Which Side Controls the Golf Swing?

January 7, 2008

One thing I struggled with for years in my golf swing was impatience. I was so eager to hit the ball that I would lunge at it from the top with my hands, coming into the ball at a steep, outside to in swing path. It’s a problem that I’m sure many people can relate to.

Most right-handed golfers are used to doing things with their right side. The natural inclination is to use the right side to swing the golf club. It doesn’t make any sense to try to fight this natural inclination, as some teachers suggest, because you will always be fighting it and always be reverting back to it. A better idea is to learn to work with it.

The sensation that causes problems for golfers is trying to hit down on the ball. It is one of the first lessons every golfer receives, because it is our natural tendency to want to hit up on something to make it go up. It is true that we must hit down on the ball to send it airborne, but the conscious effort to hit down on it is not necessary the right thought process.

Swinging with only the left arm, a conscious attempt to hit down on the ball will result in a delay of the release and a strong impact position. But swinging only with the right arm, it causes a casting, or flipping, motion and an outside to in swing path. So hitting down on the ball is correct, but it’s not the right side that’s doing it.

Here is what i think is a better swing thought for the right-handed golfer. From the top of the swing, push your right hand towards the target. The pushing sensation is more accurate for the right hand, and helps keep the right arm underneath the left. The sensation is similar to that of throwing a ball underhand, which I have talked about before.

This sensation is really just another way to describe the feeling of swinging the club towards the target. If it helps you to think of pushing towards the target with your right side, then use this thought. But the main thing to remember in your golf swing is the target.

Written by John at 1:02 pm. Full Swing