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In the past you have probably heard me discuss the 5 Cornerstones of a good golfswing and how they are all interconnected. In this post I want to talk for a moment about the 5th cornerstone that I call “Relaxation”.

Now to most of you relaxation may sounds like I’m saying no effort and totally limp. Although I do believe a feeling of limp can lead to better understanding of what it means to be relaxed, I am not advocating that there should be no effort at all. Instead relaxation simply means applying effort effectively and without observable tension.

So what does it mean to apply effort effectively? Well simply it means to apply force along the path of least resistance and of the greatest mechanical advantage. A wonderful illustration of that would be pushing a car. If you get out and push the car from behind, you are pushing it along the path of least resistance. You are pushing it in the direction that the wheels of the car dictate. However if you get out of the car and start trying to push the car sideways from the driver’s side door, you will expend a ton of effort and get no movement at all in return. Let me explain how this applies to the golf swing.

Since we address the ball from the side and not directly above it, we must swing the club on an angled plane. Simply put, an angled plane just means we don’t swing straight up and down, nor do we swing it flatly along the ground. We swing the club up over our shoulder, then back out away from our body just enough to brush the ground, then back up over our other shoulder. This makes the club’s path follow an angle instead of perfectly vertical or perfectly horizontal. Instead it is somewhere in between.

Once we have established the path we want the club to travel, we must do everything we can to apply force along that path and in no other direction. (Note: The path of the backswing does not HAVE to match the path of the forward swing.) Notice the similarity of this idea to that of pushing the car. Any effort to push the club in any other direction than the angled plane will be wasted effort.

Now ask yourself this question. If you try to apply force to the club that is not in the same direction as where the club is trying to go, what will that do to the pressure you feel in your hands? The answer is you will feel some sort of resistance and added pressure. The ultimate result can be seen in the form of blisters and calluses.

Just think this through for a moment. If your hands were moving at the same rate and not resisting the motion of the club at all, you would not develop any blisters or calluses. Blisters are formed because of something rubbing against your skin. But if you and the club are moving together, there is no force on them to rub!

This leads me to my ultimate point when it comes to relaxation. You will know when you are swinging the club off plane when you feel resistance in your hands. If you pay close attention to what your hands feel during the swing you can begin to diagnose, on your own, what type of compensations you are making.

You should also further your knowledge by noting what part of your body is feeling the most resistance and when during the swing do you feel it. Knowing "what" and "when" will open your eyes to a whole new understanding of your golf swing you have probably never known before. You can begin to experiment with this resistance and begin to understand how it influences the rest of your swing. Try to purposely add tension in selected spots and see what kind of response you get. For example, what happens when you tighten up your right arm just before impact? What happens when you tighten up your left arm just before impact? How about at the top of your backswing? What do all of these spots of tension result in for your shot?

I know that for some of you, this will be difficult because you are not by nature kinesthetic learners. My recommendation to you is to try these exercises with your eyes closed. And YES, do try to close your eyes while hitting a ball. If you do this enough times the anticipation of impact will go away and you will begin to feel what your body is doing, but you must give it time.

I hope these insights will be helpful to you all. They have provided a tremendous wealth of information to me and my students. The greatest benefit to this will be a “self-awareness” of what you are doing. The more self-aware you are, the easier it will be to make corrections without the need of a 3rd party. You are your best teacher. You know how your swing feels and what you are trying to do with it better than anyone else ever could.

Has anyone observed anything new with their tension levels? Some sort of insight they didn't notice before?

Just got to the post but I can already tell it's gonna help.

After watching a video of myself swinging, I noticed two points in my swing where I seem to tense up: the first is just after I've reached the top of my backswing and begin to come back toward the ball; the second, which is much more noticable, occurs right around impact and causes my follow though to plane out rather than rise, if you know what I mean...

I have already been working on the "soft hands", "smooth takeaway", etc. kinds of relaxing, and they've helped. I'll try to put more focus on relaxing throughout the entire swing next time out and let you know what happens.

A hui hou!

P.S. I really like the simplicity of the car analogy. I'm sure I'll use it with friends (with a reference to your post, of course)!

Carry distance for driver increased by 10 to 20 yards!

Since is was a first attempt, I wasn't very consistent: Hit 1/3 of them better than normal, 1/3 the same, and 1/3 worse (mostly because I was messing with the feel of my grip (i.e. loosening it to the point of almost loosing it, just to see how "relaxed" I could get))...

Your advice certainly helped with two things I've pinned down so far:

1. tempo feels natural, like I'm not trying to get the club in "this position" or "that position" (i noticed my swing took longer to complete, too, if that matters)
2. it was a lot easier to feel the weight of the clubhead, and to use that feeling to help keep my balance

I will keep with it, for sure.

Mahalo nui, Ringer!

I am so glad to hear that someone took the time to really test it for themselves and make their own discoveries!

Congratulations on the discovery mate!

Your tempo MUST slow down a bit as your brain realizes in order for you to keep that softness in your hands, you cannot make jerky, quick motions.

Also, the reason for the feel of the club head is simply because you aren't strangling it anymore. When the club wants to move, your fingers can feel it. When you squeeze the club, all your hands can feel is the tightness of your hands on the club.

Nice post Ringer. It would be a better world for golfers, if we could, somehow, start playing this game with a relaxed body and maintain our balance from the beginning. If you can successfully impart this on a beginning golfer, you will save him weeks, months, or even a lifetime of searching for a golf swing.


Bob

Yep. I think the car analogy really provided a concrete example of how working WITH the club can be so beneficial.

I'd heard the advice to stay loose/relax many times before (in my nearly two years of playing consistently), but never REALLY took it to heart, in part--I think--because the idea of "using my strength" always got in the way. I finally realize how them 105 lb. junior golfers are bombing it out there! And the funny thing is it's taught me almost the opposite of what I thought I needed to do to get it the ball there.

Thanks again!

Ringer I enjoyed your article on relaxation!

Keeping my forearms and hands relaxed is one of my swing thoughts as I address the ball.
This allows me to produce more clubhead speed and hit longer shots. If I start adding any tension at all I can see a reduction in distance and accuracy.

I spend a lot of time on the range and being that we are human, there are days when I've went to the range and started out hitting a little off. After stepping back and realizing that I'm feeling more tension in my arms/hands that day, I can refocus on relaxing and the shots start going farther and straighter.

I'll give your eye's closed drill a try next time I'm on the range!

Well I am glad there have been more of you discovering this idea. Indeed it is part of our golfing lexicon to say we should be "relaxed" but there is very little depth of thought put into why or how this works.

At first this may seem counter intuitive, but when you really think about it there is a lot of sense to this.

As any weight lifter can tell you, the way to build muscle is by having resistance. It is the resistance to motion that creates a feeling of "effort". The heavier the weight you try to lift, the more EFFORT you must make to lift it.

Because of this relationship between effort and resistance we often misinterpret what effect the effort we are applying has on the club. The club may be resisting the force we are trying to apply and therefore we get a feeling of more effort. To many of us, this increased feeling of pressure resisting the motion seems like we are increasing the club's speed. Again pointing to the car example, just because we feel like we are applying more effort does not mean we are doing any good to affect the speed of the swing. It only tells us there is some resistance to that effort.

What we should instead be striving for is a feeling like the effort we are applying to the club has very little resistance. When there is little to no resistance to the effort we are applying, our swing will be void of tension and be relaxed.

Great additional point(s), especially this, "Because of this relationship between effort and resistance we often misinterpret what effect the effort we are applying has on the club. The club may be resisting the force we are trying to apply and therefore we get a feeling of more effort. To many of us, this increased feeling of pressure resisting the motion seems like we are increasing the club's speed. Again pointing to the car example, just because we feel like we are applying more effort does not mean we are doing any good to affect the speed of the swing. It only tells us there is some resistance to that effort."

I'm just a little bummed because I went out for the first time since practicing with this in mind and couldn't take what I did on the range to the course. It'll take time, I know, so I hope I don't get so anxious about it that it takes me even longer to make the shift (from range to course).

FYI: I saw a Golf Channel program with three long drivers each providing one piece of advice to take the ball deep. (One guy hit a putter over 250 and another used a 31 inch driver to go farther). These were their responses: Equipment to fit your swing, flexibility/strength, and relaxation.....

It's quite wonderful to hear others who express the idea's I do. I just wonder how many people hear these things and think of them superficially without taking them to heart.

Seriously ask yourself, how many times do you go to the driving range and make a concerted effort to work on relaxation. By and large the majority of golfers I know work on a technical aspect of their swing. Very few work on the very things that will actually help them when they go play. Relaxation, pre-shot routine, balance... etc. These are ideas most people agree are important but it seems very little practice time is actually devoted to them.

I had entered in a few Pepsi Tour events a while back and was finding myself struggling just to stay in the low 70's. I was consistently finishing out of any money. Obviously this is no way to make a living.

I decided to take some time off and focus on one tournament to prepare for. The idea was that it would help me focus on getting my game ready for the event rather than just going through the motions.

My practice rounds during this time were absolutely awful. I would practice any variety of swing concepts and some would work, but when taken to the course they would not. Eventually I got fed up with things to do DURING my swing and instead focus on my preparation for each swing.

It was like a magic light switch that instantly turned my game into a beast. I was shooting under par again consistently and without any real effort. In effect I was "just going through the motions" with my swing. It gave me a sense of real comfort because I could focus on the pre-shot routine, but then just let it fly after that.

I cannot count how many times in my life up to that point I had heard of the importance of a pre-shot routine. It's practically drilled into us, but yet most of us just gloss over it thinking it has no real bearing on our outcome. Startlingly when I started to grade my performances on the course by how well I did my pre-shot routine instead of my score or ball striking, everything suddenly fell into place.

Since then I have found many more of these "heard it before but never really practiced it" concepts. Balance and relax are two of the biggest. We hear it all the time but never fully invest ourselves in trying to understand it. We give up those concepts in favor of the swing flaws our golf instructors or video points out.

Just wanted to provide an update: Went out yesterday and got to get in 7 holes before the sun went down. I was perfect for GIR. First time I've done it for more than four holes!

I was able to stay relaxed and I did get a sense on a few occasions that I was just "going through the motions...."

Pretty unbelievable.

That's great to hear Golf_Hawaii.

1) Equipment
2) Setup
3) Finish
4) Balance
5) Relax

Just remember those 5 cornerstones and make sure you work on at least 1 of them every day you practice.

Just found the thread this morning and like it.

I'm going out later for a solo round on an executive course to work on my iron play. Now I'm going to add a bit of your advice to the practice round.

Thanks Ringer.