In order to hit consistent shots you need to have good swing mechanics, a solid set-up and a consistent technique, but there are certain overlooked principles that if you follow will give you a great golf swing. When I say that these principles are "overlooked" I mean that you know that you're supposed to follow these principles, but you don't. So in this article I'm going to give you three golf swing lessons which you must follow if you want to produce consistent shots.
Golf Swing Lesson #1 Keep Your Head Still!
Any great golfer will tell you the importance of keeping your head still throughout the swing. Teachers tell you, books tell you and videos tell you, and yet still one of the most common faults amongst golfers is head movement. Moving your head too much causes many problems, thinning the ball, topped shots, shanked shots and more are all caused partly by simply moving your head through the swing.
You see if you move your head then this pulls your whole body out of it's correct posture and stance, this in turn causes your arms and your club to come off of their correct path. When golfers are told to keep their head still in the swing, they tend to think that they have to keep their head rigidly still and this doesn't feel natural, so understandably this puts them off the idea, but what golfers are referring to when they say 'keep your head still' is really 'keep your head steadied'.
You see the golf swing is centred around rotating the body and arms back and through so obviously your head isn't going to remain perfectly still, it's going to pivot a little.
The golf swing should be relaxed so first of all take a look at your posture at address. When viewed in profile your spine and the clubs shaft should create a 90 degree angle, your head should be titled at the same angle as your spine.
In the swing you focus on rotating your body, shoulders and arms around your spinal axis, whilst your spine stays in relatively the same position. The same should be true of your head, I want you to think of your head as an extension of your spine, let your arms and body swing around it, if you do this you will eliminate a lot of problems.
Golf Swing Lesson #2 Don't bend your right arm prematurely
The arms play an important role through the swing, they control movement of the club and the position of the clubface through the swing.
Now most golfers know that as you bring the club back, your left arm remains straight, whilst your right arm bends, but it's really important that you don't bend your right elbow until after the mid point of the backswing, nearer the top of the backswing, this will help to ensure that you get a nice wide arc on the backswing.
So as you bring the club back, the left arm should remain relatively straight throughout the entire backswing but the right arm remains straight until the mid point of the backswing. Then at this point your right elbow begins to bend until it forms a 90 degree angle at the top of the backswing, the elbow should point down towards the floor.
The left arm must remain straight as you bring the club back.
Golf Swing Lesson #3 Don't let your upper body dominate
A lot of golfers have a tendency to allow their upper body to become too dominant in their swing. Now obviously your upper body plays an important role in the swing but when you let your arms become too dominant you're going to encounter problems in your swing.
If you start the golf swing with your arms then the club is going to get further back than your body on the backswing. The arms will end up swinging too far back behind you and therefore you end up in the completely wrong position at the top of the backswing. This leads to slices and hooks.
In order to avoid this problem you really need to get the correct rotation of the body through the swing. So at address your hips and shoulders are parallel. A good backswing should start by rotating the body and moving your arms back in a nice smooth "one-piece" takeaway.
On the backswing the hips complete their rotation before your shoulders. The shoulders continue to rotate until your back is facing your target. The downswing begins by rotating the hips and body towards your target and pushing your weight onto your front foot, back towards your target. The shoulders, arms and hands are then put into action.
This rotation continues back through until impact, continue the follow through until your belly button is facing your target.
Practice...
Follow these golf swing lessons and really put them into action in your game. Get out on the course, practice and have fun.