Learn How to Swing a Golf Club

Many golfers are good athletes in other sports. They excel at some other sport or activity because they rely on their natural abilities. However, when they try to learn how to swing a golf club they listen to too many different sources. As a result, they suffer from paralysis by analysis. They can't begin to learn how to swing a golf club because they are thinking too much and not keeping it simple. 

One of the problems is that we start with something called the golf swing which sounds nice and rhythmic. But what we swing is called a golf club which brings out our primal tendencies to stab and chop at something. Perhaps we should call the golf club a golf instrument so it's easier to think about swinging it. 

The biggest problem with learning to swing a golf club is the plethora of information out there. It is very easy to read back to back articles in popular golf magazines that contradict each other in terms of how to swing a golf club. 

They get into issues like are you a one plane swinger or a two-plane swinger? Are you short and stocky or tall and thin? Then assuming you get assigned the right type of swing to work on, the technical aspects of the technique are overwhelming. The golf swing has been dissected by slow-motion cameras into such minutiae that it is a wonder anyone can learn how to swing a golf club. 

Imagine if someone tried to tell you how to eat with a fork the way they write about swinging a golf club. Keep your head still, flex your right elbow, now extend and pronate your wrist at impact to spear the food, now while bending your right elbow begin to rotate your wrist so the fork and food are presented to the mouth at a 180-degree angle. We would all starve to death! No wonder it's difficult to learn how to swing a golf club. 

So here is a simple swing concept. Imagine you are standing at the address in front of a giant circular clock. The clubhead is at 6 o'clock; your head is at 12 o'clock. You want to start the swing by moving the clubhead back to 9 o'clock. At this point, your hands travel up until they are at 10 o'clock. Your wrists will naturally cock due to the weight of the clubhead. So the clubhead will fall across the top of the clock and be pointing at 1 o'clock. This is the top of your downswing; your hands get no higher than 10 o'clock. To start the downswing you drop your hands back down to 9 o'clock with the clubhead trailing. You release the clubhead so that it travels back to 6 o'clock. The momentum of the swing will naturally bring the clubhead through to 3 o'clock with your hands trailing. This momentum will continue as the club goes up and around and your hands end up around 2 o'clock in the follow through.

This is one simple swing concept designed to help you learn how to swing a club. We didn't talk about weight shift and loading and unloading the shaft etc. It's a simple picture of the path your hands and the clubhead travel in any good golf swing. If you can keep this one clear concept and vision in mind for your swing, you will allow your natural athletic abilities to come through. Your swing will be freer. You will enjoy the game more and actually play golf instead of playing how to make a golf swing.