Today's tip comes from an email that George Miller sent to me a couple of weeks ago. I really like this one because it has to do with setup and you know how important I believe that is to making a good swing. (Does "The setup determines the motion" ring any bells?)
"Surge,
How do you set up? Do you take practice swings? if so, where do you stand when doing them? When do you stand behind ball facing the hole to figure out your swing line, before or after practice swings? Basically, please show us what you do from the time you get to the tee until you hit the ball.
On another matter, the vertical swing makes golf so much easier. Thanks so much!"
OK, everyone, let's run through what I consider to be the four elements of how to make a perfect practice swing since I firmly believe that "Perfect Practice Makes For A Perfect Swing".
- Determine the shot you want to hit. There are a lot of things to take into consideration here--wind direction and speed, both at the ball and at your target, yardage, the shot shape needed, and any terrain features around your target that will impact where the ball ultimately comes to rest. All of these factors result in club selection and swing speed.
- Stand behind the ball to get your aiming line. Once you get a sense of the line, pick a spot on the ground no more than 2'-3' in front of the ball that you can use to square the club along the aiming line when you get into your final setup position. Double check the accuracy of your choice of spot by using your club to line up the ball, your spot and the target. You will be surprised how often you will be wrong if you trust your eyes only!
- Your practice swing should be only 20%-30% of full power. The purpose of the ideal practice swing is not to generate the actual swing speed you've already determined you need. Rather it is to get your body to feel the coordinated set of movements that lead to a perfect swing. The operative word here is "feel" and I think that swinging at full power often masks our ability to develop that properly.
- Make your practice swing(s) at the ball, not away from it. Research has shown that players can hold the "feel" of a good practice swing for about 10 seconds, after that the effects dissipate. So being in close proximity to the ball is very important. Equally important is that we need to get a feel for what the terrain might do to our dynamic balance as we swing. It's one thing to be swinging on perfectly flat ground, but it's an altogether different thing if the ball is resting on an uphill or downhill slope or if we are standing off the fairway, say in an area under trees with a lot of leaves and twigs on the ground.
George, I hope this helps you establish a good setup routine so that you can hit 'em long and straight!
As this is the last post of 2011, I join my family and the entire Swing Surgeon staff in wishing every member of the Surge Nation all the best for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012!
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
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