Unfortunately, many of us feel there is one basic, perfect golf swing we should all emulate. The reality is there is no particular swing which is perfect. Sure, there are golf swings which are better than others, and sure, most all instructors have their favorites. But the fact is, all good golf swings have three commonalities: a flat forward wrist, a straight plane line, and a club which lags behind the hands during the downswing. Before going any further think about the players who have won majors over the past two years. Didn't they have different looking golf swings? The commonality among the world's best players seems to be two things: 1) The ball goes where they want it to go time after time. 2) They are very good putters.

In an effort not to write a book here, we will not discuss putting. We will discuss the three things all great swings have in common. The first is the flat forward wrist. Visualize someone karate chopping a piece of wood. Can you see how he/she would hold his hand as he made this motion? Obviously the back of the hand would be in-line with the forearm. No matter how a player may address the ball, the great one will have the back of his forward hand in-line with his left arm at impact. With the golf swing going through the impact area with a flat forward wrist the player has control over the face of the club. (Remember the ball always leaves the face at practically right angles.)

The second imperative to the golf swing is a straight plane line. Visualize any wall in your house. If you could attach a hinge to the bottom of the wall in an effort to adjust the angle the walls sits, you could then understand a straight plane line. No matter the angle of the wall (horizontal, vertical, or somewhere in between) the base line of that wall would never change. In the same way, an angle is created as soon as you set your club down on the ground. The ball/target line is where the ball lies. The plane line is where the shaft would touch the ground and sits just inside the ball target line. To have a straight plane line you must have the face of the club pointing to your target, your body set-up in a manner which aides your arms and hands in swinging the club down the plane line, and the ability to swing the entire club, hands, and arms down the plane line. Aligning the club face to the intended target is simple enough if you concentrate and practice some. Aligning the body so the hips, thighs, and shoulders are all square to the base line of the plane is the very simple “Railroad Track”. By aligning the hips, thighs, and shoulders parallel left of the ball/target line, most players will set their body so that it will aid in swinging down the plane line. Thirdly, the player needs to understand how it feels to swing the club down the plane line. This can be learned by utilizing many of the laser type trainers on the market today. Learning to keep the part of the club closest to the ground pointing at the target line (to be totally accurate - the “plane line” instead of the “ball target line”) along with a square face, and setting up will teach the player the second imperative.

The third imperative is a clubhead which lags behind the hands through the impact area. To get a general idea of this take a yardstick and bend it. Now let go of the yardstick. What happened? The yardstick quickly accelerated back to its original state of a 180 degree angle or straight line. Visualize now your son or daughter throwing a rock as far as possible. As he begins to throw the rock you will notice a small chain reaction taking place. The body will rotate, the arm will follow, the hand will follow, and finally the rock will follow the hand as it fights the initial acceleration through inertia. This creates pressures in the body, arm, and hand as the rock is driven to the point where the hand will open up and the rock fly out. This pressure is lag pressure. During a proper golf swing the club is not thrown at the ball, instead the club is carried or driven by body, arms, and hands into the impact area. This “driving” or “carrying” the club down to the ball creates pressures in the hands and forward arm. A loss of this pressure would mean the club is being thrown; and guess what, who knows where it will land?

The flat left wrist is the karate chopper’s hand condition. The “hinged wall” with all its different angles but the same base line is the straight plane line. “Throwing the rock” is lag pressure. If the forward wrist is not flat the player will loose acceleration through the impact area because the left arm and clubshaft get to a straight line too early in the swing. If the plane line is incorrect the player will point in one direction and hit in another. If pressure in the hands or forward arm (where your arm meets your shoulder) is lost during the swing, the player will get in line before the golf club gets to the impact area.

The three imperatives of the golf swing are unavoidable for a player wanting to hit the ball far and straight. How far and how straight a player hits it depends on how well these imperatives are performed both in relation to speed and precision. So, when you go out to work on your swing but don't really know what to work on, you now know of at least three things. The next time you are on the golf course and hit a bad shot, don't blame it on the beverage cart or a lack of concentration; precision golf is attainable if you put precision into your swing.

STEADY HEAD
RHYTHM
BALANCE