How To Perform The Perfect Golf Downswing
Being able to execute a good downswing is one of the most gratifying skills for any golfer. This is due to the fact that the entire golf swing motion hinges mostly on this single move, and thus a bad downswing ruins the whole motion 95% of the time. Learning how to perform a good downswing therefore, is crucial to improve ones game. This is done by identifying and correcting the common mistakes that one makes during this move.
There are three problems that commonly contribute to make a bad downswing. The first one is rotating the hips without shifting the weight to the side. The second one is turning the right shoulder high towards the ball as the rotating motion is taking place. And the third one is trying to move the club head or slowing the hands in an effort to gain more control. These three problems causes the ball to be hit too soon, and from the outside going in, limiting the driving distance and hooking or slicing the ball in the process.
Therefore, to perform a better golf downswing, the first thing to learn is to move the hips laterally, and not simply rotate it. This is to prevent the shoulders from turning excessively, and making the club hit the ball from the outside going in. Of course, one has to allow for some turning movement of the hips, but the key point is to get them going laterally in the transition, as you swing down. They will then move naturally to the right extent without needing much thought.
The next thing to learn is to keep the head to the back of the ball as the hips move laterally. This is because the head helps maintain the tension of the swing, and moving it forward along with the hips causes some of the tension, that was built up during the backswing, to be lost. Keeping this in mind during the transition, the head should naturally hang back and even drop a little during the downswing, preserving the tension and transferring more power to the ball.
The third thing to learn is not to move the club as it goes down. To do this, imagine the arms and hands as being one piece of metal that is fused to the club. Then this metal should be allowed to drop like a dead weight from the backswing, as soon as the hips begin to move to the left, until it passes the hips, at which point the arms naturally swing more and hits the ball. This motion helps preserve what is known as the eternal triangle, or the imaginary shape which the club, arms and shoulder forms during the transition.
And that should do it. But knowing all these things will have no value unless practiced. So go out and play, keeping in mind the pointers above, and soon you should be executing that downswing like a pro.