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.