August 2011 Golf Newsletter

I hope you're all having a good summer, and ignoring the default crisis nonsense by burrowing your focus into your golf games.  There's no better way to take one's mind off work and financial worry, than practicing and playing a demanding yet rewarding game like golf.  This month I'd like to discuss one of the main problems golfers have with their backswings: 

Many people watch golf on TV, see the pros hitting the ball way out there, and wish to do so as well.  In their efforts to hit the ball far like the pros, amateur golfers will often take their arms back as far as they can, thinking they are winding up and gathering power to unleash fury on that golf ball.  In doing so, they break down their arms (bend them alot), disconnect their arms from their bodies, and don't properly coil the body up.  So, in their efforts to get wound up to hit the ball far, they take the arms too far back and too far around themselves, leading to a dissipation of power and an unsolid strike of the ball.   

Rather you want strive for a full, tight, powerful body coil with as little arm backswing as possible.  This entails keeping the arms in front of your body with your hands up high, feeling like you've only made a half to 3/4 arm swing.  It then becomes important to use the core to take the club back, and to get your back facing the target at the top. 

Many people think they need to be loosey goosey in order to be relaxed, but the pros don't swing that way.  You want to strive for a free swing yes, but one with a firm structure and foundation.  I liken this body sensation to that of a boxer in the ring, as he throws powerful, controlled punches with muscles engaged, while dancing around lightly on his feet, bobbing and weaving.  Likewise, in our backwings we want some tension and tightness (right adductor, right hip, and right lat area), and yet a freedom to release the coil with speed on the way through, like a rubber band pulled back and then released.

Let me know if I can help you work on this 'non-existent' arm backswing, and the accompanying correct torso coil and pivot.  There are some fun drills we can do, along with employing precise placement and physics to the moves.  Let's work smarter and more efficiently, as sometimes less is needed in some places, and more in others.  

Many of us are on a tight budget right now, so this month I've reduced the package of 10 lessons to 4 lessons, with the same unit price.  You can call or e-mail me to sign up for the August special of 4 lessons for $200, balls and use of training aids are included.

Stay cool,

Christy Erb

(858) 254-6591