Our Authentic Swing !

[Uncle Lau]

What is our Authentic Swing ?

From my understanding is that the very 1st time we pick up a club and swing at a golf ball....thats our DNA Authentic swing.

We go thru swing coaches is to improved it to the next few level, hopefully closed to perfection !

For me, i keep changing and toying my golf swings, i guess it because of my work related occupation....that i keep changing things to improved the situation.

Do you have your own Authentic Swing or it just a Golf Urban myth ?

[BostonSully]

I have a purely authentic swing. No lessons here ever. Just keep developing what feels rite I also read the posts here and watch teh golf channel/golf mags and play with kids who played on HS golf teams(not good ones but w/e) I usually beat them now.

[xxsoultonesxx]

All I can say is that I'm glad I don't have that swing anymore. Although I've never had a problem making contact with the ball.

[Zeph]

I don't buy into authentic/natural swing stuff. First time anyone swings a club, the result is most likely less than good. Everyone got an individual starting point, meaning some will pick up on it easier than others, but every swing is a result of a lot of changes from the first swing.

[ohiolefty]

Authentic Swing? Authentic shite. Without trying to figure out what you're doing through trial and error and/or receiving coaching, there aren't many athletic processes that you can become passable at...maybe with the exception of running/sprinting until you reach a certain level where you do need some technical instruction.

[bullseye]

Lee trevino when asked why he never had a swing coach said---find one that can beat me and I'll listen to him.

[Ben]

You know, this is a very timely post and something I've really been thinking hard about lately. I wouldn't classify authentic swing as very first time swing, because there is clearly tons of room for improvement as a beginner in this game. I'm a pretty advanced player and I still find myself toying around with my swing from time to time. Most recently I've been working pretty hard on my move through the impact zone. But when it comes down to it, I play my best when I just take my natural swing, or as you put it, my "authentic swing". More to the point, as I stated in the "I beat golf" thread I just made. I had a great round on Tuesday and a ridiculously awesome 9 holes of golf today. These rounds were get my yardage, take a couple of practice swings, look at my target and fire away. I also stated that in between on Wed and Thurs I spent hours on the range then took that to the course focusing hard on mechanics and what I worked on on the range, golf though, absolute garbage. Throw-up, disgusting, pull out my hair, pathetic. I say "yes" to the authentic swing!

[Zeph]

But your swing is a result of lots of changes you have made up till now. Just because something you've worked on recently on the range, which might not even be something you want to do, doesn't work on the course, that does not mean the "normal" swing is your first swing.

Of course swinging the way you have for a long time is more comfortable and may work out better than recent changes you've been attempting. That just means you either are not doing it right, or the move is not good afterall.

I'm sure your swing is nothing like it was the first time you picked up a club. It does have some individual stuff that only your swing does, probably most of all in how it feels to you, but it's a molded swing. Doesn't matter if this is through error and trial or using static positions with a video camera f.i.

[WUTiger]

A golf pro I went to about 1994 explained it like this: If you have time to hit 400 balls a couple of times a week, you can pretty well swing any way you want.

But, if you have other commitments, it helps to have good fundamentals and a repeating swing - that thing I'm seeking.

For everyone who is self-taught and plays well, there's two dozen people who would be better starting off with lessons.

[jamo]

I think your "authentic" or "natural" swing changes over the years as you ingrain swing changes. For example, I'm working on a couple of things right now but if I decided to just pick up the clubs and swing at the ball in a "natural" movement, it would be much different if I were to have done the same thing 5 years ago. And next year, once I ingrain the things that I am working on, my "natural" swing will be different.

[kafka01]

I have to agree with Ben on this one - Authentic Swing it is. I can literally name guys in my club by there swing, i could do this 3 years ago - i can do this 5 years from now, doesnt matter how many balls they beat or how many lessons they take. That doesnt mean they dont improve their ball striking, but their original look of the swing will stay the same. Looking at my swing 1 year ago and now, i´m shocked how similar it looks, yet i hit the ball much better. Looking at impact, i indeed see an improvement, but thats something you wont be able to catch with the naked eye, only as a result in ball flight.

What you will frequently see are backswings and finishes, and as i read a comment of Johnny Miller yesterday - doesnt matter what you do you on your backswing, you have the strangest backswings make it work, what matters is after the backswing and thats what most people cant see.

Tiger went through some coaches over time, yet to the naked eye (and without slowmotion cameras) his swing appears rather similiar in certain positions - its just what he learned as a kid and grew up with, and changing it to a big degree is not possible.

[iacas]

I have to agree with Ben on this one - Authentic Swing it is. I can literally name guys in my club by there swing, i could do this 3 years ago - i can do this 5 years from now, doesnt matter how many balls they beat or how many lessons they take. That doesnt mean they dont improve their ball striking, but their original look of the swing will stay the same.

My swing looks different than a year ago. Some of the students we've taught, their swings look different. Notably different.

I think all you're seeing is the fact that golfers don't truly ever really get better because they don't ever change their swings. There's no "authentic" swing. Ben was talking about a swing free of swing thoughts, that's how it struck me.

[kurisu]

And anyway, to truly see your "authentic" swing, you'd need to be completely "blank", i.e. never have seen someone else swing, even pictures of a swing, read anything, etc. As iacas pointed out in another earlier thread, we're pretty good at mimicking and reproducing what we see others do, consciously or unconsciously. (whether we are actually really reproducing what we see is a different issue. But at least people THINK they are reproducing what they see/read)