How To Swing A Golf Club - The Downswing

So far we have looked at just what it takes to complete your backswing and build up the power that is about to explode through your downswing to drive the ball along the perfect line to its target.

The Downswing

The downswing is the moment of truth. While your backswing should have been both smooth and controlled, you are now going to step up a gear for an easy and graceful release of all that pent-up power. The transition from the backswing into the downswing is quite marked but it should nonetheless remain graceful and seamless and, in particular, should not show any signs of snapping or force.

This is the point at which most beginners get it wrong and, having made a perfect backswing, ruin everything with a poor downswing.

Start From The Hips

Your downswing should start with a movement of your hips which begin the process of uncoiling your entire body. At this point don't take too much notice of your arms and hands but concentrate your attention on moving your hips.

As soon as your body begins to uncoil you need to also begin to shift your weight from your right foot onto your left foot. This is an extremely important part of the downswing as a failure to correctly transfer your weight will not only result in a considerable reduction of the power in your shot, but it will also reduce the accuracy of your shot. When you first start you will probably need to make a conscious effort to deliberately shift your weight across but, with practice, this will soon become quite natural.

Uncoil The Body And Release The Energy

Now is the moment to release all that energy. As you do so, try to hold the bend you have in your wrists for as long as possible as they need to be the very last part of your body to release just before the ball is hit. With practice it is not too difficult to learn to snap your wrists at the very last moment to transfer that all important additional power to the ball.

As the club head is coming down and picking up speed as it moves towards the ball maintaining good form is essential. Let you whole body follow through automatically and without interference carried through by the speed and momentum built up during the downswing.

The Follow Through >>>

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