What comes naturally is good for you

Over the last three weeks, I’ve been coaching a couple of juniors down in Hua Hin. Day after day, we travel to Black Mountain Golf Club and never had a day that we didn’t enjoy.

I’ve mentioned before that “keeping up original intended standards” for any golf club is not easy as the years tick by for management to continually maintain, but this Swedish-owned project has done better than most.

It was lovely to be asked by several visiting Swedish golfers at Black Mountain if I was related to Douglas Brasier, who designed around 30 of Sweden’s original golf courses.

My uncle was so upset on missing out on a club professional’s job at a famous course in England back in 1929 that he applied for a club professional’s position in Sweden — he was successful and stayed there for the rest of his life.

I’ve talked about how the swing should be when completed.

Today it’s all about how your top of the swing positioning should be “in a perfect world”.

Much has been written on the benefits of keeping your left heel down, or not, when you reach the top. There are plenty of good players who raise the heel or keep it planted on the ground, and I, as a teacher, believe you should stick to what comes naturally.

The right knee does not (or should I say should not) stiffen backwards during the backswing as this will lock the swing.

There should always be a feeling of flexibility in both knees. Although you’ll feel pressure on your neck when you’ve reached the top, try to keep it as near centrally in the stance as possible.

The left wrist has cocked fully and the right has hinged in agreement, enabling the shaft of the club to point towards your target line while virtually parallel to the ground.

In order to keep a reasonably straight left arm at the top, your shoulders must turn at least 90 degrees. The hip turn should be never more than half that of the shoulders and there should be free movement here as they turn into the backswing.

Out of Bounds: The following quote about life is perhaps aptly applicable when signing for a particularly bad round — “The most difficult phase of life is not when no one understands you, it is when you don’t understand yourself.”