Making the first move

When you watched the world’s top players of yesteryear there were lots of loose‘armsy’ type swings, but the modern golf swing is much more efficient and we can achieve more consistent results with a simpler movement.

One fundamental to this more repeatable swing is a move away from the ball that is simple yet effective.

As you move away from the ball (pic.1), you should have the feeling of your shoulders, arms and club all moving as one unit. You are looking for very little hand and wrist action during this first stage of the swing.

When your club reaches parallel to the ground it should also be relatively parallel to your target line with the toe of your club pointing just off vertical and your body having remained in posture (pic.2).

The most common fault is when a player over rotates their forearms and makes excessive wrist action during this first stage of the backswing.

When this happens, the clubface will open excessively, and a player’s arms will separate away from their body (pic.3).

This disconnection will make it difficult for a player to time their downswing, resulting in very inconsistent shots, both in direction and contact with the ball.