Swing, Don't Hit.

[David in FL]

That's the thing though.. could you or I or anyone else as a matter of fact tell the difference between though two (with the knowledge that I am conceding that there are swingers and hitters and they are not the same)?

Only the individual. It's a matter of the feel/thought that works for them. I've tried to just make a swing and "let the ball get in the way". Inevitably, the ball doesn't do it's part! :no:

[Lihu]

Only the individual. It's a matter of the feel/thought that works for them. I've tried to just make a swing and "let the ball get in the way". Inevitably, the ball doesn't do it's part!

You need to punish it!

[David in FL]

You need to punish it! :-$

That may be part of my problem. I don't hit it hard enough to punish it. No fear..... :-(

[Zeph]

They say that there are swingers, and there are hitters.

Like you, I'm a hitter.

And some also say everyone is a bit of both.

IIRC, TGM defines it as a swinger uses his left arm and hitter uses a right arm, but how does one quantify this? Everyone is obviously using both arms.

[Paiste]

"Swing, Don't Hit"

is this a reality?  I don't think it is personally.

In fact, when ever I have a good shot and I'm talking to my self I'll say, man that was a good "hit".. or I'll say to a partner of mine "hey, you hit that good"

When I'm getting ready to hit the ball, am I thinking to my self.. just swing?  No, I'm thinking hit that damn ball..

Maybe this is too philosophical, because in the end it doesn't even really matter if you swing or try to hit because everyone is different, but I've read and heard about the idea of swinging rather than hitting and I personally just don't get it..

Anyway.. moving on!

I guess it can go either way. You hear some guys say, "He put a good swing on it" or "He struck that well". I guess I'm just leaning towards the swing and not the hit. Maybe there is no difference to a lot of people but to me there is. I feel that when I hit the ball that the ball is my target and it feels like I'm getting stuck at impact because once I hit the ball the objective is completed. When I'm swing the club I feel like I'm swinging to the target, the ball is in the path of the swing and I release the club to the target not the ball. Does that make any sense?

[Paiste]

Anyway, back to the real topic of discussion. This was my fourth day in a row at the range working hard on tension and temp my ball striking is steadily improving. I see a good difference in consistency for sure. This isn't a quick swing fix or a momentary lapse of luck. This is due to hard work and actually performing drills and a sound practice regimen at the range, not just beating balls for 3 hours.

Say what you will, I've worked extremely hard and it's paying off. I'm not getting ahead of myself because I know that there still is a LONG road ahead with a steep learning curve.

[AmazingWhacker]

Swing don't hit . . .how many times have I heard that?  It's one of those pieces of advice that's near impossible to understand until you do  . . .so it's a crap tip, in my book.  These days I do feel like I understand what it means . .but there's basically no way for a beginner to understand what the heck it means.  I remember saying to my first golf teacher . ."don't hit the ball? Should I miss it?"   To me at least - its one of those things you realize you are doing well after you start doing it . .and not before.

[Abu3baid]

Swing don't hit . . .how many times have I heard that?  It's one of those pieces of advice that's near impossible to understand until you do  . . .so it's a crap tip, in my book.  These days I do feel like I understand what it means . .but there's basically no way for a beginner to understand what the heck it means.  I remember saying to my first golf teacher . ."don't hit the ball? Should I miss it?"   To me at least - its one of those things you realize you are doing well after you start doing it . .and not before.

well at least someone is starting to understand what it means.. :)

I still don't.. as I don't see the difference between the two.. and I hit the ball, or try to anyway :)

[ay33660]

"Swing, don't hit" is a phrase that I've come across about 1000 times since I started playing golf. I knew what it meant or what the meaning of it was but for the longest time, up until recently, my brain could not process the ideology behind it. There were times when I thought to myself, "There's no difference between swinging and hitting as the objective is the same." Wow, was I wrong.

For the last year, I've been a fairly solid ball striker but if I was to hit 10 balls in a row, I would say 6 would be solid, 2 would be a slight mishit and 2 would be brutally topped. I worked relentlessly on fundamentals, took lessons, you name it but I couldn't become more consistent. This is until 3 days ago. After watching a video on tension in the golf swing, the saying "Swing don't hit" finally dawned on me. It felt like a revelation. I immediately grabbed an iron, went out in my backyard and practiced my swing while eliminating all tension. It felt like how a golf swing is supposed to feel.

On my way to the range, I was thinking, "Is this what I've been looking for? Is all this hard work going to pay off today?" Holy s**t did it ever. It was/is unbelievable. Effortless power, no more trying to muscle the ball. I finally understand what "Golf Swing" means. Now, I would say maybe 1 or 2 shots out of ten are either a top or a mishit and that's because I allow some tension to leak back into my swing, creating problems (the other 8 or 9 shots are not all pure but they are solid strikes). I have never felt so confident over the ball. I know that there is still many things to work on but this was a HUGE step in becoming a better player.

Hopefully, when I play my next round, I can relax and allow myself to "Swing" the club, therefore crating better shots, opportunities and better rounds. Just thought I'd share that with you guys. It's an unbelievable feeling to finally comprehend this. Cheers.

I had a similar moment last year.

For me it was related to grip strength. You know the saying that you should hold a golf club as tight as you would hold a bird.

Well I could never figure that one out.

That is until early last year.

For me at least, the concept of a light grip was not so much as how light my hand was griping the club rather it was the amount of tension in my forearms.

Once I reduced the tension in my forearms I was able to release the club vs. hitting the ball like a hockey slap shot.

[dchoye]

Ay33. That's exactly my feeling too My forearm muscle will tighten up when the club is released by CF and max tightened at collision of the ball The grip pressure tightens up at impact not by my hand muscles gripping tighter but by forearm muscles taunting up

[mvmac]

For me it was related to grip strength. You know the saying that you should hold a golf club as tight as you would hold a bird.

Well I could never figure that one out.

That is until early last year.

For me at least, the concept of a light grip was not so much as how light my hand was griping the club rather it was the amount of tension in my forearms.

Good thread here

[vangator]

I have in the past used "Pro Grip" (like pine tar) on my grip and hands to increase the grip on the club without choking it to death. Useful on real humid sweaty days. The last round I played started out so well with grip pressure, tension and swing, but the course was so wet and it was so hot it became a problem to hold on to the club. Every part of me was soaked. Can't wait for winter to get here.