The ‘Simple’ Swing

The basic golf swing is so simple that a child of eight can do it. Unfortunately, most adults can’t! As with other sports, the technique for the beginner should be simple and straightforward, and become complicated only for players aiming for higher standards.

The difficulty with golf is not in the swing itself, but in the strike and in the precision required to make accurate contact with the ball. Direction, too, has to be controlled because of the vast distances you have to cover. The swing is simple; keep it that way.

The problem for the beginner is that the ball is ridiculously small; the clubhead is not very big, either; the ball sits on the ground, and the ground gets in the way.

With other sports, ball contact is a lot easier. In tennis, hockey, or squash, for example, you have a larger weapon, which makes the task of striking the ball quite straightforward. You also have just one weapon in your hand the whole time and grow to feel confident with it.

But in golf you have to choose different clubs and feel comfortable with each one immediately. A further problem is that the stationary golf ball allows you too much time for thinking. It leaves you to analyse the swing and think too much of the body movements. Compare the swing to hitting a tennis ball and see how easy that can be. Let the golf swing be simple.

Lining Up For Long Shots

With most long shots, you need a square stance, with the line across the feet, knees, hips, shoulders, and eyes parallel to your proposed shot. It sounds easy, but it isn’t. Lining up can be an optical illusion. Many golfers repeatedly aim right and hit right, or compensate and pull left.

The easiest way of aiming is to choose a spot 18 inches ahead of the ball on line to the target and set the clubface to aim over this, with your feet parallel to the line from the ball to this spot.

The other common error is to open your shoulders, that is to aim them left. This is caused by your right hand pulling the shoulder forward, or by turning as you look at the target or by having the ball too far left in the stance. This encourages you to cut across the ball with a slicing action. As a result, the shot curves away to the right.

The shoulders are often more important than the feet, so keep them square or fractionally closed.

The ball position is linked to direction. With the ball too far back, you may push it right. If it is too far forward, you are likely to start it to the left.

The open stance is one in which the direction of the clubface and stance diverge or open up to the target. If used unintentionally, this leads to slicing. However, it does have its uses for playing cut shots and some short finesse shots.

With the closed stance, the clubface is on target (or to the left), with the feet to the right. The swing and clubface converge, encouraging hookspin, with the ball flying to the left. This is used for bending the ball from right to left.