Swing like professionals...

they listen to their body!

I must however mention that my ability to explain this has been aided by the writings* of Gallwey, Murphy, Shoemaker, McLaughlin and many others. There are times when I know I am using their words, other times when I’m definitely using my own and then there are the times when I’m just not sure.

What follows must be tried to be believed and it doesn’t involve a perfect back swing or hitting a couple of hundred balls a day until you get it right. So what’s it like to swing like professionals? Well as the heading points out, ‘He listens to his body.’ It’s now my job to explain exactly what it is that he’s listening for. Whenever my own swing is out of sorts, it’s this procedure that gets me going again.

OK take a deep breath and grab a nine iron. Swing it without making contact with the ground, holding it only with one hand, your right hand (for right handers). Keep swinging until you feel that your whole body is moving smoothly. You shouldn’t really have to do anything, by making smoothness your goal, it will happen.

If you do feel any jerkiness, stress, heaviness or tightness then shift your attention to where you are feeling this and it will ease.

By now you should be swinging the club back and forward with total ease. Now assume your normal grip and stance and repeat the same procedure. When you feel you’ve reached a level of similar smoothness, you should then hit a ball. Was it smooth? Did you experience the same relaxed ease that you felt swinging the club with one hand? Was there any physical or mental interference of any kind? Do you have a good followthrough?

Allow me to answer these questions. I find that the one handed swinging action back and forth reaches a level of smoothness that can only be described as easy and carefree. When the normal grip is applied there is at first a rise in jerkiness levels but these again pass and the feeling of smoothness. But oh dear, when it comes to the ball a few of us manage to keep up this smoothness for a couple of shots, if we’re lucky, but somehow the aforementioned jerkiness, stress, heaviness or tightness return.

I used to be that golfer and I certainly didn't swing like professionals. I didn’t know why it happened but was fairly sure that it had something to do with having a reaction to the ball. I now know better and it definitely is reacting to the ball. Not only physical reactions but more importantly very strong mental reactions. It is in the control of these reactions that you also will learn to swing like professionals. On this link addressing the mental side of learning to play and swing like a pro is the main theme.

Books and authors:

*Gallwey, W. Timothy. The Inner Game of Golf. New York: Random House, 1981.
Murphy, Michael. Golf in the Kingdom. New York: Dell, 1972.
Chopra, Deepak. Golf for Enlightenment New York: Random House, 2003.
McLaughlin, Joseph. Zen in the Art of Golf