Secrets to Improving Your Golf Swing

Golf pros and golf magazines are filled with suggestions for improving your swing, but some of the most common advice is wrong. Experts have studied the golf swing, using high-speed photography, to determine what works and what doesn’t.

Here are six common myths...

Myth 1: The backswing is the key to your swing

Reality: The backswing means less than most people believe. Golf instructors harp on the backswing simply because it is the only part of the swing that is slow enough for them to follow, but as long as your backswing is consistent, comfortable and gets you to a starting point that lets you generate power, its fine details are not a problem. Instead, focus on your down swing - that is where you will achieve both your power and accuracy.

Myth 2: Hands and arms should start your downswing.

Reality: If your hands and arms are leading your downswing, you are sacrificing a tremendous amount of power. Your downswing should begin with a forward weight shift of the hips, followed by hip rotation. Only when hip rotation is nearly concluded should the shoulder rotation even begin, starting the hands in motion. By rotating the hips before the shoulders (and arms and hands) start to move, you stretch the abdominal oblique muscles so that they can contract with greater force when your upper body does come through.

Even throughout the shoulder rotation, your hands should be following the shoulders, not driving the action. Only when shoulder rotation is virtually done should your hands and arms be powering the swing.

Bottom line: Think of your swing as a step-by-step process of transferring force from your midbody up to your shoulders and only then to your arms and hands and then onto your club.

Myth 3: You’ll get more power if you drive your knee forward during your swing.

Reality: You’ll get more power if you drive your hips forward and let your knee and leg naturally follow them forward as a result. The heavier the body part, the greater the power it can convey to your club head. Shifting your hips will transfer a lot more weight and power than shifting your knee.

Myth 4: Wrist break happens naturally during a good swing.

Reality: Golf instructors say it’s natural because it feels natural to them. For many amateur golfers, wrist break doesn’t automatically happen at the proper moment. The wrists should break as the club head nears the ball.

Myth 5: A slice is the result of an outside-inside swing.

Reality: Outside-inside swings - which loop out and then back in again, are very uncommon. If you actually did swing this way, you would be off-balance and falling backward. It’s far more likely that your slice is the result of striking the ball with an open clubface - when the club head strikes the ball at an oblique angle rather than a square angle - probably because of weak wrist break or arm action.

Exercise: You can improve your wrist and arm action by improving your wrist and arm strength. Attach a 2.5 to 5 pound weight to one end of a short bar, such as a dumbbell bar. Stand normally with your arms at your sides and your palms facing your legs, holding the bar in one hand with the weighted end extending behind you. Without moving your arm, turn your wrist to lift the weight (and your little finger) up toward the side of your forearm, then ease it back down and repeat.

Perform this exercise with each wrist for a few weeks, and you just might finally cure your slice.

Myth 6: The longest hitters in driving competitions stand up very straight, so you should stand up straighter, too.

Reality: Stand up straight, and you will have trouble keeping your eye on the ball, triggering frequent mishits. The competitors in driving competitions are willing to sacrifice their accuracy and consistency for distance. However, in all other circumstances, it’s smarter to lean over the ball.

Helpful: Lean from the hips, not from the waist. Your drives will be longer and your back healthier if your spine is straight, in its normal, slightly arched lumbar curvature, during your swing. This might feel uncomfortable at first, but stay with it and you’ll get used to it.