Okay, so you haven’t swung the club for month maybe. How do you get ready for the golf season?
This is what I do in my basement during the winter months. It’s the best advice I can give besides doing golf specific exercises for strength and flexibility.
Take practice swings…that’s right, swing the club in your basement or living room. But don’t just swing it any which way.
Focus on these points:
- While you gripping the club make sure it’s not too tight – tension in the hands, arms and shoulders kills distance and control. Do you see 2 knuckles in your left hand (for right handers).
- Are you tilted at the hips and is your back fairly straight? Flex the knees slightly. Feel balanced! Can’t stress that too much. Rock from your heels to your toes and find that spot where you feel most balanced. You have to start in balance if you have any hope of swinging in balance. If you have a full length mirror this is a good time to check your posture.
- Don’t stretch for the imaginary ball. Feel that your arms are hanging from your shoulders.
- Take a 3/4 backswing and keep your left arms relatively straight. Too long a backswing can lead to losing your posture and spine angle. We are trying to avoid excess body movement.
- Stop the swing when the club head is hip high or parallel to the ground on the follow through…hard to do if you are swinging too hard. Now, ask yourself these questions:
- Is your weight over the left side?
- Are you facing the target or close to it?
- Are your arms connected (no chicken-wing)
- Is the toe of the club pointing up?
- When you can check off these 4 points do the complete swing from start to finish. Hold your finish for 4 seconds and feel balanced.
- 75 TO 100 SWINGS A DAY
- Develops flexibility
- Improves club head speed
- Improves awareness of where the club head is during swing
- Improves balance
- Develops a repeating swing
- Takes 15 minutes a day
Good balance at address + good balance during the swing = good balance at finish.