The Secret to the golf swing

What is the one thing all great golfers do the same in their swings?? Firstly here is a list of most things they don't do the same so they cannot be fundamental to the golf swing as we are led to believe.

1) Grip - Strong, neutral or weak

2) Posture - Straight spine, shoulders back, shoulders forward, curved spine or hunched

3) Takeaway - Inside, outside or straight back

4) Backswing - Steep, flat or on plane

5) Downswing - From the inside, outside or on plane

6) Impact - Shaft lean a lot or little

7) Follow through - Inside, down the line or to the right

8) Alignment of body & clubface - Square, to the right or left

9) Clubface at top of the swing - Open, closed or square

10) Hands over rotating or hands quiet through impact (the quiet hand players are more consistent as they have won more majors)

Here are some swings that i like Robert Rock, Seve Ballesteros & Ben Hogan all performing the same fundamental.

So here it is, the one thing the majority of players do the same is the pivot, certainly if you look at golfers who have won the most majors and are consistently up the leaderbord!! This is the one fundamental for the golf swing you must firstly master and then you can see which grip, posture and backswing suits you.

Here is one of my students Jamie who was struggling with thinned shots and general consistency issues. You can see on the right his hips would sway on the backswing causing him to move off centre, he would then have to sway back to get back to the ball making it difficult to consistently connect with the ball. Jamie is a good player and can make the compensation to get back to the ball like most good players, but if you are a beginner or intermediate golfer you wont get back to the ball and you will end up hitting the ground and topping the ball with no power.

To achieve what we did on the left, i got him to feel more pressure pushing into the ground through his left foot and then pulling the right hip back and slightly towards the target. As you can see a perfect pivot around the centre of his chest and consistency restored!! Look at any top players right leg at the top of the backswing Seve, Hogan & Rock and you will see the same position as the picture on the left. Don't shift your weight on the backswing but instead just turn like a cork screw like all the top players do!!

I would recommend filming your swing from face on and draw a line up from the middle of your feet (yellow) and one against your right hip to see if you pivot correctly. Don't restrict your hip turn on the backswing or keep your right knee flexed!! you don't see the other guys in the pictures doing it, they make a free hip turn and the right leg straightens a little bit.

Good Luck! ;-)