Effortless power, not powerless effort.
Of course we hit the golf ball with the club! We all know however, that we hit it better when we don’t try to hit it. We hit it best when we focus on making a good swing. The act of hitting implies force. Trying to overtly create force leads to muscular tension, this is the great destroyer of the swing.
Distance is enhanced by the conservation of the angular momentum known as “the delayed hit”. Achieving the correct timing for the most efficient delay in your release of power is a very subtle thing. It depends heavily on the sequence of our body movements: that is what timing is all about.
Trying to hit hard results in two of golf’s most common errors: a) hitting from the top; and b) failure to release. Both are errors in timing: one too early and the other too late. Trying to swing the club rather than hit the ball is an effective cure for both. We’ve just acknowledged that muscular tension destroys the swing. But what causes the tension? As Ike Handy so aptly put in his book by the same name, “It’s the Damned Ball!”
Laboratory research isn’t necessary to discover that a high handicapper’s practice swing and his swing at the ball are not the same. The former is generally flowing, rhythmical, and in good sequence. The latter is usually quick, tense, and poorly timed. For the better player, the visual difference between a practice swing and a real swing is not as noticeable. But the results frequently indicate added tension when the ball is present.
Players handicapped by a short backswing may need more of a hit feeling. They have no choice. You can’t make a true swing that generates speed unless you wind the body. But it’s all a matter of degree. Some feel more swing; some feel more hit. Swinging the golf club to your target, not hitting at the ball, should be the objective of all. Trying to maintain the degree of muscular tension similar to that which you use in a full practice swing will help. The third practice swing is where your natural tempo is. Your swing is unique your swing path, release patterns are dictated by body proportions, grip, posting and how you use ground forces. Your TPI mobility and Bio Dynamics are the blueprint to an efficient natural swing. Both are free with every lesson
