THINK OF THE SWING AS CHILD'S PLAY

By Craig Palmer
PGA Master Pro, Colorado Springs Family Golf Center

If you are like most players, you are forever working on mechanics, while your handicap remains the same. Weight shift one week, straight left arm the next week, pull down and through the next, and so on.

If you want your improvement to be dramatic and permanent, you need to learn the correct concept of the swing.

* Direction of the swing: The golf swing is a "back and forth" motion not unlike a child on a swing. Many people think of the golf swing, as an ``up and down'' motion, but in reality it is not. If you are going to propel a golf ball toward a target with a golf club, the club has to move toward that target and not downward into the ground. As soon as you can visualize ``back and forth'' rather than "up and down," your swing will improve.

* Direction at impact: As with the direction of your swing, your attitude should be to propel the ball toward the target along the ground like a long putt. Hard to believe? Think about it. The ball is on the ground. The target is on the ground. If you're playing from one place on the ground to another place on the ground, it's only logical you should try to make the ball go forward, not up in the air. The ball becomes airborne because of the club's loft, not because it is lifted by the player.

* Motion of the swing: The swing is just that - a single swing. The sooner you stop thinking of the swing in terms of components, the better off you will be. The club should be swung from the end of the backswing to the finish without any change in motion. Don't try to accelerate the club in the area of impact. Swing the club fully to the finish without interruption.