lolzzlolzz

A lot of people want to improve, but they don't want to practice. This = laziness. This is fine; if you don't like to practice you shouldn't force yourself to go and hit balls. But when you do hit balls, even if it's just three balls a day, make the best of it. Think in terms of what caused your bad swing, not the result of your bad swing. If you will do that you will improve. You can't help but improve. How fast you improve depends on how on how much you practice. Practice is the mother of all skills; your base of improvement should be practice! Don't go out on the course and expect results if you didn't put in the hours and hundreds of thousands of balls that the rest of us put into it, it just wont happen. And don't forget to practice!

Very good! I played with a set of clubs (Driver, woods, irons, putter) that I got from Walmart for $150 until I started scoring in the 70's. If only everyone else had the same attitude!

Lol, before you spend money on non-golf related items, pick up a book that teaches the whole swing from start to finish and practice every day. Anyone with a correct swing will be long AND straight.

It's a form of the waggle. The waggle plays a role in the shot.

A lot of people have tried this... proving that what Hogan said and what he did were different. Hogan's explanation for this, and he did tell some people this, was that he was not physically capable in the state he was in (after the car accident). He had to make adjustments during his swing to achieve the results he wanted. Basically, he was trying to teach everyone the swing that he would have used if he was physically capable.

Simplest way is to put it at the lowest point in your swing, which, if you're swinging correct, should be somewhere off your left heel. I never understood why people would change ball position for different clubs.

This has probably been asked, but the thread is 20 pages long. Are they allowed to speed?

It's good that you ask this, because Ben Hogan described the exact same problem in his book 5 Lessons. To quote: So, basically, you use an open stance for the iron clubs from the six iron down to the wedges. The shorter the club, the more open your stance should be. You will lose distance, because you have placed a further restriction on the length of your arc, but you will make up for it in accuracy and timing.

Full shots (driver and irons). You use the same swing to make it simple. Once you can break 80, start working on your putting and short game. I never visited the putting or chipping green until I was scoring in the mid 70's.

I agree. What I explained was just an imagination or visualization that a golfer can use to properly execute hip movement. I think golf is a lot easier when you strive to create repeatable feelings, instead of trying to memorize positions. Your explanation is spot on though; I agree with every bit of it.

Here's a method that works providing your back swing is correct. Remember that your back swing can only be correct if your stance and posture is correct, which can only be correct if your grip is correct! Anyway, the "method that works:" Step one: Find your left hip bone... Step two: Imagine that, at address, you are standing in front of a wall, with your back facing the wall. Step three: Imagine that, at address, you have a very strong resistance band connected to your left hip bone. The other end of the band is connected to the wall directly behind your left hip. Step four: Take your back swing and normal hip turn. Feel the resistance band lengthen out with a huge amount of tension that is fighting to come back. This is your "coil." Step five: Let the power of the resistance band bring your hips back. At this point, your left hip will shoot back. It will turn back to the left extremely fast (or as Tiger woods would say, "as fast as they can possibly go.") At the same time, your weight is transferred from your right foot to the left foot. It is extremely important to have enough lateral motion (motion from the right side of your body to the left side of your body) to bring the weight onto the left foot. This lateral motion and the turning of the left hip happens at the same time. When you do this correctly, you will find that your hands are at about hip level. You right shoulder will have dropped below your left shoulder and your hips will be cleared out of the way so that you feel you can hit nothing but the ball. You will feel loaded with energy, and you will have a feeling of freedom to strike the ball cleanly time and time again.

I agree with your argument. And to hopefully answer your question(s): A correct swing will be powerful and accurate. You will find that the harder you hit the ball, the more confident you will be that it will go straight. Many mid/high handicappers think their swings are correct because they are accurate, but not powerful. They swing at 60-70%, and rely on hand action to bring the face square. Thus, some days they have it, but on most days they are making mistakes on both sides of the fairways. A correct swing, however, is simple, powerful, accurate, and repeatable . This is why I recommended you "fix your swing" in the first post (and I also recommend you get Ben Hogan's 5 Lessons to do this!). Too add to this: as a beginner, I suggest you go ahead and swing away at the ball. Teach yourself to swing fast; swing out of your shoes! This will build explosive strength throughout the body. When you finally fix your swing, you will be happy you did this. It is always easier to tone it down later than to try add distance later because you taught your body to swing slow at the start. Also, you will truly know if your golf swing is improving because, as I said before, with a correct swing, you will be able to swing "out of your shoes" and still hit the ball straight.

Can someone explain why the hands need to face each other? Mine are not; my left V points to the right eye while my right V points directly to my chin. Also, I can't stop stating this... the only thing you need to score in the 70's consistently is a simple and fundamentally correct swing .

Fix your swing. All good swings are powerful. You may not be as long as a pro, but you will be long and straight.

You must first understand what causes the right shoulder to drop. You see, the dropping of the right shoulder is the result of the movement of the lower body, mainly the hips. The hips turn back to the left, which drops the right shoulder and brings the hands to about hip level . This is the key here. The shoulders, arms, and hands do nothing active until the hips bring them to about hip level. Timing important as well, which adds to your problem. Practice in slow motion. So two important things: 1) Start the downswing by turning the hips back to the left, and transferring weight to the left foot. This happens at the same time. 2) Once your hands reach hip level, swing at the ball with your arms and hands. So your problem seems to be timing, but I also wanted to explain the dynamics of the downswing to make it clear that the shoulders follow the hips. Again, slow motion will help a ton.

Do you have average coordination? If you do then do yourself a favor and get Ben Hogan's 5 Lessons because it is entirely possible for a man or woman with average coordination to break 80 in 6 months of practice . You may be hopeless, but you're probably not. The golf swing is simple, and that's all you really need to play good golf.

Yes, I tried this now and the club face did close. At address, your hands should follow your arms. Your left arm should be fully extended, while the right arm should be slightly bent. Your left elbow should point directly to your left hipbone, while your right elbow should point directly to your right hipbone. Then, examine your club face, it should now be square.

Elbow pain is usually the result of problems in the wrist, tricep, or shoulder (or all of them). For example, the wrist wrist is very tight, so the elbow compensates by becoming "mobile." The elbow, however, is made for stability, not mobility, so pain and injury happens. You need to stretch your wrists, shoulders, and triceps. Search google for how to do this. Also search "shoulder dislocation exercise" for a nice shoulder stretch. I'd stay away from pain killers and braces. You need to treat the cause of the pain, not the pain itself. Ice is okay though. Only after exercise and never for more than 15 minutes.

For the right hand grip, wrap your middle and ring finger around the club, than fold your right hand over your left thumb. You can then lay/wrap your thumb and index finger around the club, and they will be in position. Remember the V points directly to your chin. There is no conscious hand action in the golf swing. You square the club automatically. How your club goes into the ball is already decided in the waggle. Just initiate your hips, then think of one thing: hitting the ball. Remember the hands follow the arms. I don't understand your setup question... But if you're asking "how do you set up to the ball" then here's the answer: Hogan mentions this in the book. He says that before you walk up to the ball you should already have your grip in your hand. Then, you square the club face to the ball. Then you align your body to the club face.

It comes down to: -strength -power -how good your swing is Since you're a beginner, I recommend you swing at the ball as hard as you can while you practice. Really... swing out of your shoes. Many make the mistake of swinging too easy when they start golf. Then when they become better, it will be hard for them to reach their swing speed potential without tough swing changes. Also, when you swing hard, you really get a feeling if you're improving or not. With a sound swing, you know, you will be able to swing as hard as you want. I feel I can hit it longer and straighter the harder I swing at the ball, because my muscles will be working together and moving freely. Also, I don't think flexibility plays that big of a role in it. Part of having a powerful swing is limiting your range of motion to create power. You don't really need more than 90 degrees of shoulder turn to drive it 300+

His swing was amazing. At only 135 lbs he could hit his crappy driver 300+ yards when he wanted to. Not a perfect swing, but the best I've ever seen... and the statistics show it. People would talk about Hogan's "secret" because he was able to return after his accident and play better than before. He would tell the media and his playing parters that he has a secret, and this drove everyone crazy.

Don't think about the head. If your swing is sound, your head will stay still on the back swing and for most of the downswing. When you're swinging correctly you can't help but keep your head still and looking at the ball.

I would give any beginner the same advice. Drop the lessons, get Ben Hogan's 5 Lessons, and practice for 30 minutes every day... paying close attention to the text in capital letters. You don't always have to hit balls, but at least swing the club and check yourself in mirror. If you want, try it yourself first. You will be scoring in the 70's in 6 months I promise, as long as you apply yourself patiently and intelligently. You'll rediscover golf... no- you'll discover golf for the first time!

Dynamic stretches for hips. Search "dynamic hip mobility stretches" on google to find some. Some good ones: -leg swings, front and side to side -split squats -lateral squats Also, for your shoulders and shoulder blades, I recommend shoulder dislocations. Search "shoulder dislocation stretch" on google. Don't warm up with static stretches, these will cause injury. Static stretches improve your range of motion, but they do not teach your body how to stabilize in these positions. Dynamic stretches do. Repeated use of dynamic stretches may increase your swing speed as well. And please do not ever bend down to touch your toes, or do any of those prone cobra stretches. If you want a healthy back, stop stretching it. So, to sum it up: -you may want to warm up but it's not necessary. -do a set of shoulder dislocations with a broomstick or rope or something -do a couple dynamic hip/hamstring stretches -never stretch your spine/back. This means don't round it or hyper extend it; also, don't over rotate it. -focus on quality of stretches, not quantity.

There are only 7 or 8 things you really need to focus on to produce a sound swing. -grip -stance + posture -waggle -starting the back swing with the hands, arms, shoulders, and hips in that order -back swing plane -starting the down swing with the hips -supination of the left wrist -hitting through the ball in one cohesive movement So the first three I have taken care of before I hit the ball. That leaves five others, and if I do a few of them right, I can't help but do the others right. I'm not saying you should be thinking of these eight things. My point is that you need to keep things as simple as possible. I don't believe in the whole "relax" and "confidence" thing. You relax when you're at home watching football. But in golf, there is something to do, rather than something not to do, so your body and mind must be active, almost "tense." As for confidence, it all relies on your swing. If you have a simple and correct swing, I thoroughly believe that the more pressure you put on it, the better it will perform. To sum things up: considering most players like myself do not have hours and hours to practice their swing every day, it's perfectly alright to bring swing thoughts onto the course, as long as they are correct, simple, and repeatable .