The gofl swing

[The_Golfer]

Hi all, two nights ago whilst trying to work out why I was recently releasing the club too early, thus leaving me having to put the ball two inches back for each normal shot as a short term fix, I suddenly experienced something very very weird. For the first time ever I felt the weight of the clubhead and in doing so my entire swing has changed, both mechanics and feel. It is as though all what I have previously learnt is redundant, with exception of the set up/grip.
Today I tried my "new swing" only three times with a driver and without any effort at ALL, and I mean not one grain of muscle, the ball flew approx 280,250 and 240 yards, two perfectly straight shots and the 280 was a high draw. The reason I am writing this is that I want to know whether I have been doing the wrong thing all this time and my new swing feeling is what most golfers already have, or whether what I have stumbled across is the genuine and rare article.
To explain, I now consider the swing more of a balancing of the clubhead throughout the swing with the one and only true rule, to make sure everything is smooth, not slow but smooth. From thereon I feel like my entire body is reacting to clubhead and that from the head down every inch of me is contributing to the whole exercise; more importantly on the downswing I feel that I am falling into the "slot" which I visualise as tracks off a rollercoaster, then my body reacts to allow the clubhead to "freewheel" through, all without any attempt whatsoever to "hit" the ball. One other weird thing is that all the pads of my fingers seem to have come alive and are so sensitive to the club/head.
Anyway, as you can appreciate the whole thing has freaked me out somewhat and I need to satisfy myself one way or the other, is this normal or am I going crazy? Cheers

 

[muttleee]

I dunno about normal but you should make a few DVDs and get yourself an infomercial on the Golf Channel asap. You'll make millions! If you can come up with an expensive but ultimately worthless gadget that helps people learn the feel you're looking for, so much the better!

 

[RitchieL]

I have always been big into the mechanics of the golf swing and share the same view as Danny.
The human body reacts best to any sporting activity or exercise if it is in a state of relaxation or as near to it as possible. Your feeling of the clubhead and making your swing smooth rather than slow is in fact encouraging your body to relax. For example, and this is where I think most club golfers could improve dramatically, if you watch them make a few practice swings, they are mostly smooth, relaxed and with good timing and rythm. Then when addressing the ball, the actual swing becomes more of a hit, faster, the body becomes stiff, the grip increases and accuracy and distance becomes lost.
Here are two good drills that I use to combat this on the range.
Firstly, make a couple of slow, smooth practice swings. Then when addressing the ball, concentrate solely on repeating exactly the same swing as the practice swing, slow, smooth, timing, rythm. Its good if you can imagine the ball not being there at all.
The reason this works is as follows: By making the practice swing slow, smooth etc, you are subconsiously relaxing the body whilst asking it to perfrom a task, reducing any tension. The reason to imagine the ball not being there is to encourage the feeling of "swinging through" rather than "hitting at" the ball. Again making the swing more relaxed, smooth etc etc.
The second drill is to take any mid iron, for example a 7 iron and chip 10 or so balls to a green 75 yards away. Then to a green 100 yards away, then to a green 130 yards away and finally swinging with a relaxed full swing to the 130 yard green again.
Why does this work? here goes......
To chip a 7 iron 75 yards you are looking at swinging with a fairly relaxed 1/2 to 3/4 swing. Because you are not using massive amounts of effort, your body stays relaxed.
To 100 yards, again you will probably use a 3/4 relaxed swing and as before not use a massive amount of effort.
To 130 yards, your swing is nearly but not full and very relaxed.
And finally to try and land a fully swung 7 iron 130 yards away will cause you to swing smoother slower and consciously more relaxed.
I use this method every time on the range to get the most benefit from it and suprisingly it works. On the last drill, i usually find that i am sending the ball between 160 and 170 yards with a 7 iron. And I know I have been harping on about it, but because I am all nice and relaxed, my accuracy is pretty hot as well.
Sorry if I have bored anyone reading this, just hope it may help some of you guys.

ps. I have a whole host of swing theories if anyone has time on their hands. All you need to do is ask!

 

[The_Golfer]

RitchieL your drills no doubt work, as obviously you can certainly hit a ball, 160/170 with your 7 iron is damn good. However I have tried many drills and most have worked for a short time, but then I try to take it to the next stage, i.e. more effort and it is all lost. The whole issue with my recent experience is that I now believe that without learning to feel with weight of the clubhead with your "hands" first, you cannot truly say that you are in control of the same. It may seem a bit difficult to understand, or maybe not?, but essentially by feeling the clubhead you can understand how your body/hands have to react to allow the most efficient and accurate swing. RitchieL you are spot on that you have to be relaxed, otherwise you won't have any feel! For example, image watching my swing head on, (right hander), my head is at 12 o'clock, on the downswing at the moment when the club head is at 8 o'clock, to allow it to continue on a natural path, my hips react and open/shift which lets the clubhead run straight. This is because on the way down I feel like the cluhead is so heavy I need to move out of the way to let it through and along the target line.
Anyway RitchieL all the best with your drills and theories and Mutlee thanks for the DVD idea, Leadbetter move over, Dannys coming to town!!!!

 

[MacMachattie]

Danny and Lionel Ritchie. Are you two professional golfers?