Tim Mahoney writes the "Weekend Tips" column every week.
Watching recent golf telecasts, I am hearing more and more comments like "what a great swing he made" -- before the golf ball has come to a rest. When did they change the rules of golf?
Are golfers now being judged on style points instead of score? Over the years, I haven’t often heard announcers make such comments about the swings of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer, Hubert Green, Steve Jones, Tom Lehman -- to name a few major winners -- but lots of comments about their scoring. Golf is a game of results, not style points, as Jim Furyk showed in winning the Mercedes Championships last month. I recently participated in several golf-training sessions where instruction was approached with a very medicinal methodology -- diagnosis, explanation and correction -- prescribing the same theories to every golfer.
One size does not fit all. The golf swing is a combination of art and science. We must not forget about the individualistic aspects of the swing. The underlying goal is to score.
Remember, your swing is uniquely yours.
Any good golf swing, however, must consist of the following:
1. Solid pre-swing fundamentals
2. A blending of three sources of power -- wrists, arms and body
3. Square clubface at impact
4. Swinging the club on a consistent angle
5. Sound short game fundamentals
6. An understanding of how to play the game
Golf is a game to be played, not stylized.
Tip of the week
With short shots around the green, get your ball to stop with loft, not spin. Don’t try to create spin -- just use the loft of the club to get the ball up in the air and landing softly on the green. Trajectory is easier to control than spin.
E-Mailbag
"I have always had a tendency to pull my irons at least three to four times a round. I do notice my divot pointing towards the left. What can I change to try to keep the ball on line towards the target? Thanks." -- Steve Budd
An encouraging aspect of pulled iron shots is that they’re straight shots, with the clubface is square to the path of the swing -- however the path is too much to the left of the target line. The leftward swing path is the result of the upper body initiating the downswing before the lower body. Allow the upper body to hold still at the top of the backswing as the lower body leads the forward swing.
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