Here I will explain to you how I see the golf swing and what I expect from a golfer who wants to have the opportunity to reach his full potential, or constant development.
It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner, have been playing for 20+ years, or have a single hcp. You will be able to absorb the instructions regardless, provided you practice, and practice correctly.
Do you recognize yourself in any of the following examples?
Good on the range, not on the course | How should I strike thi lie? |
If you do, have you ever asked yourself why? Do you feel like you would like to master any or all of these scenarios? And why has your game ended up here? If you have taken lessons, did it get better? Or did the problems return?
The question I have always asked myself during my career is; why?
Meland Golf Club 8th hole, Bergen Norway 2014, Photo: Tjalve Morken
The answers came late. I wished that what I understand today, I would have understood when I was 19 years old and went to golf college in the United States. It’s taken me 35 years to get wiser, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg because I’m learning all the time.
You can avoid my mistakes, save time and go straight to the goodies. Would you like that?
Do you believe that nature, things and everything we do is based on some kind of foundation? For example, a flower needs; nutrients, light, heat, carbon dioxide and water to grow. If you remove one of these parts, there will probably be no flower. If you are going to build a house, it is important to have a strong deep foundation so that the building does not collapse. What drives a car, an airplane or when we simply go for a walk? The golf swing also has foundations that are needed for it to be sustainable, and give the golfer a chance to develop and reach their full potential.
Continuity, precision, speed
That’s what your golf swing should deliver, in order for you to play as good golf as you want, give yourself a chance to reach your full potential, provided you practice. And exercise correctly!
The golf swing is like a well-written movie script, there is a common thread, and nothing happens without a reason. If something happens that does not fulfill any function, then the viewers become confused and the quality, as well as the message of the film, is compromised. The script should hold together and take us through the story, hopefully without question marks. There must be logic.
Everything that happens in the swing happens for a reason
My coach Jesse Blackwelder said; an action always becomes a reaction.
Wrong actions becomes negative unconscious compensations. There is no room for that. You should not do anything in your swing motion, where the reaction of it serves no purpose. When you press the pedal on your bike, the chain drives the sprocket which then rotates the rear wheel which causes the bike’s tires to use friction from the ground to move the bike forward. The whole process is a chain reaction, literally, and nothing happens without a reason.
the golf swing is a chain reaction
Which is based on different parts that are 100% dependent on each other. Head, shoulders, arms, hips and hands are a team, working towards the same goal; to swing the golf club as hard as possible without compromising accuracy and continuity.
How do we do it?
We involve the major muscle groups. Shoulders and hip.
You might be wondering why I don’t mention legs and knees? They don’t trigger the down the swing. Legs and knees are a reaction to what the hip does. And if you do it right, you won’t need to be thinking about your legs and knees. They are not primary components. But of course they fulfill a decisive function.
We shall not delve too much. But I will briefly tell you what you should strive for.
The body is a generator for the golf swing, just like the chain mechanism on a bicycle. When you pedal, you generate energy for the wheels that take us forward. When you rotate your shoulders in your swing, you produce energy, which you then release with your hips.
The problems begin when golfers find ways to throttle the energy production, or prevent it from reaching the club head.
The most common way to not produce energy with the shoulders is to lift the club in the backswing, the arms take over and then we stop producing. The result is that we have to give speed with our muscles. The muscles in a golf swing must never take over the swing. No muscles. Ever.
When the muscles dominate, we mainly activate lots of small muscles in the hands, which quickly affect the club head.
Did you ever play with a car track when you were a kid? I did that. Sometimes I would drive too fast in the corners or in the loop, and the car would fly off the track and immediately lose speed.
It’s the same with the clubhead when the hands take over the swing. Centripetal force (the external force that causes an object to follow a circular path) suddenly dies, and the car falls to the ground by gravity.
The best way to keep the club head in the swing groove is to partially have a grip, the thumbs of which do not allow pressure between the thumb and forefinger on the grip of the golf club, and release the grip pressure. Not so loose that you drop the club, but not so tight that you want to hit the ball.
Have you ever watered the flower discount? If you choke the hose, you stop the supply of water. If you strangle the golf club, you strangle the energy down to the clubhead.
What we call the pinches, between our thumbs and index finger, is also what we use most in everyday life. Drink coffee, use keys, write, etc. We already grabbed things as little babies, the unconscious grasping reflex.
Now maybe you’ve got an idea of how I work?
It’s never too late to get better or change. I know you can, and I can promise you that you will get better, if you promise to do as I say.
Martin