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GOLF TIPS

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SYNCHRONISED SWINGER

Keeping the arms, hips and shoulder working together

By Barry Bent

Barry Bent is the PGA Head Professional at Woolooware Golf Club in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire. In 1999 he was the NSW Teacher of the Year and currently coaches a number of PGA Tour Professionals. To book an individual lesson or a clinic for your social club call Barry on (02) 9523 3882.

To make an effective golf swing you not only have to know what to move, but when to move it. One of the toughest aspects of the golf swing for golfers of any level to master is the synchronizing of the movements. What moves first, what moves second and what follows what? Do the shoulders lead the hips or vice versa? And what do the hips lead?

When you look at the golf swing the golf club travels in three directions: 1) up and down; 2) around and around; 3) side to side.

One simple rule of the golf swing is the body creates the roundness, the legs and arms create side-to-side movement and the arms and wrists create the lift. Combine all three correctly and suddenly you have the ideal movement or correct shape of the golf swing.

Let’s have a close look at this “around” direction. A misnomer of the golf swing is that the club falls behind the body because your arms take it there. Really it is your shoulder turn which takes it around.

Swing the club halfway back (so your arms are parallel with the ground) and follow half way through (again so your arms are parallel with the ground). Notice how your arms remain in front of your sternum, not behind your shoulders as is commonly thought.

What happens when you start breaking the rules? Any number of common swing faults. You may cause your spine angle to change; your shoulders may throw the club over the top on the downswing; or your lower body may leave your upper body behind. These are just a few of the common faults.

Remember timing is crucial. It’s also different for beginners and advanced players. For both levels the takeaway is similar, however the advanced player will hold their hip rotation and continue their shoulder rotation creating what is known as torque. The release of this tight coil created by the hips and shoulders is a great source of power.

To help synchronise movements I use the, “4 O’CLOCK TO 8 O’CLOCK ON THE BELT BUCKLE” drill. While it may sound a mouthful I find it gives an understanding of the relationship between the movements of the arms and the body throughout the golf swing.

It is a simple drill which synchronies the upward motion, the rotation and the lateral movement of the swing – i.e. keeping your arms and body in the correct sequence.

Start with the club on the belt buckle, standing upright. In my set-up position this is 6 o’clock in front and 12 o’clock behind.

For all golfers the shoulders and arms turn together for the first part of the takeaway. For a more accomplished golfer or a more powerful swing, feel the right thigh resisting the turning motion of the upper body.

When the hips get to 8 o’clock lift the club off the belt buckle and take it straight up to the shoulder. A better player will hold their hips in this position, creating torque. A beginner may continue to past 8 o’clock with their hip rotation.

The idea for a beginner is to follow the turning of the belt buckle by dropping the arms and club to arrive on the belt buckle at the four o’clock position. When the hips are facing the four o’clock position the more accomplished player will have the club touching between the buckle and the left hip. This results in a later hit.

TAP YOUR WAY TO LOWER SCORES

As a social golfer you have probably heard around the traps the basics about the grip, stance, correct swing etc etc. One thing that is often overlooked is balance.

When golfers have trouble with the motion of the swing, I have noticed that instead of sticking with the basics they tend to get technical and work on really advanced things rather than stick with the basics.

I personally think that if you can start in an athletic and BALANCED starting position with your weight equally distributed between both feet, than you have got a good chance of turning (Not swaying!) the majority of your weight onto your back foot (furthest from the target) at the top of your swing and have your weight working for you instead of against you through the hitting area and finishing with your weight on your front foot (closest to the target) with your back foot standing tall as demonstrated in the photo on the bottom right above.

One of my favourite drills to prescribe for golfers having trouble in this area is to ask them to swing a mid iron, lets say a 7 iron and never use a ball or actually hit the ball at this stage of learning, it is difficult enough just trying to think about the new skill let alone try and hit the ball straight as well. So swinging this seven iron make a swing and at the finish position pose for two seconds and tap your back toe on the grass twice.(for a right handed player your right foot). If you feel a little rushed pose for five seconds and then tap your toe twice.

This is a great drill to get you through the hitting area to the finish position in one flowing motion, it will also encourage you to use the power that you build up during your swing on the ball and not have too much in you at the finish position. As yu can see with this junior he is resting in a balanced finish position.

Next time when you feel like you have lost your balance, make a few swings without a ball using the toe tapping drill and regain your balance and confidence.