Game tip: The club is a gun, the ball is a bullet

[sonicblue]

I had this analogy come to me, sort of out of nowhere, but it seemed to register with me. I played yesterday and it helped many times, so I thought I'd share.

In tune with Erik's thread the other day, almost all problems start early. We feel the lousy impact/contact, but the error was likely earlier. It seems to me, that bad swings - especially by high-handicappers, and definitely me a lot of times - come from these simple things:

1) Swinging too hard
2) Swinging with the arms and hands
3) Losing balance

The best shots, in a sense, "surprise you" with how they seem to jump off the clubface, with how the best shots are effortless. It reminded me of a time I went to a gun range with a friend. His quick lesson was, you slowly squeeze the trigger, you let the actual gunshot surprise you.

I think that's what each golf shot is like. You stand there with your weapon. You must have a firm, comfortable grip. Your body must be stable. You must be singularly focused on your target. The motion itself is quiet, steady, balanced, controlled. In the end - *BAM* - the shot goes off, not from your effort, but from the physics of the equipment. Don't get in the way of that, just set it in motion.

The "classic" mistakes of overswinging, etc... are equivalent to your throwing your gun at the target in addition to squeezing the trigger, in the hopes of adding 1 more m/s to the shot speed. Sure, it could help if done exactly right, but do you really feel like you can do it precisely??

A great example of this is a little 8-iron bump-and-run. How many times do you see someone sway toward the target, or flip their hands to scoop, or flat chunk the shot? In reality, almost literally, all you have to do is touch the ball with the clubface, and it will go! I hope this helps some people simplify their mindset, their swing, their game and their results!

[kehanra99]

Some great advice. I've started to realize this recently and have had great increases in accuracy because of it. I've gathered much more power trying to time my hip turn and letting the club follow instead of trying to power through with my shoulder and arms. I added about 10-15 yards to my irons on each club from that alone. I let my arms and club follow naturally and my hip turn supplies the power.

[MrKadash]

Agree with the three points -- I played well last night and found that my balance was especially good. I feel with good balance one's swing plane and ball striking will be much more efficient.