How to get your swing back on track when the wheels fall off

Okay, we've all been there.  Your game has been pretty good lately, and you've been hitting it well.  But all of a sudden, one day, you get out there and it's like you've never hit a golf ball before.   So you try this, and try that, but nothing can salvage your swing.  What do you do now?

Answer:  You review the fundamentals.  All of them.  Chances are that you have only slipped back into doing one or two of those old bad habits.  And once you've identified the specific offenders and eliminated them, it's back to the solid game that you normally enjoy.

Keep the following list of essential fundamentals in your golf bag.  And the next time your swing goes on holiday, you go to work as Detective Swing-Meister, and put that runaway train back on track.

============= Backswing Essentials  ============
 

• Start the backswing by rotating your chest along the axis of your spine.
• Restrict the rotational movement of your hips.  They will eventually turn, but don't allow them to freely follow the hips at the start.
• Keep your arms in the same position relative to your chest.  Do not pull them to your right.
• The movement of the arms is to lift straight up, again, relative to your chest.  Remember, the role of the chest is to rotate clockwise, and then counterclockwise.  The role of the arms is to raise and lower vertically.
• The right knee must remain solid, like concrete.  The angle formed by the lower and upper parts of the right leg should remain constant throughout the backswing.
• Pay attention to the left inside edge of your right foot.  It should feel as if the weight is concentrated upon that area.  Never allow the weight to shift to the outside.
• A fairly straight left arm is important, but don't overdo it.  Too much tension is a bad thing, but don't under-do it either.  Excessive arm bend is to also be avoided.
• One top essential is grip pressure.  It must be applied just enough so that the club is not flopping around.   And it must not be allowed to escalate going back.  This might be a challenge for some players.  Practice a light grip while swinging all the way back to the top.

• The first movement in the forward swing is the hips slowing shifting left along their diagonal angle they turned back to, which is generally a line that can be drawn somewhere between the  target line and the ball.
• As the hips start to move diagonally left, the right knee holds it's place.  It does not move forward at this time.
• The head also must stay back, like the right knee does.  You must fight the temptation and not allow the upper body to move forward.  It must stay back.
• The left hip actually starts to turn in a arc back to the left instead of a straight line, so as to rotate the hips counter-clockwise back to their starting position.  But you should think in terms of starting diagonally so as not to make the mistake of moving left and back, which would move you backwards away from the ball.
• The left knee is moved to your left by the left hip to it's starting position also.  This has the effect of the knees spreading at the beginning of the forward swing.
• The arms must not be swung down and forward and the shoulders must not independently turn until the left knee is back at it's starting position.  Of course since the hips have turned, the shoulders and arms will have been brought about somewhat in a passive manner.
• When the left knee is back left and the hips are facing forward towards the ball again, the left knee braces like the right had going back, and the right hip pivots out towards the ball and towards the target.  Think of the left hip as the hinge on a door, and the right hip as the doorknob side of the door.
• As the "door" swings forward on the hinge as described above, the arms then also swing down and forward, as they are now positioned to swing straight down the target line.
• To recap, the sequences described above are:  Left hip arcs left until left knee braces, and then the right hip swings out and around at the same time as the arms swing down and forward.
• The hands do not apply any sort of hit on their own.  It's the timing of all the other body components that makes the club shaft un-cock itself and swing the club head into the ball.
• The hands must resist the urge to increase grip pressure during the downswing.  If pressure increases, the shaft cannot un-cock itself, resulting in mis-hits, blocks and fades to the right, and a great loss of distance.
• Again, the head and upper body must not move forward towards the target during the forward swing until after the ball has been struck and is on it's way.

Be true to yourself by following through on this, and it will be far and in-between relapses of bad habits paying an unwelcome return visit.

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