How to reduce tension in my swing

[jack1]

Any tips please??

 

[Sats]

Breathe during your swing. Try to develop a natural rhythm in your swing.

 

[jmf1488]

Don't grip the club to tight. Trust the swing. It might feel like you cant do it with soft hands but a bit of blind faith and practise and youll get the tension out. Soft hands are the key.

 

[hovis]

Do you mean tension as in nerves or tension as in muscle tightness?

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Try to let the club sit loosely in your fingers at address. Overly loose to keep the tension out of your arms and grip. Tighten a little when you swing but this will help.

I also try to think of some of the easy swinging golfers when I swing as well. Think of Fred Couples or Monty rather than Bryson or Rory.

I have had tennis elbow previously through squeezing the life out of clubs so this was forced upon me. It is surprising how much better and further you hit it when relaxed. It is an ongoing battle but well worth the effort.

 

[sunshine]

A relaxing aromatherapy massage and a hot bath with candles

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

A relaxing aromatherapy massage and a hot bath with candles

Once had a brilliant and relaxing body massage very shortly before teeing off...I was like a string puppet in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to work one...relaxed? Just a bit...I was all over the place.

 

[sunshine]

Tiger used to find waitresses were really good at relieving tension

 

[BigEasy71]

Try taking a big deep breathe in while setting up then exhaling just before and during your swing. If you're tense you could be holding your breathe during your swing making the tension worse. Or alternatively try fully exhaling before you swing.

 

[Foxholer]

Tiger used to find waitresses were really good at relieving tension

They had to be really fugly though!

As for the OP's question...
What 'tension' are you trying to reduce? The Golf swing, as with any athletic movement, is all about applying tension.....correctly!
Edit: See SILH's post for confirmation!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Don't ground the club. Waggle it off the ground as you start the swing

 

[Doh]

Soft hands.

 

[ScienceBoy]

The solution here is practice, tension is rooted in your mental approach and your practice.

You need to rehearse getting over the ball tension free, hitting balls without consequence and focussing just on a feather light grip. You will soon see you don’t need a death grip to hit a good shot.

Practice your grip whenever you can, making sure its light and tension free.

When you eventually step on the tee you can confidently grip lightly.

No practice will just mean tension returns once you stop consciously thinking “no tension”.

 

[jack1]

These are all great replies and really helping me. Thanks so much

 

[Orikoru]

Don't ground the club. Waggle it off the ground as you start the swing

Don't understand that, I would say the opposite. If the club is resting on the ground your arms are relaxed. If you're hovering it your arms are already slightly tensed to hold it in the air??

 

[Canary_Yellow]

Don't understand that, I would say the opposite. If the club is resting on the ground your arms are relaxed. If you're hovering it your arms are already slightly tensed to hold it in the air??

That might be true at address, but I think the idea is that if you hover and have a bit of waggle (think Jason Dufner) you don’t then tense up when the backswing starts, whereas if super relaxed over the ball with the club head on the ground, the first move is to grab the handle tight which undoes all of that good work.

Personally, I don’t think you want to be tension free. You want the right amount of tension applied in the right way. Your arms shouldn’t be like a piece of string afterall! It’s probably a feeling for people that are too armsy in their backswing who need to feel their arms more relaxed with the body driving the swing.