Since the 1940s..
The Hogan, Snead, Nelson ,Suggs, Berg era, those of us that have been
teaching how to swing the golf club and how to play the game of golf have ALL been
teaching in some way shape or form the same principles or fundamentals of the golf
swing.
We have ALL been teaching the same principles, and obviously to the many golfers that have
taken lessons over the years the information has been conveyed in many different ways.
Pick up any periodical and you will find the quick, fast, easy answer or secret as to how
to fix your hook, slice, shank, how to not three putt,etc.
What I have come to appreciate is that since Hogan, who is the genesis of the modern
swing, the basic fundamentals of the golf swing haven't changed. What I find very
interesting is that, as I mentioned in my last article,the average golfer has not
improved one shot over the past thirty years or so......So the information, which has not
changed for the past 60 years, is still not very clearly understood by the masses. I see
this on a daily basis, almost none of the golfers that I see for the first time have had
a clear and thorough explanation of the fundamentals and their cause and effect
relationship. So if you don't know how something works then on what are you practicing?
(if you practice at all). How do you go about fixing a swing flaw if you don't know the
basics of it's workings? How do you fix your slice, hook or the fact that your just
inconsistent?
Over the 40 some years of learning about the golf swing and game by being around and in
the game as a Member of the PGA of America for the past 30 years I have come to the
simple clear understanding that the fundamentals of GRIP , BALANCE , SWING PLANE , TIMING
, and SOLID CONTACT are the common denominators of every great ball striker.
Over the next several articles I will do my best to convey the knowledge about the golf
swing that I have learned over the years to you to help you "SIMPLIFY THE PROCESS" of
learning.
As an overview, if your hands are not connected or leveraged on the club efficiently,
nothing else really matters. Your likelihood of consistent accurate distance is slim to
none, and slim's out of town.
Secondly, if you are off balance again you stand next to no chance of attaining a level
of proficiency that you are capable of. (pardon my dangling preposition)
Then comes the swing plane...timing...which is the essence of EVERYTHING...and finally
solid contact which is the mother of all of all of the fundamentals and without which
there is no transfer of energy from the club face to the ball.
Good and great golfers make solid contact virtually every time. The ball may not go
exactly where you are aiming , but solid contact gets you nearer your target than not.
So in the next several articles I will be going over the swing step by step with the
hopes of more golfers understanding how the swing works.
'Till then...........be patient and if I may be of help to your game please feel free to
phone me at 470-8438 or e-mail me at timxwilkins@hotmail.com to schedule a time to work
on your game.
Tim X. Wilkins, PGA of America Read last month's article.
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