A swing-thought that works

Swing-thoughts, sometimes called 'keys' are a popular 'aid' employed by golfers at all levels. Some of the old ones like: 'keep your head down' or 'don't sway' or 'watch the ball' might be somewhat out of favor now, and have been replaced by more sophisticated keys about positions, lag and release, which I won't bother to list. I've tried dozens of them and their effectiveness is, at best, ephemeral, at worst, highly detrimental to one's golf swing.

Having said that, there is one swing thought that is proving to be somewhat effective for me, if not a panacea - there's a lot that can go wrong in a golf swing. The thought is: 'Feel the clubhead'. This thought or key has one particular side-effect that is highly beneficial and a few other side-benefits, as follows.

When I think 'feel the club-head' and try to do it, I realize that I need to soften or loosen my grip on the club. A tight grip removes much of that feel. I'm also coming to the view that an effective golf swing relies on a combination of good hand-eye coordination and good feel. Each of these is essential for club-face control and control of the swing in general.

One of the main side-benefits of better awareness or feel of the club-head is a tendency to swing more freely, or to put it another way, swing with more freedom. The steering impulse, the over-use of the hands, the tightening of muscles, large and small, are all less problematic. Many of the mishits we manage to repeat with regularity, especially those tops and chunks, result from this muscle tightening or over-use of the hands.

Better players have usually learnt to minimize or eliminate the swing ruining conscious swing thoughts that plague many lesser players. To be fair, they have probably practiced and played much more that average players, and grooved their swings, but they have probably also shifted their focus to the target - a very good idea indeed. Their unconscious has taken over control of their actual golf swing and they let it run the show. Meanwhile, they retain an awareness or feel of the club-head, and that is all they need to hit decent golf shots.

There is one other helpful realization I've had of late, and it is a pre-swing key, if you like. The set up, posture, alignment, systematic preparation you could call it, for a golf shot is very important. I've discovered one alignment approach that is proving very helpful to me.

This idea has been attributed to various golfers, including Jack Nicklaus, and is not new. Setting up to the ball simply involves aligning the club-face to the chosen finish position for the ball and aligning the body and club path (hopefully) to create the desired direction and ball-flight characteristics.

I know that research has shown that the club-face is supposed to determine around 85 percent of the direction of the ball, and that is true, but the 15 percent attributable to swing path has a nice, albeit conservative, effect on the ball flight. For example, when I set up with the club-face aligned to say the center of the fairway or green, and I align my body (as a right-hander) slightly to the right and swing in that direction, I usually produce a nice gentle draw. Sometimes the ball stays slightly right, sometimes it hooks more than intended, but that's because old habits like steering or hand manipulations have come into play. Then I need to go back to my previously discussed free, club-head awareness thought.

Anyway, these latest 'thoughts' and strategies are working pretty well for me. A short while ago I was in all sorts of trouble, with no idea what was happening to my swing. I think, I hope, I have finally found a swing-thought that works.

A Swing of My Own

There's no doubt, the swings of the vast majority of tour level players are things of beauty - rhythm, balance and controlled power. Little doubt also that the swings of the average (and worse) weekend warrior are less than elegant. But there are a couple or three factors at work.

The first is probably that the 30 year old pro has been playing golf for 25 years and has groomed (if that's the right word) their swing. The second is that they have hit millions of golf balls and found a way to power their swing in an efficient, balanced and powerful way.

The third reason why the pros look so much better is definitely that are younger, fitter and more flexible than the average Joe or even Jill. Mind you, there are many more elegant, fluid swings in the women club golfers' ranks than in the ranks of the gents.

However, there is no reason that, provided a golfer is not actually injured or seriously unfit, most weekend hackers can't develop a swing that looks and is rhythmic, balanced and controlled. The only barrier to this is trying to copy some position or other, trying to hit too hard, or even making some (inevitably) futile last second correction of a perceived fault in the swing.

The reality is that the unconscious mind (yes, golfers do have minds) is much more powerful than the conscious mind - especially when it comes to repetitive tasks. Your unconscious mind knows how to hit a golf ball. It knows what feels right and what feels wrong. The unconscious will not take kindly to the conscious thoughts (swing thoughts) interfering with the golf swing. Usually this battle ends badly.

When, for example, you throw a ball of paper into a wastepaper bin, your mind, through your eyes, has calculated what is needed (direction and strength of throw). All you have to do is follow that guidance - almost like instinct - to have a decent result. If the calculation is off a little or the throw is not perfect, the result will not be perfect. But if you try consciously to calculate the amount of arm backswing or body movement required, will the result be any better - it will probably be worse.

There is a place in golf for some fundamentals, like grip or alignment, and even club and shot selection, because they do have some bearing on the result of the swing or shot. But focusing on body positions, weight distribution, elbow and wrist position at the top or during the downswing and a score of other bio-mechanical elements, are more likely to be harmful than helpful.

Our unconscious minds know how to hit a golf ball, and what worked in the past and what didn't. We need to give our unconscious the opportunity to work, not be always consciously trying to control our swings.

This means making sure we are swing-thought free when we address the ball, at most thinking 'swing with freedom', allowing our 'sense' of what a good golf swing is like. Unfortunately, most of us have for years been trying to take conscious control, trying all the latest tips or techniques, certain that we can find 'the answer'.

There are the lucky few, either at the top echelon of golfers or at the truly social and relaxed end of the spectrum, who don't have the 'paralysis by analysis' problem. I would like to join these ranks and end up with a swing of my own.