When analysing the golf swing, there are many aspects that you can look at. Many people concentrate on the importance of a good backswing, but is having a perfect backswing important?
When building a new golf swing, the backswing is important in getting the club on the correct path for the shot you want to play.
If a player has a strange and unorthodox backswing, people will assume that the player will more than likely play a poor shot. I feel this comment is not completely true.
Having a good backswing makes it easier to get down to the ball with fewer movements and with a greater chance of having a square club face at impact. This does not mean that you need to have the perfect swing, but if you don’t, you will have to really work hard on the downswing to get things “on plane” at impact so you can get a good result.
When you look at someone like Jim Furyk, he has an orthodox backswing, but he gets everything square by impact. This is not an easy thing to do, but it does put the emphasis on how important impact is in achieving a good result.
As I commonly say, we all have slight flaws in our swings, but having great tempo will help to develop a strong impact position, which will help the accuracy and power in our shots.
If you swing fast and out of control, you will find that your flaws will take over and you will find it tough trying to score well.
Impact does vary from playing irons to hitting woods, but clearly, having a square club face at impact is crucial. Many golfers have varied views of how impact should be approached. I will give you my view from the research and training I have attained.
When hitting the driver, I see many golfers with “sky marks” on the top of their driver. Many golfers feel that this is due to the ball being teed up too high. This is part of the reason, however, the main reason is that the golfer is hitting down at the ball at a very severe steep angle, which causes the ball to be hit by the top of the club.
When hitting the driver, the player should be looking to hit the ball on an upward angle. Having the ball teed down low makes this virtually impossible to hit the ball on a rising angle. Having the courage to tee the ball higher with the modern driver will give you positive results.
On the other hand, when playing an iron, it is important to hit the ball on a descending angle. Trying to sweep the ball or scoop the ball up makes it hard to get power at impact. Many golfers comment on how they dislike taking a divot, but when you take a divot correctly, the results are amazing!
One of the reasons players take heavy divots is simply the body transfer is not occurring because the right foot remains planted during the downswing. Making sure your back foot shifts towards impact and finishes on its toe, will improve your balance and power at impact and it will prevent those heavy divots and create strong compression with the irons! Work on not anchoring your back foot!
