BASIC No.1 - Rotation

Percy Boomer, famous English Pro at St. Cloud in Paris in the early 1900's, once said that there is no such thing as a straight line in the golf swing.  I wholeheartedly agree.

The club should always move on a curved line both back and through.  Another old saying is that the golf swing is 2 turns and a swish.  The plain truth is that all good golfers turn well going back and through.  You could even say, "No turn, no shot!"

If you have read my last article you will know about the simple exercise called "La Danse du Golf."  If you didn't, you can get to it by clicking on "Columnists" on the right hand side of this article and then clicking on "La Danse du Golf and the 6 basics."

Standing upright, hold a club horizontally in front of you at waist height and turn it to the right with your hips, upper body and the shaft always facing each other.  Try this with your head moving freely with your body whilst allowing your left heel to rotate off the ground and then do it again with your head still and foot firmly glued to the ground.  You will immediately feel the restriction that a static head and foot put on your ability to turn comfortably.

Of course, some golfers are more supple than others so this exercise will tell you how much movement you personally need to be able to turn fully and easily.  I once spoke to Seve and he told me that a vital part of his game was to feel comfortable at the top of the back swing.

In my opinion, it is essential to get the club and body rotating as soon as you start the back swing and there is nothing worse than the old idea of keeping your head still.  Positive Impact Golf coaches are continuously helping golfers play better golf by helping them out of this debilitating misconception. 

Now, you may think that I'm talking like the golfing version of the guy who first said, "The earth is not flat!"  But, let me tell you that, just in the same way that early sailors never fell off the edge of the world, your golf won't suffer if you move your head.  In fact, let me tell you about a video clip that may well surprise you.

Go to the YouTube website and put "Eye of the Tiger Woods" into the search box.  You will get several items but the interesting ones are Tiger with a driver and 4 iron.  He has a camera on the peak of his cap pointing down at the ball.  You will see just how much his head moves round to the right as he swings the club back.  WOW!  Tiger's head moves.  But all the commentators on the TV tell you how still the top player's heads are.  It's so simple. 

They are WRONG!

Keeping your head still, or trying to, actually inhibits your ability to turn and is probably the main cause of the degree to which you have found the shoulder turn so difficult in the past.

I believe that it was Davis Love Senior who was once asked at an American PGA coaching conference his opinion on such things as keeping your head and feet still in the golf swing and he replied, "No problem.  As long as it doesn't affect your swing!"  Whilst I couldn't agree more, experience proves to me that most of us need to move more freely, especially if you are not a young and supple athlete.  But, if Tiger moves and he's the greatest athlete to have ever played the game where does that leave you?

Let me finish with this question, "How can you keep your head down and turn through the ball at the same time?"  Difficult?  Yes, as Annika proves, you shouldn't even keep your head too still as you go through the shot.  Would you throw something with your head still?  No!  The golf swing is, after all, a throwing movement so let go of this pair of outdated ideas of 'head still' and 'head down' and release yourself from the burden of their restrictive practices and achieve more easy rotation in your game.

If this article speaks to you, come and see us at Positive Impact Golf or go to your home pro and ask his advice.  Good modern coaches don't tell you to keep your head still anymore but will show you just how to make the game easier from now on.

Please don't hesitate to contact me on brian@positiveimpactgolf.co.uk for any advice about this or any other aspect of your golf.

Brian Sparks