golfrewind.com

G'day,

As a hacker of many years before I 'discovered' what swinging a golf club meant, the major problem seemed to be hands and arms acting independently of the rest of my body. One of my first 'aha' moments with the swing was the importance of feeling 'connected' during address. That is, my upper body felt connected to my lower body/centre and my arms felt "connected" to my upper body. As the centre began to rotate away from the ball in the backswing, my upper body, hands/arms also moved in synch.

Now this does not mean that they operate tightly connected in a mechanical way since there are a number of hinges in the swing that must be free to move.....but....they must all move in synch. All naturally gifted golfers have this sense from the beginning and probably do not consider it important enough to pass on to their golf partners, buddies, opponents because it is an unconscious thing with them. But as an ex- and still sometimes- hacker, I believe it is fundamental to the golf swing.

If I feel connected and relaxed, my swing will usually be great! What do you feel about the importance of 'feeling connected' and do you have any ways you ensure this?

I know exactly what you mean, however I think it comes naturally with time. I think I can picture myself (I can't actually feel it as I am sitting here on my computer ) not even thinking about the connectivity really, I think it comes naturally after a few months of duffing away.

However this is just one small, albeit large, part of the thousands of things to worry about when swinging.

One key swing thought only when playing. If you think of 1,000 things when swinging your body will tighten up so bad you wont be able to hit the ball.

My golf instructor said: Save the swing thoughts for the range but on the course think target and let your body swing free. Work with what it gives you for that game and if you have a problem take it to the range after the game.

Yes, any thinking about mechanical things on the course is counterproductive.
I find that awareness is something totally different. If I am relaxed and aware at address of 'connectivity' and of course target, then the swing can flow free.

It is good to see instructors emphasising 'target' as it seems to be the problem that confronts hackers that their focus is on the ball or mechanical things, not the target.

I taught a fifty year old lady yesterday who was 'hacking' on the practice range how to swing freely to the target in ten minutes. She had quite an acceptable swing at the end of it. She said she had been playing for a year, had had a couple of lessons from the pro which made it worse and was ready to give the game away. She looked quite athletic at the finish of the instruction, and thanked me profusely. What do you think the secret was?

Hmm, interesting advice. Maybe I'll try following it, but if I play like I did today and also try only worrying about the target, I'll be in deep rough!

Try grooving your swing without a ball or with hitting tees with a mental target in mind. Feel all the sensations of a swing to the target. Do that until you think you know exactly what to do. Then take that swing to the ball and ignore the ball while swinging to the target. Easier said than done but it is the 'magic solution'. The rest of golf is learning how to execute your practise swing with a ball present. My motto: There is NO HITTING in golf!

That is great advice, although it is a bit obvious to me, since I have full experience with all of that, in terms of taking one of the best looking practice swings on the course, then taking this scrunched up, demented, messed up hack at the ball which I call my "shot".

It seems 'obvious' but very few take it to heart I am afraid, They keep practicing demented messed up shots, doing the same thing and expecting a different result, relating to the ball wanting to hit it rather than focussing on the target or the swing. They even practice this religiously, grooving error after error into their swing. Take it from me. I was you for twenty years until I woke up. The awareness of what you are doing when you get over the ball and why is the 'cure'. And REALLY doing your practice swing when you are at the ball. It is only action that works. The bottom line is usually fear of error. And fear of error is precisely what produces error as the focus goes more and more onto 'hitting the ball properly" and less of swinging through to the target.

But of course there can be a lot of fun, and frustration in hitting demented messed up shots. Whatever turns you on

Now that is good advice. That is literally something I should take with me and tape on my hand! Seriously, thank you so much, I'll try this.

To be honest, I want to make my high school team, but I'm afraid it's too late for this year, as they already started practice a week and a half ago, plus this is my fourth month playing since having picked up my first stick, aka club.

Everyone tells me I have potential, but I don't see it. I don't know what to do, because it's so very discouraging when I duff like 3 shots in a row such as I did today. Just makes me wanna say: and go home.

I feel you can make it onto your team or simply be the best golfer you can be.

Duffing is ok....getting frustrated with it is counter productive isn't it? It is the desire for an outcome or result that causes fear. The best golfers always play 'in the moment'. That is, whatever went before is gone. Now they try to execute the best possible shot they can. They have routines to ensure that they get into this frame of mind before every shot. Do you have a routine?

We can never change the past. This is another 'obvious' statement that most of us never really get or believe. The past is always influencing us as long as we get stuck in it. But as soon as we remain present with what is going on now ......the actual swing, and our focus is on relaxing and executing a positive swing through the ball to the target. That is the whole of golf. All of the rest is peripheral and distracting. As long as we are distracted by the other stuff, we will never play our best golf. If you could take this advice to heart and use it, you would be the best golfer in your school perhaps, but more importantly you would be the happiest golfer in your school. Best of the best to you.

Connection is very important and there are drills that you can do off the course and just before you address the ball while playing that take no thought.

In order for me to be connected and keep my hands in front of my chest I imagine pressure being applied on my lead shoulder to start the backswing. This stops my hands from starting and becoming disconected , it helps them to remain more passive.

That sounds a good cue. Do you rotate your centre away at the same time?

I assume you are talking about loading up on the right side, I dont think of it like that. I just think mainly of the left shoulder like i previously said. With a slight tilt towards my back leg i automatically coil onto it

No, not 'loading up the right side' but more of a synchronous take away with left shoulder and the centre moving together or does the upper body move independently at take away from the lower body? I find if everything moves together at the start it comes back together. Of course every hinge is operating independently but they are moving in 'rhythm' or 'synch'.

I personally am guided for pace by the speed at which my centre can rotate away and towards the target. The triangle is maintained even though the arms are swinging 'up' and 'down' during the rotation. Everthing must be 'together' at impact and it cannot be together if they are acting separately at the start, I feel. What do you think?