For Your Swing by Dave Ramsay - Summer 2011
by Dave Ramsay
There’s just no shortage of bad golf advice or instruction. One critical key that continues to be reinforced to me over the years is to understand that there is not just one way to swing. I know, I know, this is covered ground and I sound like a broken record. However, if you want to recognize bad golf instruction, remember that most advice is not intrinsically wrong; it’s just wrong for some people and their swing. If you hear anyone being dogmatic about how something absolutely ‘must’ or ‘must not’ occur during the swing, that’s a good time to ask them to explain why it must be so. There are an awful lot of ways to swing a golf club effectively and repeatedly, and so often the keys that help one person will be detrimental to another.
Briefly, here’s a few of the more common tips that I hear on a regular basis:
“Keep the left arm straight” – Not necessarily bad advice, but impractical for many people that lack strength or flexibility. Most good instructors prefer that the arm is at least mostly extended out and away from the body and not greatly broken at the elbow. Several great players have had a slight to moderate bend in their left arm during the backswing, including Major championship winners Fred Couples and John Daly.
“Keep the right arm tucked in, with elbow pointed down at the ground” – Again, not necessarily bad, especially when working to learn a swing with the whole body connected to promote consistency and leveraged power. However, allowing a little leeway in the right arm and elbow can be beneficial to many players, especially those that may lack full flexibility and strength. These players are then able to have a greater swing arc and more freedom to create more potential power. Major championship winners that have incorporated a right elbow that separates from the body to some degree or other include Couples (again), Daly (again), Ernie Els, Raymond Floyd, and arguably the most accomplished player of all time, Jack Nicklaus. Jack especially took a lot of criticism for his “flying right elbow” in the sixties, but I’d say he was able to make it work out pretty well.
“Swing easy, let the club do the work” – For what clubs cost these days, they ought to do the work! They ought to also include basic cable and a Starbucks gift card . Many people do need to temper their swing effort back a few notches, but many people have the opposite problem. Trying to be too careful in the swing is going to sacrifice any natural athleticism and power. That may be had, and unless you’re Teeing it Forward here at GMGC, that trade-off in distance may be too much to give. This swing tip isn’t really wrong, it’s just necessary to find your optimal balance between power and control – and that balance may change and evolve all the time.
“Make a big shoulder turn and drive to the target with the knees/legs/hips” – Here is another tip that is completely relative from one swing to the next, and dependent on an individual’s capabilities. Big shoulder turns that fail to incorporate a proper coiling with the lower body will normally be off plane, off line, and will lack leveraged power no matter how fast those shoulders go on the downswing. The movements and positions of the torso, hips, legs, and knees must combine with a shoulder turn to the proper degrees. When a player drives their legs and knees to the target on the downswing, the correct backswing is assumed. If so, one can create a great amount of power with minimal wasted effort or overswing. However, timing is critical in keeping everything caught up and releasing in the proper synchronization, because with more clubhead speed comes less margin for error with club path, face angle, and angle of approach. Small mistakes are magnified and the errors are manifested with bigger curve balls and distance control/trajectory issues.
For each of these tips I’ve covered above, you may hear variants of some of these concepts to different people – not just from me, but even Harold and Dale and other fine instructors – but these are tailored to the individual with an eye toward what fits that person. When blanket advice is given to you, even from well-intentioned players, let a little red flag raise up in your mind and ask a qualified, trained instructor what their thought are.
I have had a great forum here the last few months to rant and harp on bad golf advice, but again I do want to emphasize that many tips aren’t completely wrong for all. They may just be wrong for you, or very often they need to be incorporated to the correct degree for you. Best to learn the correct balances to everything in the swing specifically as it relates to YOUR swing, YOUR body, and YOUR abilities.
Hope to see you at the course!
