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Articles on Golf Matters:

Controlled Body Movement The Key Essential For Your Golf Game

Basic body movement is essential in any sport. Of course it is also essential for any type of physical activity we do.

As parents, we teach little children how to do the simplest of things. This includes how to move and how to control movements for precision and safety.

Basic body movement also means limiting movement to the essential movement for what you want to do. We control the desired movement. And, we prevent unwanted movement. We learn to keep our movements just firm enough to be coordinated. We also learn to allow just enough relaxation so the movements can flow through their proper range with the most comfort.

For many golfers, if you think about your hands doing something or even have much of your focus on your hands then, usually, you will do something incorrect with your hands.

Basic body movement, under control, is to be your main focus. When you become good at this part of your golf swing then can you try advanced hand movements. But, any of these hand movements should only be done in harmony with the dominant body and upper arm movements.

Even your arm movements need more focus in the early learning stages than any perceived hand movements. And, these arm movements should focus on movements generated in the upper arms which are as close to your body as possible.

A Special Lesson With A Good Golfer
A few years ago I did 2 golf lessons with a man who stood a little over 6 feet tall. He was having trouble spraying his hits with his mid-irons to his woods. I asked him to hit a ball with a wedge. He chose his 64 degree lob wedge and promptly hit a high, 95 yard hit.

What was he doing wanting a lesson from anyone? Answer: He had one wrong move that he wasn't aware he was doing.

I used my interpretation of Fred Couples' looping swing to guide him to the correct arm movement. When he tried my idea of Fred's swing Andy hit the ball higher and 15 yards farther.

He did not want to develop that move but he understood how to correct his error with the proper movement. He hit a lot of good golf balls afterwards and knew why he did so.

Andy's other problem involved chipping. He had a good hand movement in his chipping effort. He had no idea how to use that good movement with the movements of his body. As well, he had no idea of the importance of his body activity during his chipping.

A few minutes into the 2nd lesson he had learned how to time his hand movements with his body movements. He also learned where his hands should be in relation to his spine as he did the hand movements that he wanted.

His chipping improved dramatically within the lesson. His confidence was as high as possible that he could land a golf ball where he wanted. And, all it took was understanding how his arms and hands were to move in harmony with his body and also in relationship to his body position.

How I Developed My Understanding Of Basic Body Movement
I taught physical education from Grades 1 to 9. In one short span of time I could see the development of movement in all stages of growth. I could also see the physical and mental effort carried out by these children as they learned the skills and the games which I taught.

I used to teach the various Grades a level of a game which they could handle. I taught positional play in slow motion and then introduced body movements which enabled the students to move fluently up and down the playing surface. They quickly learned this and asked for more. That is when I taught the various skills. The game was taught first; and then came the skills.

In golf, there are a number of games played during a round.

We try to get a better score than someone else.
We try to get a personal best score during a round.
We try to play against the golf course to get a par round or better.
We try to get a better score than par on each hole.

BUT, usually forgotten is the game of playing each golf shot as good as we possibly can. It is this last "game" which I teach in my golf lessons.

The free articles combined with the instruction modules will teach you how to win "the game" of playing each hit during your round of golf.

Relating this to teaching golf swing skills I emphasize basic posture, alignment, control, and body movement. Arm and hand activity do not get taught until my students learn basic movements. Because of this, beginners and students who had never hit the ball in the air soon hit draws with even their short irons when they hit the ball over a fence.

You, The Ground, And The Golf Ball
We stand on the ground. The golf ball rests on the ground (er, usually). Before we try to dislodge that golf ball from its place on the ground we should learn a good method of relating what we do from our "perch" on the ground.

Between our connection to the ground and the ball's position on the ground we have a lot of body mass and joints along with that "stick" thing. We need movement to make the golf ball move. Therefore, we swing back and forth to make the golf club move the ball. But, those joints want to do all sorts of contortions during our golf swing efforts.

We need to develop an understanding of how to move at the fewest possible joints and how to control or prevent movements of the rest of our joints. This is basic to anything we do. It is very important to this "confusing" skill called the golf swing.

Glen Osborne
16 Mar 2007

Glen teaches his golf program for Ladysmith, BC Parks & Rec.
http://basicbodymovementforanygolfswing.com golflesson@basicbodymovementforanygolfswing.com
gleno@basicbodymovementforanygolfswing.com