Best Golf Swing Tips for Weekend Golfers - The No Backswing Golf Swing

IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING IT SIMPLE

How to swing - golf at its best must be simple. If you watch the pros like I do, and take in every golf magazine and instructional program on the Golf Channel, you will come away with one main golf swing tip: Keep It Simple, Superman (or Superwoman)! Ernie Els, the Big Easy himself is the premier example. He has a seemingly easy backswing, under total control, that he unleashes into one of the most powerful swings on the PGA Tour. He doesn't swing hard.

On the other hand, take a look at the ‘grip and rip it' violence of John Daly's swing. Big John is famous for his prodigious drives, starting with a backswing that goes so far back past horizontal that weekend golfers have done major damage to their lower backs mimicking it.

Big John has the athletic talent and experience to play winning golf at the highest level, in spite of such a violent swing. Big Easy does, too, in spite of his easy, controlled swing. The example for me to imitate is obviously the easy swing. Swinging too hard almost never works.

TOP GOLF SWING TIP FOR CONTROL AND ACCURACY

This is where one of the most useful tips I have ever discovered for my own game applies. Since most of the mistakes in a swing come during the backswing (I have heard 70%), that is where to concentrate on simplifying. Here is what I discovered.

First, I had the opportunity to get lessons that included taking a video of my swing. (Then the instructor put it side by side with Tiger's swing, which is a brutal comparison for any weekend golfer!) When the instructor asked me to take my backswing to horizontal, I did so. However, the video showed me going way past that. When he asked me to take it straight up - i.e., not past vertical - it came closer to being horizontal.

The point is that I am not the only one to not realize how far back my backswing goes. This is a common self-misperception. Going back too far is a problem because the farther I take it back, the more movement I put into it. Not a good formula for good golf. The question is, how short can I make my backswing to eliminate as many mistakes as possible, without sacrificing distance?

THE NO BACKSWING GOLF SWING

Okay, there is no such thing as ‘no' backswing. It so, it would consist of addressing the ball and then pushing it forward. The ‘no' backswing is really just a highly abbreviated backswing. If full means 100%, then ‘no' means more like 25%. The position of the shaft goes to vertical, that's all.

Nevertheless, the power that you can generate with only a 25% backswing is surprising. And the control of the swing is tremendous. There is almost no chance for that little waggle at the top, or any other ineffective movement of the club - after all, there is no top to this backswing.

I got pretty excited about this when I saw the video. My first swing was at a local golf course in Phoenix on June 21. I sliced it my first shot. I got the hang of it after a couple more hits. I recommend working out the kinks on the driving range, not like I did in a live round.

In spite of my early glitches, I hit my drives as far as ever and consistently straighter than I have in years. In fact, I didn't chicken out like I usually do and pull out my fairway metals on the tee box for the final few holes, just to avoid my driver-only slice. Nope, I used my driver all the way to the end, and I was very pleased with the results. The no backswing golf swing worked for me, and I suspect it will work for a lot of other weekend golfers as well.

Be sure watch the video first, so you have a clear visual of what I've described in this article, though.

Dr. Dennis Clark, professional scientist and amateur golfer, has been playing and enjoying golf for more than 40 years. He has discovered that golf swing tips are sometimes valuable and sometimes not. No surprise there. His key to good shot-making is to keep thing simple and minimize movement that causes swing flaws and leads to bad shots. Have some fun and see what he has to say by and for the Everyday Golfer at HowToPlayGolf.us (see video).