Five Golf Downswing Tips

Posted on July 6, 2011 by

The golf downswing is absolutely the most important move in golf game. It doesn’t matter what precedes it. If the downswing is not right, it doesn’t matter how good your grip is or how perfect your alignment is or how flawless your backswing is. If your downswing is wrong, everything else is wasted. Everything we do before we commence the downswing (the grip, the stance, alignment, takeaway, backswing) is preparation for enabling us to make the golf swing as perfect a golf swing as possible.

The most common mistake golfers make is to initiate the downswing with the arms or shoulders. What this usually creates is an “out to in” motion, which causes us to swing across the intended target line. To compensate for this, we have to open up the club face to allow the ball to get back on target, which creates side spin which creates that destructive slice. If like me your natural swing is a fade/slice you will know how difficult things can get when playing into a head wind or a left to right wind. The other problem this can cause is if we do NOT open the club face to compensate. Result. A pull shot to the left.

The downswing should be the very natural result of everything that precedes it. It should start from the ground up. This sounds a bit complicated but all it simply means that the first movement of the downswing should be made by the lower body. Coaches and swing gurus argue about this move and which part of the body moves first. It is vital that we do not have too many technical thoughts in our heads at this point in the swing. We should have one single trigger thought and only one.

Golf Tip #1 A great trigger motion is to move the right knee towards the left knee and plant the left heal flat on the ground. Planting that left heel begins the process of your hips moving forward.

Golf Tip #2 Allow your body to uncoil naturally in response to this trigger motion. Let your legs do the work. If your lower body is moving and turning, your upper body has to as well. Let it happen with as little conscious input from you as possible.

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Golf Tip #3 It is imperative that you make sure that your shoulders, arms and hands follow exactly the same path as you made with your backswing. If you can master this part of the downswing then you will eliminate that “out to in” swing.

Golf Tip #4 Practice this trigger motion without a ball. Rehearse that feeling of moving the right knee and planting the left foot flat on the ground. Rehearse what it feels like to have the same path for your backswing and your downswing. Repeat it until it becomes natural, until you don’t have to think about it.

Golf Tip #5 Probably the best advice you will ever get is to swing within yourself. Feel like your swinging at about 85% for all your shots. This will allow you time to perform the swing and it will improve timing hugely. The result is longer, more accurate shots.

Be relaxed at all times. None of us can perform any physical task while we are tense. Let the swing flow. Try only to have a few specific swing thoughts. Too may swing thoughts in your head at any one time will only make things more difficult. Master this one aspect of the swing and then we can work on improving other aspects of the golf swing at a later stage.

Be aware that there is much more to the perfect golf swing than just the downswing but mastering the perfect golf downswing will greatly improve your game and your chances of getting that handicap tumbling downwards.

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Three Golf Downswing Tips For An Excellent Transition

Posted on July 5, 2011 by
golf downswing tips

Image by: koratmember

Your golf downswing transition is an extremely important part of the golf swing. Golf players who hit the ball properly are able to keep their golf swings in sync by improving their transition. A golf swing that is rushed will often have a poor, awkward transition that can cause wayward or errant golf shots. Master your transition and you’ll increase your chances of hitting the golf ball solidly.

One helpful tip to a great transition is to swing the club down instead of swinging your body. I like to tell my students to swing their club down from the top instead of their body as this will allow the club to swing on a more correct swing path. Many golfers start to open up their upper bodies from the top of the swing and this leads to being too open with the body at impact thus resulting in a very weak position at impact. Moving the body forward too much from the top of the golf swing can cause a golfer to get too much ahead of the ball at impact and make it difficult to hit good golf shots.

Syncing up your club and body properly at impact really begins with your transition. If the torso actually starts to turn too soon, you will wind up out of sync and will find it difficult to hit fine golf shots. One other way to transition properly is always to feel like you keep your back turned towards the target as you start your downswing. This delays your shoulders from opening and enables the club move down towards the golf ball and get into a powerful position.

Try to make sure that you maintain your wrist angle from the top of the swing as well. Releasing the golf club too early, or casting the club, can cause a tremendous loss of power in the downswing. It’s important to feel like you are swinging down with your arms while you maintain your wrist angle. So the arms swing down and the hands and wrists just hang on. This will create what is called lag in the downswing which all the pros and low handicap golfers do really well. Creating lag helps the hands lead coming into hit the golf ball and you can hit down nicely on the ball sending it flying long and straight into the air. Getting too wristy from the top of the golf swing will cause the club head to approach the golf ball first at impact and the club face can easily open or close causing the golf ball to travel to the right or left.

Hopefully these tips on your downswing transition will help you start to hit the golf ball more solidly with more consistency. Remember that a good backswing also leads to and promotes a good downswing. The wrists have to set correctly on the backswing so you can hold the angle and create lag in the downswing. Also if the shoulders don’t turn enough in the backswing, it will be difficult to keep your back facing your target and get your arms leading correctly. If the shoulders don’t turn enough, they will tend to open early in the downswing which will make the golfer open at the impact position.

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Golf Downswing Tips

Posted on July 5, 2011 by
golf downswing tips

Photo by: photofriday

Golf downswing tips can improve your game!

 

There are many parts to the swing, however one of the most essential of those parts is the golf downswing. Read on and you will find some great tips to improve your golf downswing.  The main reason the downswing is so important is because so much can go wrong with only a small wrong movement of the body, causing the golf shot to be ruined. Many beginners are overwhelmed by the downswing and assume they can never learn the proper technique to hitting long, consistent, under-control shots. The purpose of this article is to enlighten golfers of any skill level and give some important insight about the downswing in addition to some tips to keep in mind the next time you’re on the course.
Don’t be in a hurry with the downswing. It is very easy to want to take the club back slowly and then step on the gas and unleash all of your power into the downswing by swinging fast and hard. This just isn’t going to do anything positive for your game. Sure, you can get away with a few swings like this, but overall your ball will not be hit solidly and you will spray the ball off the tee. Instead, practice a smooth transition from backswing to downswing and remember to swing within yourself. You would be amazed at how far you can hit the ball by backing off and thinking about swinging in a slow, smooth manner. Don’t take my word for it though – try it! Golf downswing tips will help you.

Remember these golf downswing tips:

Remember the three to one ratio. In general you want your backswing to last about three times as long as your downswing, but it’s important to remember that it shouldn’t be three seconds to one second. We just need the downswing to be roughly one third of the time of the backswing, but that amount of time is different for each person. This “3 to 1 rule” will allow you to measure in your head what a smooth transition from backswing to downswing should be, and remember, do not try to kill the ball on the downswing. Remember these golf downswing tips!
Lastly, apply the “delayed-wrist-action rule” to your downswing and you will definitely enjoy more consistency in your golf game. This is just a way of saying that your wrists do not turn over until right before and during ball impact. By timing this movement correctly you can maximize power and control in your downswing. This is a similar motion to when a pitcher is throwing a baseball; the pitcher will keep his wrist cocked back until his arm his passing his body and he releases his hands to generate more power. The same can be applied to the golf swing. I hope you liked my first golf downswing tips.

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