Much is made about the "perfect swing." the unfortunate thing is that it does not exist. Watch tour pros for any length of time and you will find that there are a wide variety of swings on the tour, and all of them work well enough to make those guys a lot of dough. Tiger has a swing that can best be described as 'violent.' Then you have the smooth, still swing of Earnie Els. But there is one thing that ever correct golf swing has in common, and that is the moment of impact.
Yes, you need to address the ball properly and have a grip that isn't goofy. And you need to take the club back on relatively the right path. You certainly can't open your hips way too soon and all of those hundred other tips you've heard, but the most important thing is to do the right thing with your hands when you strike the ball. You're far better off hitting the ball 200 yards right down the middle of the fairway than you are smashing it 300 yards with a wicked slice.
let's start with your grip. Interlocked, overlap, all of that doesn't matter as much as getting your grip neutral between your hands and then weakening that grip the closer you get to the green. Let's start wiht the hand neutrality. Take a sheet of paper and hold it between your palms. That's the idea of keeping your hands neutral in relation to each other. You will never strike the ball with any consistency if one hand is open and the other closed. Your palms should always be facing each other so that they can turn through the ball in concert.
Next, the further away you are form the cup, the stronger your grip needs to be. That doesn't mean to hold onto the club like grim death. What it does mean is that you need to open your hands more so that you can turn them through the ball with more or less ferocity at the point of impact. Grip a club and look at the "V" created between your thumb and forefinger. A strong grip will point that "V" toward the right shoulder (for right handed golfers) while a weaker grip will move the "V" more toward pointing at your chin. The stronger your grip, the easier it is to turn your wrists at impact, which generates more speed and distance. But you don't want to use a strong grip and a wicked wrist flip for your sand wedge, save it for your driver and long irons.
So now we get to the moment of impact. Regardless of swing plane and other mechanics, studies have shown that the one thing that all tour pros have in common is the three inches on either side of the ball - that "moment of impact." Every single swing boils down to what happens in that six inches. The head of the club may move as much as 12 feet during the entire swing, but those six inches are the only ones that matter. In those six inches, the club head should go from about 6-9 degrees open to 3 degrees closed through the moment of impact.
So what does that mean to you? How does this help you to make a more correct golf swing? Because it's all in your hands. Most players don't know how to "open" the club face on the back sing and then "close" it through impact. But the cool thing is that if you can learn that, it will help more than anything else you can do with the rest of your swing. So let's go back to our piece of paper.
Grab a piece of paper between your palms and pretend to make a golf swing with it. A the top of your back swing you should be able to read something written on the side of the left hand (again, right handers here) and after impact you should be able to read something on the other side. To get the feel for this, hold the paper out in front of you with your left hand on top, then flip it so that your right hand is on top. That's what you're trying to do through the moment of impact. On your back swing turn the paper one way, and through the ball try to "flip" it over so you can read the other side.
When the club face strikes the ball a few degrees open but closing fast the ball will go straight where you are aiming it. If you hit it to the right you will know that you either aimed right or didn't flip your hands at the right time. Ever spend entire rounds having no idea what you were doing wrong? If you concentrate on your hands you will always know what you did wrong, as well as how to fix it. So go ahead and get a few pointers on the erst of your swing, but work on those hands and you'll find that you will strike the ball better than ever before. The correct golf swing for you is the one that lowers your score - you can work on making the tour later.
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