What are your swing fundamentals?

[kc8kir]

Lots of people are coming up with the "New swing fundamentals" lately, challenging the old-school thinking about the golf swing. I think it would be interesting to hear from everyone what you think the fundamentals of the swing are, say in 3-5 bullet points. I'll give mine to start:

1) Consistent tempo, balance, setup, and posture
2) A smooth takeaway
3) A full release of the swinging club
4) A strike that hits the ball first, then the ground, resulting in forward divots.

What are your "modern swing fundamentals"?

[Jayel]

1) keep everything together... hip pivot/chest turn/arms
2) don't move your head.
3) transferring my weight

those are my three major points, not sure if they are very modern; they don't look it . but those are my fundamentals

[Mr.Wedge]

1) Clear mental concept of the action to be performed.
2) Grip and Posture.
3) Leverage.
4) Coil compression.
5) Viable Range of Motion.
6) Levels.
7) Swing radius.

Some of these terms are likely unfamiliar to most readers, but I believe if these 7 fundamentals are learned and employed, balance will be achieved and all thoughts of "sequencing" become irrelevant, allowing for free and authoritative swinging.

[jambalaya]

1) Square, balanced setup
2) A connected, on plane takeaway
3) Stable, flexed back knee
4) On Tempo downswing

[| Night Foxx |]

1) ease up on the grip
2) shoulder down on upswing
3) keep head down & let body control the follow through

[titaniummd]

1 Firm grip
2 Stable stance
3 Tension free set up
4 One piece takeaway
5 Stable right leg on backswing
6 Hips drive the shoulders, which drive the arms with a connect swing
7 Extension of arms beyond impact
8 Consistent set up and tempo

[ks8829]

alignment
loose grip with proper grip
arm position to ball
shoulder tilt
posture
feet and width of my feet
slow and deliberate take away
elbow close to the body
club position
breaking my wrist and picking up the club
back swing and full shoulder and hip turn
downswing initialed with my hips
head behind the ball and shift the weight forward to my front foot
follow through with hips pointing to the target

[golf_junkie27]

1) Proper Alignment.
2) A smooth takeaway and good shoulder turn.
3) Create some lag and hit through the ball and not "at the ball."
4) A nice, high finish with my midsection pointing at the target.

When all that fails, buy some new clubs.

[Parker0065]

On The Course

1) Aim the clubface at the target then place my feet into postion.

2) Set my posture and balance my weight

3) Finally just pull the trigger, I've been playing too long to think about much else.


During Practice

I will work on certain moves or aspects of the swing but on the course I want it to be more automatic and less thought on swing mechanics.

[Grndslmhttr3]

I try not to think about my swing at the time, but basically, I try to keep an even plane (as in not looping my swing), keep my arms in (no flying elbow nonsense), and following straight through the ball, although a swing is far more complicated than that.

[Ben]

Tempo - Backswing
Hips - Start the Downswing
Fade - Swing plane
Compress - The ball

[tm22721]

My ideal fundamentals are modeled on Hogan's.

Strong grip, single swing plane.

Complete backswing into right leg, right hip rotates backwards to target.

Rotate hips hard to post left hip over left leg ASAP.

Use body pivot to release club low left instead of rolling the forearms.

Keep club connected and synchronized with body throughout.

Keep hands passive in the downswing.

Maintain setup angles throughout.

Maintain lag as long as possible.

[kc8kir]

I'm going to add one more to mine.

5) A feeling of constant connection of the upper arms to ribcage, both arms, for the entire swing. Keeps my swing compact and body controlled. Eliminates excess arm movement and helps the arms follow the body so impact occurs ball then ground. I hit some of my best shots ever yesterday keeping this in mind. It's a keeper.

[Open-Faced Club Sandwedge]

I think the grip depends hugely on personal anatomy; so I won't include it in general fundamentals.

1. Square set-up, body not so close to the ball that the arms don't have room to swing from the inside, and also not so far from the ball that the swing is off balance.

2. Spine tilted slightly away from the target.

3. Takeaway is done by turning the shoulders; not by moving the arms or the hands independently. The triangle of the shoulders and arms should be steady until the club is at least parallel to the ground. The left arms remains straight throughout, meaning the arc remains wide.

4. The shoulder turn is about 90* from target line, the hip turn is about 45* from target line, meaning there is a 45* "coil" in the torso.

5. The downswing starts with the hips and torso rotating together, so that the "coil" is preserved until the release.

6. The shoulders uncoil during the release. The arms follow the shoulders. The hands follow the arms. These movements should be thought of as "passive"; the arms and hands do move, but it shouldn't be done consciously, as the movement will be more coordinated if it's "passive". The other advantage to having the hips pull the shoulders which pull the hands which pull the arms is it avoids swings which are quick from the top or which are over the top.

7. The natural result of the hips starting the downswing is that they will be open at impact. The weight transfer is the natural result of this lower body action. If the hips turn open and then the shoulders/arms swing through, the weight should land on the front foot. It's a symptom of a well coordinated swing.

8. The arms should finish high; this is the result of swinging from the inside, which is the result of the rest of the mechanics. As the arms swing from the inside and extend forward in the release, they'll carry through down the target line and finish high, and you'll get a straight ball or a draw. If they don't, then either the takeaway wasn't unified, or the arms got ahead of the swing, or the shoulders were open at impact, or the ball was too close and the swing had to be pulled out-to-in to meet the ball location. In any of these cases, you probably sliced the ball.

That's how I think of my own golf swing (which I guess is modern; I only learned it this year), fundamentally speaking.

-Andrew

[mikelz]

1. Solid base starting with a right knee that doesn't go anywhere on the backswing.
2. "Feeling" the club slightly shut on takeaway to keep from fanning it.
3. Standing tall to the ball like a player.
4. Setting up in a basic athletic position (as if you were playing defense in basketball - the knee injury that sent me back into golf ).
5. Using the feel of my left thumb to monitor grip pressure, face angle and backswing pace.
7. Using much shoulder turn and little hip turn on the backswing.
8. "Start Behind It - Stay behind It"
9. Most important lesson learned in the past couple of years: Arms hanging straight down and moving closer to the ball. I can trap my wedges better and everything else is a lot straighter.

Summary: my swing fundamentals are all about set up and backswing. When the downswing starts, there's not enough time to think.
It's "Turn your back to the target and hit it time".

[kekoa]

I think the grip depends hugely on personal anatomy; so I won't include it in general fundamentals.

thats good stuff there. #3 is the hardest for me.