How To Swing A Golf Club Effortlessly

Anyone who is somewhat serious about golf wants to know how to swing a golf club properly. After all, if you have a lousy swing, your scores will be lousy.

There are three basic elements to a golf swing:

1.Grip
2.Posture
3.Backswing, downswing and follow-through

1. Grip

There are three main ways to grip a club:

(a). The Overlapping Grip: The little finger of the trailing hand is placed between the index and middle finger of the lead hand (for right-handed golfers, the lead hand is the left). The lead hand thumb fits along the lifeline of the trailing hand. Most golf pros use this grip.

(b). The Interlocking Grip: The little finger of the trailing hand is intertwined with the index finger of the lead hand. The lead hand thumb fits in the lifeline of the trailing hand. Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and I use this grip.

(c). The Ten Finger Grip: The little finger of the trailing hand is placed close to the index finger of the lead hand, then the lead hand thumb is covered with the lifeline of the trailing hand. This grip is good for young junior golfers or those with smaller hands.

2. Posture

Stand with your back straight, bend your knees slightly, bend from the hips, with feet shoulders width apart. Imagine you are sitting on the edge of a bar stool - that is position you want.

Alignment - when you stand in front of the ball about to swing, your feet, legs, hips and shoulders should be parallel with one another and they should be pointing at the target line (what you are aiming at).

Foot position - your feet should be about shoulder width for all wood and iron shots. But, for a driver, the ball position should be opposite to the heel of your left foot (right foot if you are left handed).

Ball position - for iron shots, the golf ball should be in the midle of your stance. However,

Balance - your weight should be slightly on the balls of your feet and not on your heels.

Arms and Hands - your arms and hands should be in a relaxed position in front of you. There should be about one hand width of space between your body and your arms that are holding the club.

3. Backswing, Downswing and Follow-Through

Rotate your torso on the back swing, and bend your wrists, creating a 90 degree angle between your left (right for a lefty) forearm and the shaft. Your back should point at the target on the backswing.

When swinging down, pull the head of the club so that it lags behind everything else, and allow the 90 degree forearm and shaft angle to increase, then unwind rapidly through the impact area. You should swing at about 80 percent of your maximum on all shots, otherwise, you will off balance and hit shots off the heel and toe of your clubs a lot.

Make sure to have the shaft leaning forward toward the target at the moment of impact, this will help to have the face of the club face square at impact, an important factor in directional control.

It isn't that important how far back you take the club because if you have released the club correctly, you will follow through completely. Your belt buckle will be facing the target, the club will be behind you, and you will be balanced on your lead foot with the back foot balanced on its toe. You should be able to comfortably hold this finish as you watch the ball fly off right at your target.

How far you hit a ball is determined by club head speed at impact, how well you strike it near the centre of the face, and the angle of attack of the clubhead, steep or shallow. With a driver, you want to sweep through the ball and not hit down on it.

The video below will show you what is important in order to swing a golf club properly. It also covers the various ways you can grip a club. I favor the interlocking grip and use it myself - so does Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

Keep in mind that especially when you start out in golf, you should not try and swing like Tiger Woods with a long backswing and amazing follow through, unless you have incredible flexibility.

If you have a shorter backswing and your follow through the ball is not totally around your left shoulder when you finish, don't worry about it. My backswing is short and I have done fine.

What does matter is that your arms and whole body must feel relaxed during the swing and not tense. That is the key.

Watch these golf instruction videos:
PGA Golf Instruction
How to Swing a Golf Club

Just follow these golf tips and you will be well on your way to shooting lower scores.