The key to the golf swing is....

[HipCheck]

Finish the sentence.

For me, the key to the golf swing is the spine angle.

It's the most crucial part of my swing.

Maintaining it prevents my backswing from getting too long, allows the club to follow its natural path through the swing, and allows me to release the clubhead fully while maintaining my balance on the followthru.

I been focusing on it lately and this past weekend shot my best ever, 6 over par. My driver is going 280ish every time and my irons are dead on. I hit 13/18 greens in regulation. But had 33 putts :wah:

What's your swing key?

[PxExG]

I know its simplistic, I understand it may seem "babyish" and does not compete with some gimmicks but I firmly believe good tempo is the key to good, consistent golf.

[Guest]

I know its simplistic, I understand it may seem "babyish" and does not compete with some gimmicks but I firmly believe good tempo is the key to good, consistent golf.

I have to concur with tempo being the most important factor for me - followed by making sure I turn back with my shoulders and not my arms.

I think Hipcheck's point about spine angle ties in with maintaining a solid base around which to swing.

When playing well, swing thoughts revolve around establishing a solid base (staying "grounded"), then keeping a smooth tempo.

[shoe295]

I have 1 that is a must for me to hit solid shots...keep my weight between my feet as I have a tendency to get wimpy with my legs and have the weight transfer to the outside of my right leg on the backswing (right handed) and firm left side...same deal I tend to go over to the outside of my left foot on the downswing...if I do this life is good :wink:

[KascoPro]

A square clubface at impact, with a neutral path.

[DoubleAA]

The Key to the Golf Swing is....no matter what your swing looks like, a repeatable point of contact and body position is the pinnacle of a good game.

Get to diggin, work on the divot and ball contact.

Hate to be so drab, but that is all it takes.

A Square face does not hurt either!

Each player has a different approach to the "Perfect Swing"

[Junior]

The key to the golf swing is having the mental strength it takes to manage each of your swing keys and join them together to create one swing.

[aznmrq]

less body movement...

[dunkotime]

A square clubface at impact, with a neutral path.

Agreed on this, but how do you get there?

I always come back to the beginning of the swing as being important. If I don't get it started correctly, I have to make compensations to get it back to square at impact, if I make it back to impact at all.

Been working on trying to get the club "at of above" the plane starting back and that seems to have helped considerably.

[KascoPro]

A square clubface at impact, with a neutral path.

Agreed on this, but how do you get there?

I always come back to the beginning of the swing as being important. If I don't get it started correctly, I have to make compensations to get it back to square at impact, if I make it back to impact at all.

Been working on trying to get the club "at of above" the plane starting back and that seems to have helped considerably.

I totally agree, Set up huge, and I would make it number one. It is the cause of most swing problems for golfers

[jeffy]

I watched some of Jim McLean's Sam Snead tape last night and Sam said that the grip was the most essential thing to get right ("it's the whole thing!"). One thing I hadn't remembered is that he puts both the right and left forefingers in a trigger position (extended slightly down the shaft from the middle finger) to give his hands a little more support. He also streesed light grip pressure and constant grip pressure throughout the swing. I'm going to work on all that until I get it right.

After watching Sam swing on the video (which has many swings from different angles), I wonder why I ever tried to swing any differently. To hell with Hogan!

Jeff

[dunkotime]

A square clubface at impact, with a neutral path.

Agreed on this, but how do you get there?

I always come back to the beginning of the swing as being important. If I don't get it started correctly, I have to make compensations to get it back to square at impact, if I make it back to impact at all.

Been working on trying to get the club "at of above" the plane starting back and that seems to have helped considerably.

I totally agree, Set up huge, and I would make it number one. It is the cause of most swing problems for golfers

I have also been working on firming up the lower body action. But getting the set-up correct and the club started on or just above plane is key #1 right now.

[MGB]

I couldn't agree more on the importance of all the keys listed above. Swing plane, set-up, tempo, spine angle and good contact are all things I key on. But not when I'm hitting the ball.

I'm playing my most consistent golf, ever, and the only thing I want to think about now when I swing is the target. If I key on the target, the ball usually makes it's way there. If I miss, it won't be by much.

Just my two cents.

[phil75070]

I know its simplistic, I understand it may seem "babyish" and does not compete with some gimmicks but I firmly believe good tempo is the key to good, consistent golf.

Totally agree! Tempo is the key. Most of us are athletic enough that with a fairly decent set of fundamentals we shouldn't have to think about mechanics during the swing, If one concentrates on TEMPO, we should be athletic enough that all else will pretty much fall in place, weight shift, shoulder turn, balance....

[zojo]

for me, and i just figured this out recently, is that i have to open up and turn my shoulders while in my down swing. This way, i hit the ball first instead of catching ball and ground, or even sometimes ground before ball. It has trememdously paid off, and now my shots are much more accurate and longer

[Godfather1]

For me it's the transition into the downswing. If I make a proper transition everything falls into place. After that it's my setup

[phil75070]

For me it's the transition into the downswing. If I make a proper transition everything falls into place. After that it's my setup

I agree with you, but I think that is one of the elements of tempo! :-)

[CLMelton]

Tempo. This has become critical to me.

I had read about the book "Tour Tempo" on a couple of forums and thought it might be hype but I was feeling that if my time was off I wasn't going to have a good day. I picked up the book and have worked with it and have had two rounds of 77 in a row. I find the research to be fairly sound and it's already worked for me.

[phil75070]

I just started working with Tour Tempo, having a total of four range sessions so far. I took the concept to the course today and had a few problems with the driver, getting too quick and trying to swing too hard instead of letting things happen naturally. Despite that, I shot one of my best rounds, 1 76 on a course rated 73.5 / 137 with a back nine of -1. My average score on this course is a little over 81. I think I'm going to stick with this concept and see where it takes me. :smile2:

[CLMelton]

My only problems over the past three rounds using Tour Tempo principles has come when I've hit those "anyways" shots. I get up over the ball and get out of synch for the temp and hit it anyways. Disastrous when I do this. Today I was staring down a 50 yard wedge for my second shot on 18 and hit one of these. Took a double when I would normally be putting from inside 10 feet for birdie.

Swing....set,through

[primo]

The very basics:

GRIP

AIM

STANCE

POSTURE

I have the same problems everyone else has, however all problems come from these 4 basic fundamentals of the golf swing. I have a tendency for my hips to get a little overactive. I fire my hips though too early and I get that nasty low pull slice, or just straight pull. I just recently discovered this problem was rooted with my stance. I had great posture but my stance was a little off, I found out my stance was a little off, because over the last few months working with the momentus I realized that my grip had become a lot stronger with me realizing it. My off grip meant my body had to make compenstation with my stance, which basically leads to bad swings. The point is if you go back to the very basic essentials I think you will often "find your swing" I actually just wrote a few notes down to help me remember what is that I forget and I'm going to put this thing on the back of my scorecard when I play...

[Godfather1]

Phil your right that transition is a basic element of tempo. But Primo I think you hit it on the head with a proper setup, grip... usually the tempo and transition become a lot easier.

[juststeve]

It is the swinging motion itself. Not a push or a shove or a levering, but a swing. Learn to swing and everything else falls into place.

Steve

[phil75070]

Phil your right that transition is a basic element of tempo. But Primo I think you hit it on the head with a proper setup, grip... usually the tempo and transition become a lot easier.

There is no excuse for NOT having the proper grip, alignment, posture and stance. These are all PRE swing elements that "set the stage" for what follows. Compared to the swing itself, you have all the time in the world to make sure you get them right. In the swing, you can't think of much in the .93 to 1.2 seconds it should take to "swing" the club.