Throw your way to a better golf swing

The golf swing, for most of us mortals, is a battle of the hitting instinct versus the idea of swinging the club with tempo and rhythm. Most everyone that chooses to learn and play the game of golf has at one time or another thrown an object (baseball, football, frisbee). We can use this natural motion to build a better swing if we know where to find the similarities.

The prospect of hitting a golf ball usually creates tension in the hands, arms, legs and neck as our body prepares for impact. This is a perfectly natural reaction, bracing for impact, even though the likelihood of injury is very small in the golf swing. In order to throw an object, you need just enough tension in your body to keep control of the item until it you are ready to release it. More on this idea later.

Throwing is an instinctual motion. I have yet to come across a person who could not throw an object in the general direction of the target.

As we prepare to throw an object, we pick a target and decide when to start the throwing motion. Golf is different from other ball and stick sports that require you to react to the ball with your stick (swing at, don't swing at, swing high, swing low, etc.).

In golf the ball remains stationary prior to contact. This allows us to decide when and how to start the motion. We are in control.

Try this:

n Take your normal golf stance but remain upright (no bend at the waist). Take a golf ball (or an object that will not break anything indoors) and throw it where you would want the ball to go (across your body) in the golf swing. A sidearm (parallel to ground) motion is more similar to the plane we want in the golf swing

n Keep your feet planted as you would in the golf swing. You will notice the weight shifting to your back leg and foot as you turn your body (backswing) then, without thinking about it, we shift our weight forward by rotating our body.

This is a natural instinctual motion when throwing an object. Many of us tend to hit the ball from our back leg (no weight shift forward toward target) or lean/slide forward to get the weight to shift. If we throw from our back leg, the object does not go toward the target very well (typically quite high and offline). If we lean into the throw, the object goes directly into the ground. The weight shift by rotating the body, which is so instinctual in throwing, does not translate so easily because of the hit mentality.

Now to the release that was mentioned briefly earlier. Many golfers battle a slice or fade ball flight. This can be caused by many factors but we will address the angle of the clubface at impact here. Tension in the hands, arms and neck do not allow the club (read arms, hands and body) to release naturally as they do in the throwing motion, causing the clubface to remain open at impact.

n From the same golf stance as we used above, throw your object again a couple of times and notice the tension level in your arms, hands and neck.

n Take note also of the point of release of the object. It should be slightly ahead of your body center (sternum and head).

This again is done instinctually during a throw. When hitting a golf ball, we often try to get under, lift, scoop or help the ball into the air (weight on back leg, pulling clubhead under the ball), which does not produce the desired results very often. The tension level in the throws you have tried should be similar in your golf swing. With more weight at the end of the club (farthest from the grip), centrifugal force will release the clubface to a square position if the tension level is similar to that of throwing a ball.

Less tension in the golf swing leads to better mechanics: body rotation, weight shift and release.

Think of throwing the clubhead through the ball toward the target. This idea of swinging the club and letting the ball get in the way will help with tight or tense muscle groups that do not allow the natural swing and release to occur.

David Enyeart is a PGA professional at Boulder Creek Golf Club and has been an instructor for the last nine years, including six summers on the coast of Maine at premier golf clubs. Enyeart can be reached at Boulder Creek Golf Club at 294-6534 or through e-mail at denyeart@bouldercreekgc.com.