The Right Golf Swing Trainer
When choosing a golf swing trainer, the most important thing you must keep in mind is what you want to accomplish. Evaluate your performance on the golf course, and have a close friend evaluate your swing to the best of their ability. After this you need to ask yourself what kind of help you need. Are you in need of a few minor corrections? Or do you need to rework your entire swing.
Remember, your golf swing is a combination of your upswing and downswing, one leads into another. Once you have completely evaluated yourself and your goals the time has come to choose a golf swing trainer. Depending on what kind of help you need, you may choose either the local instructor, a private instructor, or a golf professional at a championship quality course. If you feel that you need to rework your entire swing, it is best to start with a qualified professional at a championship quality course. They will be able to evaluate you at day one and give you proper coaching on developing a swing similar to their own. This is crucial to realize when choosing a swing trainer: your resultant swing will resemble theirs, so make sure that you watch them swing first. There are a few variations on the golf swing, so do not choose an instructor whose swing is not like the one you would like. If you only need a few tips or need only make small improvements on your swing, the local golf instructor should suit your needs. Of course the instructor should be qualified. Make sure to ask him his experience with golfing and any training he has had on his swing.
The last thing you need is to learn from someone who has taught themselves, because his swing may not be beneficial to you, or even practical. Also, ask to see your instructors lesson plan, or hear his ideas for your training. It is easy to for an instructor to “wing it” with you, and this can lead to spotty instruction, not learning the entire technique, or even confusion on both parties. Once you have chosen an instructor make sure to evaluate yourself weekly, or after every lesson or two. Your instructor should also evaluate your performance on a weekly or biweekly basis. This is to insure you are getting your moneys worth.
Tags: championship, coaching, downswing, golf, golf course, golf instructor, Golf Swing, Golf Swing Trainer, golfing, instruction, lesson, local golf, performance, private instructor, technique, training, upswingRelated posts
Golf Swing Trainer – The Down Swing (part 1)
In an earlier post here on golf swing trainer I spoke about the top of the swing. After you reach the top there is only one way to go, down. The down swing is just as important as the rest of the swing (upswing and the top of the swing).
The first movement from the top of the swing is a lateral thrust of the hips to the left, eventually followed by an automatic turning of the hips. This is true. But there is more than that. Here are some great tips to improve your downswing.
Not only should the hips move to the left and turn, but their movement must be very much tied to the left arm that it pulls the arm and the club down as it they whips through the ball.
It is vitally important that movement is done for you to become a good golfer It must be a definite, conscious feeling that this happens. To finish the proper movement, the hips must turn towards the target as they reach the extension of their lateral movement. You hips need to be in the proper position when you hit the ball.
What happens, actually, is that the left arm itself is being pulled by the hips. The arm is merely the connecting rod between the hips and the club. When the hips exert this pulling action, they cause the shoulders and the left arm to revolve so fast around the axis of the upper spine that the hands have little or no time to manipulate or do anything whatever with the club except hang onto it.
I know it sounds quite easy to do and to understand, but nearly all golfer fail to do it. We’ve all heard it and read about it as well as in pictures, yet many still go on by starting down with their hands or pulling with their arms or even forget to follow through with their hips by stopping them after they start them.
What are the reasons that they fail?
The first is that this is a big movement and they are afraid to make it. The second is that, preoccupied with what they think they must make the club head do, they completely forget the fundamental hip action and let it die.
The biggest source of power you can get in your golf swing is from the hips. The big muscles of the upper legs and of the torso are giving the club a flying start before the hands do anything.
If you can imagine, think of a rope running from the left hip up your left side to your shoulder and then out through your left hand. This rope is pulled tight at the top of the swing. As the hips start the downswing by moving to the left and turning, they will pull your shoulder, arm, and club with them so long as the rope is tight.
The rope can be kept tight only if the hips move first and only if they keep moving and then turning, on past the ball. If not, the rope will have slack in it and the club will never gain the speed it needs when it reaches the ball.
How do we know when to start the hip movement?
We start it the instant we feel the backward momentum of the club start to pull against our hands at the top. This is a reflex action with most of us, but for those who want the moment pinpointed, there it is. And once you start to move the hips, keep them flying—all the way through until they turn toward the target. This action alone will cure a great number of golfing ills.
I’ll have more to say in regards to the down-swing in a later post, but for now I know if you follow this it will improve your game.
Tags: downswing, golf, Golf Swing, Golf Swing Trainer, golfer, upswingRelated posts
Golf Swing Trainer – Top Of The Swing
In a golf swing there are three different parts that make up the entire swing, the upswing, the top of the swing and the downswing. In this post of golf swing trainer, I’ll cover the top of the swing.
The top of the swing a vital position, and when it is reached the next fatal flaw makes its appearance.
It might be wise to first take a look at the top of the back-swing. Actually there is no absolute top, in a sense that everything which has been moving in one upward and backward direction will reach it’s limit at the same time and start forward and down together. All the parts of the swinging system the club, hands, arms, body, and legs-do not reach their backward limits at the same time.
When we speak of the top of the back swing here, we mean the top of the swing for the hands.
Your swing can be thrown off, caused by an early body twist with a late upward wrist break. A swing that starts out great can easily be ruined as it nears the top.
What happens is that as the swing goes up, it gets tighter and tension develops. You will feel it mostly in the upper part of your body and it’s not a comfortable feeling. Subconsciously the player checks the shoulder turn, letting the left hand bend backwards as the wrist collapses and he/she looses the left hand grip.
At that point any well laid out plan just disappears. The restriction of one’s shoulder turn and the collapse of the left wrist permit the person to bring the club up instead of back and around. Relaxing of the left hand lets the club drop down into an over-swing. The right elbow comes up, and generally more weight settles on the left leg, as the player pivots instead of moving his weight, and settles himself into a more comfortable position the easy chair slouch.
At that point, all bets are off. The result will be a horrible shot that will have you looking for your ball somewhere you don’t want to be looking. The ball can and will fly just about anywhere. Most often resulting in a slice, but it can also be pulled, smothered, hooked, scuffed, topped, skied, or shanked.
How can you avoid having this happening to you?
The Answer:
The move that avoids the easy-chair slouch and gets you to the top correctly is simply a purposeful shoulder turn with a firm retention of the wrist position gained by the backward break. The shoulders are the motivating force, so let them turn then pick up the momentum and let it swing the hands to the top.
The key is to have you shoulders turn on the back swing, not rock. As the hands are brought up and around, the shoulders should tilt somewhat, with the right eventually becoming higher than the left. But one of the worst things that can happen is for the left shoulder to duck.