Tough Shit! Or the BASIC GOLF SWING!

I keep looking for that swing technique that I had found but lost - and I thought I found again. The reason it took a very hard time trying to remember what I did when I thought I had it - is because it is something that was unconsciously happening to my swing. Although I was trying to do something consciously, the result was excellent but it was not really what I was working on directly - that is why it was hard to remember - because it was something I was not really aware of that I was doing.

Any way, enough of the prologue, let us now reveal what I discovered without realizing it. What I was doing before was I was flicking the right wrist, alright, to the right, using the plane formed by the shaft - along the plane formed from the tip of the shaft to the gripped hands. What I did not realize then was I was flicking (with a reverse scoop motion the club head) - and here it is - ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP OF THE BACK SWING! There was no stopping and executing the upswing with the shoulders - like I mentioned before in my previous postings. It was one single motion to the top. The club head is flicked around the apron all the way to the top of the swing. From that position, the body pulls the club towards the ball and the hit.

What is so different with this swing is because the club is flicked all the way back, when the body comes around, the hit is so delayed, that you can sense that the shoulders have turned all the way around without effort - at the end of the swing! Remember, I was trying to force turning the shoulders? Well, this does it automatically - plus the "inside to outside" path of the club head is automatic.

There are four self checks that must be felt to ensure that the desired effect is remembered:

1. This "inside to outside" effect should be a check to make sure the execution is correctly done.
   
2. Also with the short irons, when doing the practice swing, I can feel how Anthony executes his delayed turnaround after the hit - I should be able to feel it this also (another check)!
3. A third check (which is the needed effect) is the shoulders finishing completely turned around - pronouncedly more than just perpendicular to the target line.
   
4. Another effect of this technique (the fourth check) is the ease of the execution of the upswing. There is no extra effort to be done. It feels like the whole swing is one complete and rhythmic motion, all fluidly bonded into one collective motion.

ESSENTIALLY, THIS BACK SWING TECHNIQUE COMPLETES THE ESSENTIALS OF THE GOLF SWING.

1. Set-up: see other postings on grip, stance, right knee warning, etc.
2. Backswing: Flip, as hard as possible, the club head along the ground and around towards the back as far as possible
   
3. When the club head reaches the 5'oclock position, begin cocking the club up with the right hand.
4. At the top, FURTHER TIGHTEN THE COILING MUSCLES by twisting the shoulders until the right biceps is pushed back against the side of the body or until the body is fully coiled.
   
5. Downswing: Release the coiled body towards the ball and around to a great finish.

12/17/07: The preceding two paragraphs describe exactly my novel swing technique. However, to further assist in explaining the previous paragraphs and BUT ONLY IF THERE IS A CONFUSION ON THE EXPLANATION ABOVE, then read on. What is missing in the above paragraphs is the not-easily-noticed part of how the right hand (wrists) motion and the shoulder turn work together as one cohesive movement - each one doing its own independent job but both dependent on each other to accomplish the task of sending the ball on its way efficiently and accurately. In order to remember this technique, let us separately describe what each one is doing.

1. First, imagine that each one is a flexible wheel. The wrists' wheel is parallel to the ground while the shoulders' wheel is perpendicular to the ground. Imagine the wrist or grip as the hub and the club head as the perimeter. The shoulders' wheel has the neck as the hub and the club head also as the perimeter.
   
2. The wrists' wheel's ultimate goal is to turn the wheel (which is parallel to the ground) as much as possible clockwise to the right and, using its flexibility, to bounce back as hard as possible (towards the ball).
   
3. The shoulders' wheel's main goal is the same - clockwise movement (but upwards since it is perpendicular to the ground) and as far as possible and bouncing back as hard as possible.
4. Taken singly, it is difficult to execute (and awkward) but melding them together creates the effective golf swing, a movement, not up and down nor left to right and back, but along the golf plane and back as Hogan described.
   
5. Why is this golf technique accurate? Because the wrists only opens like a door and slams like a door - no other movement.
   
6. Why effective? You answer that. It is obvious once you have tried this technique.
   

Incidentally, while in Cancun (12/04/07) I experienced shanking with my short irons. If I had realized how to execute this technique then, I firmly believe now that it would not have happened.