Answers for a Better Golf Game

If I ever get around to writing an instruction book, it won’t be in segments of specific technique about drivers, short game, or even putting. It will consist of 4 chapters, asking 4 questions, with advice on how to answer the questions. The four questions address every aspect of the game and the answers hold the solutions to every situation, from full swing to short game, even putting. So here are the “magic 4” and a head start finding some answers to improve your golf game.

Chapter 1.
What does the player do with the clubface on the backswing that has to be undone on the forward swing? All of the information that determines where the ball will go is provided by the movement of the clubface and direction the face is pointed at impact. So to control the golf ball you have to control the clubface.

Chapter 2.
How far can you take the club back on the backswing before you lose your balance? When your body is in motion it is constantly seeking a position of balance. It is what keeps us from falling down. If you are off balance there is nothing you can do to stop your body from finding “on balance”. These adjustments can wreck your golf swing. The off balance issues are always a function of the backswing. For example, too long a backswing is the most common problem we see.

Chapter 3.
How much effort can you use to swing the club before you lose control? This is the rhythm and tempo chapter and is much more important than most players realize. You are probably thinking that this is where I tell you to slow down. Not necessarily, we want all the speed we can get, but at the right time and place. Most of us are too fast, too soon.

Chapter 4.
What is the sequence of motion for your golf swing and from what position does sequence begin? In other words, what moves first, what moves second, and where did the sequence start? Where are we at the end of the backswing, how do we change direction and what body part finishes the swing? A bad sequence or a good sequence from a bad position is by definition a bad golf swing. Answer this question and the riddle of how to swing a golf club is solved.

So I know what you are thinking. What are the answers? The questions are easy. The solutions can be difficult to find, because they are different for each of us. The reason I haven’t written the book is that while there are only 4 Chapters, there is probably 1000 pages of advice on how to solve each chapter. But as you ask the questions the answer to one leads to the solution for the next and in the end you have a golf swing that works for you.