Have You Got The Guts To Learn A Great Swing?

Almost everyone knows how to swing a golf club, but in order to make the swing count, it is necessary to (1) become adept at a wide variety of skills, (2) aquire good concentration and (3) exhibit grace in order to have a swing that gets your golf ball to fly the distance with the accuracy needed to reach the target area.

A Touch of Grace

Once you've started the swing with the club head descending toward the golf ball, it should do so with as little force and as much grace as possible. Novice golfers will generally miss this combination of grace and agility, whipping the golf club with as much force as they can, chopping at the downswing more like a medieval warrior than a skilled golfer. Which is to say, the swing is (1) anything but graceful, (2) less energy is transferred to the ball thus, (3) in effect there is no balance between the accuracy of the stroke and the power behind it. Learning the balance between force, and carefully honed skills are what lend your swing the grace I am referring to, not just learning to hit the ball with maximum force.

Achieving The Correct Balance

While most sports encourage a balanced approach, golf is unusually demanding in this regard. In order to be effective in this game, golfers need to carefully maintain a strict balance of strength and control. No where is this more the case during high-stakes or high stress times during a game. Being absolutely focused on maintaining this balance is crucial to success.

A balanced physical posture is also essential. A player whose posture is not balanced will shift their weight from one foot to another during the swing, making it very difficult to control how the club head hits the ball. This problem usually results in hitting the ball at an angle that is slightly altered from the intended angle, destroying the shot.

Whenever you go to the country club or driving range, observe some of the other players who, after taking their shot, tend fall sideways after their swing. Their problem is a lack of balance control. In order to overcome the bad habit of weight-shifting during the swing, you must concentrate on rotating you body around an imaginary axis. Which is to say, you must make your golf swing a rotational movement around your torso rather than a lateral movement. If you can keep this in mind, it will help boost your body control and steady your overall balance so that when you take your shot you will have a higher level of accuracy and power control.

Ok. Where Do You Start?

Even a relatively new golfer can achieve a great golf swing, provide that he or she puts in a little practice and maintains control over a few other variable of the game. This includes keeping a steady tempo, body control, grace and most importantly retaining your balance. If you are just starting the game, don't try and fix things all at once.

It is physically and mentally impossible to fix all your problems at once when it comes to anything. This is no different in golf.

Trying to overcome all your swing trouble spots at once will only lead to much frustration and little progress. Pick one thing to improve, work on it until you have mastered it, then pick the next issue to work on. Repeat those steps until your golf swing is as graceful and strong as the pros.

Above all, be patient with yourself and your progress. Retaining focus on each individual issue in turn will allow you to show significant improvement with time.