Many golfers face various challenges with respect to attaining the perfect swing. Professional golfers like Duvall are famous for making consistent swings that place them at the top of their game.
Fortunately, the techniques and strategies they use can be learnt by any keen golfer. This post discusses the basics of a great golf swing and the tips you need to improve your golf swing as quickly as possible.
Let's get started!
Basics of a Great Golf Swing
Before we look at the golf swing tips, let's consider some of the fundamentals of executing a great golf swing.
1. Align Yourself with the Flag
In the search for the best way to make a powerful swing, one of the things to remember is alignment. You can align yourself with the flag by standing behind the ball as you look at your target down the fairway.
Keep in mind that the flag doesn't necessarily have to be the target. Your target could be anything from a discolored section of grass to a leaf, pebble, or twig. A visual target will give you a manageable focal point that you can work towards to improve your golf swing.
2. Practice Good Grip
Every pro golfer knows that the proper way to grip your golf club is with the shaft in your fingers rather than your palms. Make sure your pinky finger goes around the club from the rear end of the shaft. Your thumb should point straight down the shaft for you to make an accurate golf swing.
If you want to know if you have a neutral grip, check your knuckles. Only two knuckles should be showing if your grip is neutral. Additionally, your wrist should be slightly bowed at the proper angle.
3. Place the Other Hand on the Club
Next, grip the club shaft with your right hand in a natural way. As you do so, use whichever grip is most comfortable for you. Your exact hand positions will depend on the type of grip you want to use. Some of the grips you can use in your golf game include
- Vardon/Overlap grip
In this one, the pinky finger of the bottom hand folds over the index of the top hand. As a result, your hand sits naturally between the middle and index finger of the hand on the top.
- Interlocking Grip
Here, the pinky of the hand on the bottom interlocks with the index of the hand on the top.
- Baseball Grip
This one involves placing your hands such that the pinky of your bottom hand rests against the index of the hand on the top.
4. Practice an Athletic Stance
Position your feet about shoulder-width apart and keep your body parallel to the target. Ensure you maintain a square stance by checking your feet, hips, knees, and shoulders.
Your back foot should be perpendicular to the direction the ball will fly, while your front foot should be flared open and remain parallel to the target line. This will clear your hips to help you achieve proper posture for striking the golf ball.
Slightly flex your knees while bending your upper body to achieve a strong athletic position. In this stance, you will have the proper spine alignment for making accurate shots. This position keeps your spine about 40 degrees which is the ideal angle for a great golf swing. If your spine angle is more or less than 40 degrees, you won't have the right amount of power to achieve a great golf swing.
You should make sure your arms are hanging down comfortably and keep a good distance from your body and the butt end of the club. Your bodyweight should be on the balls of your feet instead of on your heels.
Both your arms should be straight but relaxed while your front shoulder rises higher than the other. This should come naturally, having kept the proper posture and griping position.
5. Execute Your Swing
Make sure your weight is evenly distributed across the balls of your feet. It is crucial to start with a neutral position as you work to improve your swing. Nevertheless, you can experiment with different positions to find the most comfortable. Some of the things you can do to improve your swing include waggling and rotating your torso.
Waggle - One of the reasons golfers waggle before swinging is that it relaxes the larger muscle groups, which could be tensing up. It also helps in developing a pre-shot routine, something that comes with time and experience.
Backswing Rotation - As you perform your swing, your torso will rotate. As you do so, your back should maintain the proper spine angle while turning away from the target at the height of the backswing.
As you start rotating, your hands, arms, hips, and shoulders move almost simultaneously and make a circular rotation on an angled axis. The progression of movement starts with the hips, then the shoulders, then the hands.
Easy Tips To Improve Your Golf Swing
Here are some tips that you can instantly apply and practice to improve your golf swing.
1. Keep the Hands Low
Reducing the follow-through height will also decrease the height of your shots. In other words, the lower your hands are, the lower the flight of the golf ball. You can also achieve the same effect by moving the golf ball back in your standing position or selecting a stronger golf club.
Nevertheless, keeping your hands low through the finish will give your shots a lower trajectory. A low trajectory is crucial in reducing wind and other factors on the ball during flight to improve your game.
2. Rotate the Shoulders
You can also do to improve your swing and give your shots more power to ensure you have good form. Ensure your right forearm is parallel to your spine while keeping your left wrist flat. This will put your elbows and arms in a tight triangle that will give you an ideal backswing. Keep your shoulders rotated, and you will get solid ball strikes and better accuracy.
3. Generate Power from Your Body
Every pro golfer knows that the power of the golf swing comes from the body, not the arms. Don't use your hands and arms to power the club since the impact won't take the ball as far as it should go. Instead, take a dead-stop position and place the club behind the ball. Attempt to get the ball into the air by dragging it without taking a backswing.
If you were used to using your hands to control the club, this could be difficult to do for the first time. However, as you continue practising, you'll realize that you can consistently get the ball into the air as you continue turning. As you move your body, the transfer of energy from the hips to your shoulders and then to your arms will give you enough impact to get the ball flying with each hit.
4. Hinge for Impact
There are two primary factors that make it hard for beginners to make a firm iron shot. Firstly, it could be having the takeaway too low to the ground, thereby delaying the correct hinging of the wrists during the backswing. Secondly, it could result from swinging the arms too far during the backswing, which causes bad posture, resulting in a reverse pivot. These two issues can cause mishits, lack of control, and short-distance hits.
Fortunately, there are some simple solutions that can help resolve this situation, but the one that will give you quick results is achieving a proper wrist hinge. Ensure your left arm is parallel to the ground with the club shaft perpendicular to it. This will set your wrists before the backswing so that you can improve your golf swing and get more consistent shots on the golf course.
5. Use the Elbow to Nudge the Slice
Players like John Daly take their swings with their elbow out. The flying right elbow poise is often better suited for a fade ball flight, while the tucked elbow is ideal for a draw. Taking a swing with your elbow out will mostly result in a slice.
Letting your right elbow fly can raise your right shoulder resulting in a terrible downswing and missed shots. To eliminate this shoulder tilt and slices, keep your elbow on or along the seam running down your shirt. This will make the shoulders turn more efficiently, resulting in more power and improved control. That is why this tip is among the best golf swing tips for beginners.
6. Get a Solid Plane
The next tip you can use to improve your swing and overall golf game is using a solid plane. You can get a slice from using an open face as a point of contact. All golfers need the ball path to come slightly from the inside. Unfortunately, slicers make swings that move the ball too far outside and then in.
A simple remedy for this is with the Bos drill, which involves placing the top half of a golf ball box on its side and aligning it with the target line. Try to forward the ball without hitting the box. This tip will help any golfer with slicing trouble to overcome them and land a great golf swing.
7. Keep Your Head Down
Next up in our list of golf swing tips is a really straightforward suggestion. It is easy for golfers to follow the ball down the fairway even before making a hit. Unfortunately, doing so could bring your good posture and hard work to nothing since it could disrupt your swing.
You will need to keep your eyes on the target during your golf swing instead of the ball. This will ensure you make an accurate and powerful swing and help you improve your game.