grantc79

Look at the video of his swing here: There is very, very, very little hip slide if any. Now I'm not saying a hip slide won't help 99% of all golfers, but it isn't an imperative to playing good golf. The only imperatives to playing good golf are a flat left wrist, club head lag pressure point, and a proper plane line.

You do not have to slide the hips. For the vast majority of people it is a very good thing, but it is not a must that has to happen for good contact to take place. See Arnold Palmer: Now just because you don't consciously slide the hips doesn't mean they won't (and likely will) gradually slide forward while the hips turn, but there doesn't have to be a definite slide.

Considering the vast majority of bad golfers are slicers I don't know why you think this is good advice.

If you swing down the target line you will slice the ball all day long. Target line and delivery line are two different things.

The longer the club the harder it is. I lose quite a bit of distance hitting due to not being as efficient at it. But that said I am a lot more accurate with it.

It doesn't require flexibility to be a hitter though, only strength. I personally think it is a lot easier to be strong as an ox as and old man rather than flexible as a gymnast as an old man. But I might be wrong.

Depends really. I think the analysis of the best players in the world learn as kids and kids are a lot more flexible than they are strong, thus the best players in the world are more often than not swingers is pretty true. I had never really thought about it like that, but it is probably the case. I do think most people blend both into their swing and I don't think most realize that they do, and how much they do of one over the other. As far as "knowing what you are to help your swing mechanics" I guess that's true but it doesn't apply to many players. Some players have the mechanics switch turned on and don't know how to turn it off and that gets in their way. Other's dont know how to turn on the mechanics switch at all and simply play on feel alone. Just depends on the person. With proper instruction either one can do well.

Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino were both hitters though :) I personally am a Hitter and love it. It is EXTREMELY accurate though I must admit it isn't for everyone and I am still perfecting the stroke. The vast majority of people are not hitters because they are unfamiliar with it but it is a very efficient way to hit the golf ball. The tell tale sign is the right fore arm at impact. If it is at a 90* angle to the body then that is definitely a swing. If it is pointing towards low point then that MIGHT BE a Hitter.

right fore arm.

Not really. It is fairly easy to do. Really all it takes is a little lagging club head takeaway (basically the hands pull back before the club moves) and attempt to keep very loose hands and wrists (but tight fingers of course or the club goes flying) up to the top. Once at the top allow the hip bump to create an insane amount of lag and do not fight it. Then just keep your core sliding and turning like crazy and your right shoulder going down as much as you can until you hit the ball. Until your body runs out of steam and it can no longer slide, drive, turn anymore then lag will remain or actually increase. As soon as your body starts the quit though you better hope you are almost to impact because that club is coming forward and there is nothing you can do to stop it from flipping your wrists. I think damn near anyone can create as much lag as he does at the top with a little bit of practice. Now sustaining it as LONG as he does and releasing it as late as he does is pretty difficult.

More key is where you grip tightly. Tight in the fingers is OK but tight in the wrists is a big no no.

Nope. The best way to do it is the way Phil describes, the way you describe leads to complete disaster. Firstly, you should always point the club at the target and then grip it. If you want to open or close the face don't grip the club and then manipulate it. You want to manipulate the face to point in the direction you want and THEN grip it accordingly. Try this one next time you practice: 1: Pick out an aiming point about 4 inches in front of your ball and aim the face of your club at that spot. After aiming, take your grip as the club lies, do not square the head up. Just grip it as it sits. 2: Take a stance line that is parallel to that target and take a normal swing along your foot line. Your ball should go generally straight. Next repeat step 1 but instead of taking a stance line parallel to the target in step 2 take a stance line that is somewhat closed to that target line (where your back is pointing more towards the target and your chest is pointing more away from it. Now, this is crucially important, swing a long the same swing plane in relation to your body as you did in step 1. In other words do not alter your swing in any way in relation to your body. Continue to swing along your foot line. If you do this correctly you should hit a push draw. Now repeat step 1 again but this time for step 2 open your feet up a bit and swing along your feet again. This should produce a pull cut. Essentially all you are doing is changing your swing plane by changing where your body is pointing. This is a FAR FAR smarter way to alter your ball flight than trying to swing steeper or more flatly to hit a pull cut or push draw because this method will allow you to make the same move every single time, just in a different direction. As long as you remember to point your face at the target and point your body in the direction you want your plane to take, closing the feet to produce a more outward push/draw type swing plane and opening the feet to produce a more vertical pull/cut type of swing plane, you should be able to shape the ball pretty well easily enough.

Sure it does. I'm with Iacas in which I don't recommend doing it by pushing the left arm but there is nothing wrong with lifting the club and letting a good shoulder turn take care of the rest.

Pretty much spot on.

First of all, I have pretty big muscles and big size in general and I shoot free throws like a crazy person. Also see David West from the New Orleans Hornets. He is the best shooting and free throw shooting power forward in the NBA and he's got a body like the Hulk. At the end of the day I would say lift as much weights as you can. Do core/back stuff and leg stuff especially. But stretch religiously too. Make sure you stretch daily.