More rhythm

I've talked about ways to find rhythm previously. But another thought occurs to me and it relates to 'the pause that refreshes'.

In fact, pausing a la Matsuyama, can be a recipe for loss of rhythm. There is a tendency to panic if you stop your swing at the top. Even though the ball is going nowhere until you hit it, you worry that it might and you tense up.

The pause I'm working on now is not really a pause, but more of a reset - of the shoulders. When I get to the top of the backswing all I think about is 'is my left (lead) shoulder turned closed or pointing at about 90 degrees to the target line?' This sometimes requires a minute adjustment at the top and this in turn inserts a minute pause in the action of the swing - even though the club will keep moving, and is actually dropping slightly, before the downswing commences.

This is a kind of pause, without really pausing, but I'm finding it is a useful way to find rhythm in my swing (prevent the dreaded rush to the bottom) and to hit the ball a little better. There's no doubt, the more rhythm the better.