Golf is considered as one of the best overall body exercises that help you to stay fit not just physically but also mentally. It not just keeps your body healthy but also increases your concentration power. But playing golf is not all. You should also learn to improve your swings and thus your game, so that you can enjoy the game more while playing and exercising. Thus to help you to improve your game and swings here are a few tips and points that you can consider for an effective swing.
There are many things that should be considered for a more effective swing, for instance the correct posture along with the proper exercises and the proper equipments altogether improve your swings. Here are a few basic tips to help you make your swings more effective.
"A correct posture: While paying golf, the whole body is involved in your every action. Your arms, wrists, shoulders, legs, hips and also knees. If any of these parts are not in the right posture, your swing will get affected. Thus for a proper swing, you need to keep your back straight bending from the waist with your knees loosened a bit. Keep your arms, shoulders firm but a bit relaxed and the grip tight on the club.
"Back and down swings: The main purpose of a back swing is to generate the required amount of power and that of the down swing is to swing the ball across the required direction. While making the back swing, you should make sure that the arms should be straight and you can bend your wrists. A slow back swing is usually advised by the experts as they are more effective and powerful. While performing the downswing, you should have your shoulders straight and also watch your hips. This will give you a better down swing.
"A proper rhythm: A slow swing action is often said to be more powerful and also helps the ball to cover a long straight distance. You should not be very quick in your actions before hitting the ball as that might also affect your body muscles.
"Balance: Along with a good rhythm a good balance of your body weight is also important for your swings to be effective.
"Practice: May it be anything any profession or game, it can be only excelled by a lot of practice.
Good equipments finally add to the perfection of your actions and swings. They just make your work more easy and effective. Nowadays, the best equipments are just a step away from you. There are golf shops like that provide these equipments of various brands all at the same place very easily.
The trouble is; how do you learn to keep your left arm straight?
A lotta golfers who think they keep their left arm straight during the golf swing are shocked when they see themselves swing on video...The left arm of these golfers are bent as much as 90 degrees during the backswing and/or the downswing...or the downswing.
Some golfers are so intent on keeping their left arm straight during the golf swing they become rigid with little shoulder turn.
So, how do you learn to keep the left arm straight during the golf swing?
First, a little lesson on the physics of the golf swing...
Golf swing experts talk about a "Magic Triangle" that is created in a fundamentally sound golf swing. This is the triangle formed by the golfer's left arm, the golf club, and an imaginary line from the golfer's left shoulder to the center of the club face. For best results, this triangle should be maintained from the start of the backswing to just before the impact area when you release the club head. This will produce a high speed impact with the ball as described in detail by Joe Dante in his top selling golf instructional book - "Four Magic Moves To Winning Golf".
By focusing on maintaining the magic triangle throughout the golf swing you are taken advantage of a powerful physical force...the conservation of angular momentum...the principal that states angular momentum of an object remains constant as long as no external force or moment acts on that object.
If the object (club head) is brought closer to the axis (formed by the golfer's stable spine), it speeds up. As the club head moves further out from the axis of rotation causes it to slow down. In a golf swing, as the player rotates the club, the hands move farther from the body or axis and slow down. This reduction in momentum feeds into the much lighter club and increases the speed of the club head in the last part of the stroke, in a whiplash type of effect, increasing the force of impact on the ball.
The truth is, if your left arm does not stay straight during the golf swing, you are losing out on the benefits of centrifugal force because your swing arc is smaller. Think of your left arm as a spoke in a wheel and your swing arc as the circumference of the wheel. By not keeping your left arm straight you are essentially shortening the spoke thereby reducing the circumference. You are also upsetting the positive effects of conservation of angular momentum and thus reducing the speed between club face and ball.
Now that you understand the physics behind the benefits of keeping your left arm straight during the golf swing...
How do you learn to do so?
The answer is quite simple; All you need to do is to become aware of this magic triangle during the golf swing. Don't try to force this triangle...just become aware of it next time you go to the range...
Then, just before impact, release all that stored energy you will have in the club head, like cracking a whip!
Before you know it the ball will be exploding off your clubface...
You'll be surprised how straight your left arm becomes during the golf swing just by shining the light of awareness upon this magic triangle during the golf swing.
You will now have a tiger by the tail so use this new found power wisely!
Both Jessica Thomson & John Lynch are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.