Loose and relaxed...but how much?

[barrybridges]

This is one of those 'how long is a piece of string questions' I'm afraid!

For any given shot, is tension - or tense-ness - ever a good thing?

Recently I've been focussing on really relaxing over the ball. I had a tendency to grip too hard, or to have too rigid a right arm, or too powerful a pelvic push (if you know what I mean).

More recently I've been playing around with relaxing as much as possible - almost to the point where my swing is really loose and floppy.

So - my question is - when you adopt your posture for an iron shot, how 'loose' should you feel and which 'bits' of the body should be tense, if any?

 

[The19thHole]

my last thought in my pre-shot routine is relax and loosen my grip. It works a treat try it.

 

[SocketRocket]

I like a strength of around 4 out of 10 for my hands and 2 out of 10 for my arms. I also like to keep power out of my shoulders and upper arms as much as possibe, they tend to make you heave at the ball and create an ugly swing.

I like the arms to feel extended but without tension and to create power through the rotation of the body.

 

[garyinderry]

I like a strength of around 4 out of 10 for my hands and 2 out of 10 for my arms. I also like to keep power out of my shoulders and upper arms as much as possibe, they tend to make you heave at the ball and create an ugly swing.

I like the arms to feel extended but without tension and to create power through the rotation of the body.

I like an M & S swing

cant help but hear fleetwood mac - albatross playing when i read this post. sounds tastey :rofl:

 

[DaveM]

I like a strength of around 4 out of 10 for my hands and 2 out of 10 for my arms. I also like to keep power out of my shoulders and upper arms as much as possibe, they tend to make you heave at the ball and create an ugly swing.

I like the arms to feel extended but without tension and to create power through the rotation of the body.

Pretty much as Brian says. But I like a tad of tension in my legs to turn against.

 

[SocketRocket]

cant help but hear fleetwood mac - albatross playing when i read this post. sounds tastey :rofl:

??? Didnt think it was that funny!

And, whats with the editing of my quote?

 

[Foxholer]

Excess/incorrect tension is a killer of a golf swing!

However without the right tension, not only will you not be able to stand up but your swing will not happen either! It's very much an individual thing and quite tempo driven, but I'd suggest the swing that is as relaxed as possible without being floppy. Remember though that the downswing is ALL about tension (in the right way)!

 

[garyinderry]

??? Didnt think it was that funny!

And, whats with the editing of my quote?

i was imagining the smooth tempo needed to keep relaxed to the tune albatross just like the marks and spencer advert. just ramblin man!