasing, etc. etc.

My NY resolution re shot shape goal is to develop a consistent draw with all but the shorter pitch shots. For some reason, I am now more often hitting draws with my fairway woods, while I tend to hit drivers straight and fade my irons. I figure this is not a recipe for consistency, for me at any rate.

I know all the theory on hitting draws, and I know all about the dangers of developing disastrous hooks, including the ugliest of snap hooks. My feeling is that some of these really bad shots come out of the wrist rolling, body turning moves that I sometimes use to minimise fades. Of course, a draw set up and swing combined with excessive wrist rolling will produce the massive hooks that kill a round.

My plan therefore is to develop an alignment and swing (hopefully more fluid and relaxed) that will produce the kind of draw I'm looking for. Hitting hard and holding on tight will not do the job. Basically, I want to swing more easily without losing distance, which is why a controlled draw is where I think my future golfing success will come from.

As for alignment, I know how crucial this is. The best and simplest advice I've seen on this is to a) align the club face slightly right of the actual target (say align the club face to one o'clock) and b) feel like you are swinging to about two o'clock. These alignments are only approximations and will vary with the type and length of shot. But basically the idea is that the ball will start at 90 degrees to the club face alignment and the slightly more inside-out swing plane will put the necessary spin on the ball - without any need to manipulate the hands.

There's nothing really new or difficult in this, it's really just a matter of fine tuning. Though having said that, there are probably plenty of social or weekend golfers who've never really thought about alignment in this way.

By the way, I read in lots of places about how one should 'tee it high'. I think that's Ok for pros and people who play a lot of golf. But for consistency sake, at the expense of some hang time and distance, I think the ball should be teed low-ish with the driver (and lower with other woods). A ball teed high requires a different swing and body angle that many golfers will struggle to find. I don't think there's anything wrong with a low running drive in all but the wettest of conditions or when there's a big carry required off the tee.

My second NY resolution relates to putting.

For some months I've been struggling with my putting. I'm not sure if I'm developing the yips, as my dad did at about my age, but my short putts (1 to 3 metres) are just not going in like they used to.

Therefore, I've decided I need to get my wrists out of the equation. And to do this I'm going to give left hand low a go (I'm right handed).

I've tried this a few times, but without success. It has always felt slightly awkward, especially on the longer putts, and really no more successful with the shorter putts. However, I've done some research and found a left hand low grip that I think will work for me.

This grip that I've found links the hands very effectively while also being a little less extreme in the way the shoulders tilt. Previously, I've felt so low on the left that I could no longer hit through the ball or make consistent ball contact, which affected all putts, but especially the medium to longer range putts.

The grip I've discovered overlaps the middle finger of the right hand with the little finger of the left hand, with the right forefinger resting on top of the other left hand fingers. This might be hard to visualise, but in effect the hands are linked and the left hand is not quite as low as I've tried previously.

The other key to this way of putting is to use more shoulder rocking than wrist breaking. That is the power in the stroke will come from the shoulders, not the hands. I'm hoping that this grip and shoulder action will provide me with a more consistent, less yippy, stroke.

So that's it, two NY resolutions to add to my fundamental of playing off the front foot. It should be an interesting ride.

Final fundamental thought for 2014

I'm very excited about the end of the golfing year, even though my results were at times ordinary, but in which I've basically held my own.

Part of my excitement is because after about eight years I'm getting some new clubs, actually fitted by an expert. Whether this makes any difference to my scoring is debatable, given that my short game has often been very ordinary. Nevertheless, I'm really looking forward to giving the new clubs an outing.

On the technical side of things, I've done some re-thinking about the thorny question (thorny in my view) of what should be regarded as the FUNDAMENTALS of the golf swing.

In fact, I've come to the view that there really is only ONE fundamental. That is, one thing that is characteristic of all good golf swings.

That fundamental is that all shots, except perhaps for putts and some 'trick' shots from extreme lies, must be played with the weight almost fully on the FRONT FOOT. By front foot I mean, of course, front leg, front side, forward - front foot is just a convenient term often used in golf.

Previously, I have touted two other supposed fundamentals of the golf swing, which I now have to exclude. These were (a) no sway and (b) don't try to hit too hard.

Regarding sway, this is something that some golfers can get away with because they have good timing, or good hand-eye coordination, and can get their weight back to their front foot consistently. I would, of course, strongly advocate that the average golfer does not sway, but 'no sway' is not a fundamental.

Hitting too hard is a tricky one. I think there are very few players who can consistently go really hard at the ball and get away with it most of the time. There are a few pros who seem to hit full out all the time, but most pros and other good players usually keep a bit in reserve in the interests of good timing and consistency. Given that deceleration is often a bigger danger than trying to hit too hard, I don't think that, except perhaps for rank beginners, you can call not hitting too hard a fundamental.

There are many other technical aspects of the golf swing that are regularly touted as crucial - fundamentals, in fact. These elements include things like grip, stance, shoulder turn, lag, release, etc, etc,. But all of these are negotiable; there are many ways to grip the club, stand, turn and thus swing a golf club successfully.

Some of these pieces of instruction work for some golfers, some work for others. Some of these technical elements work some of the time, but few of them have any lasting affect on a golfer's overall golfing ability.

I'm going to suggest that by attending to my new single fundamental, most if not all golfers will automatically improve on many of the less than perfect aspects of their golf swing.

By concentrating on getting onto the front foot, many golfers' impulse to try to lift the ball into the air with irons and fairway woods will be reduced. This will reduce the incidence of tops and chunks.

By getting onto the front foot, and I include most chips and pitches in this, the average golfer's tendency to decelerate will be reduced. Moving the weight to the front foot will encourage the lower body to turn and move forward and encourage club acceleration; with less jabbing and lifting.

By getting onto the front foot, most golfers will also actually improve their swing plane. It's not a guarantee, but the average golfer will be less likely to hang back and swing over the top.

There are other benefits in my view, but this will do for now.

If you don't believe me on this, have to look at the swings of the great golfers on TV and note how many of them end up on the front foot at the completion of their golf shots. You will see plenty of variations in the style, plenty of differences in technique, but you will see that this is the one constant.

I believe that getting the weight on front foot is THE most important element of the golf swing. And it is my final fundamental thought for 2014.