Fundamentals of the Golf Swing
Fundamentals of the Golf Swing
Owen McClain, PGA Instructor
Moses Lake Golf Club
Being quite familiar with the "do it yourself" approach to learning the golf swing, I completely understand it's benefits. Save some money, gain the satisfaction of the learning process, work on your own terms, and enjoy the satisfaction of "I did it myself" achievement. Instructional information is certainly abundant via multiple forms of media. And saving that money will help when its time for new clubs, right?
If only it were that simple. There are major problems with the approach, not the least of which is that you cannot see yourself, and even with video you wouldn't be able to differentiate cause and effect, flaw versus idiosyncracy, law versus principal versus preference, or connect ball flight to swing without very expensive equipment. Sending a video to an on line lesson business is also a waste of money for some of the same reasons, particularily in separating an idiosyncracy which is sound, from that which is a problem. And when you get stuck, you'll likely waste hundreds, if not thousands of dollars thinking that better clubs will help you find the answer.
Another serious downside is what I'll call "the digitalis" principal: If you have a bad heart and the doctor prescribes digitalis, great! But what happens when you give that same prescription to a healthy patient? When a book or video instructs a player to make a certain motion, the player who is already doing so will only mess things up in trying to comply. We all have strengths and weaknesses; we're all different. I earn my money knowing when to instruct, and when NOT to.
But if you must be a do-it-yourselfer, I can offer this advice: Don't throw up the walls of your house before you've spent sufficient time setting up and pouring your foundation.
It's so tempting to give a little time to grip, stance, etc, and then move on to the movements and sequences of the golf swing. Armed with a Faldo or Leadbetter video, or the Golf for Dummies book, we can theoretically go through the entire swing piece by piece and create a masterpiece. Maybe not a tour swing, but good enough. And I can only smile, because just as you wouldn't learn how to run by finding a medical manual describing the biomechanics of running, you won't learn to swing a golf club that way either. On the other hand, if you throw everything you've read into the garbage can and pretend everything you know is wrong (you'll be right), three basic fundamentals properly executed will cause 90% of a good golf swing to happen all by itself. A square, level foundation MAKES the walls want to go up straight.
When I take on a new student, there may be twenty "wrong" things with their swing, but I could care less until they a) have a proper grip, b) have a proper starting position (address and posture), and c) have a flawless finishing position. These are the three most basic fundamentals to learn. They are so important that I won't even allow a student to hit a ball unless they DON"T CARE about the result! Concern over the result before fundamentals are mastered is a complete waste of time.
Many theorists believe that if the positions of the swing are learned, the finish will take care of itself. I won't disagree, but my philosophy is that focus on a good finish will NECESSITATE most of the elements of a good swing. If you have a proper grip, start from a good position, and end in a correct place, how far astray can you possibly go?
(Owen McClain is the only PGA member to complete the PGA's final tests for knowledge with perfect scores. He's available to help you with your golf. For more information, go to www.owenmcclaingolf.com.)