Beginner Golfers – and MGS
A recent purchaser of the ebook DIY (do-it-yourself) GOLF from my website, emailed to say that, “As to the attractiveness of the book for beginners, my own gut feeling is that most beginners will prefer to be taught the most orthodox golf swing possible because, as with most people in most things, they will not want to be seen to be “different”. In the case of golf, I feel that it is more likely that the experienced but frustrated golfer is the type who will be willing to abandon orthodox teachings in the hope of eventually playing the kind of golf he/she feels capable of playing. (What every player, whatever his/her handicap, wants is more consistency; and that, I feel, is what the MGS would seem to offer above all else.)”
The above is the quote in its entirety. So, beginner golfers, please go ahead and be orthodox.
Learn a swing that’ll twist your body like a corkscrew but expect your arms to go more ‘up’ than ‘around’, but not too steep, mind you, and neither too shallow/flat. Also, please make sure your wrists bend till you redefine ‘limp wristedness’. At the same time your club shaft, then your right elbow and finally your left forearm must all stay on the shaft plane, at different times going back. That’s just the backswing, and I hope you know I made it simple for you by not even mentioning swing fundamentals aka grip-aim-alignment-posture-ballposition-stance, quite a scandalous omission on my part. Do read on, we’ve only got to the top of the backswing. The downswing must transition correctly, the legs should separate but the body should not bump sideways towards target (or TPI and all great golf gurus will consider it a ‘slide’, a major fault because you have physical limitations). You should have an x-factor stretch during the downswing so that your proximal parts (believe it or not your legs) move before your distal parts (shoulders followed by arms and hands). I do hope you had the x-factor during your backswing, I forgot to mention it in my hurry to go through the list of things you should be doing. Also, failed to state that you should have been holding onto your wrist angle for dear life, during the downswing (no casting or over-the-top swings please, or once again it’ll be known that you have physical limitations just like 48% of all golfers), so that you can ‘release’ through impact. (Sorry, I cannot tell you whether wrist-release means straightening out the bend in your trail wrist or rolling the trail forearm over the lead one, have never seen it defined in so many words during my 37 years of golf!).
And, hey, don’t forget to hit the golf ball!
If all of the above seems too complex, simply be ahead of the game, look at the last entry in the section on this blog titled ‘the minimalist golf swing – what it is’ and learn a swing which is so simple it’s unbelievable. This section gives it in a very step-by-step manner, ideal for the beginner. (The existing golfer does not even need that much). It is also repeatable because all un-necessary movements have been pared off; it is not subjective but is based on research and science; and it comes from someone who has been trying to bridge the gap that currently exists between professor-researcher-poor-golfer and golf-pro-no-bio-and-no-mechanics-background! All the minimalist golf swing videos elsewhere on this blog, show that different skill levels of golfers ‘get it’ – instantly! If you use it, do post a nice testimonial!
Finally, until the 14th Century people thought the earth was flat – I rest my case!
I have had more positive and repeatable results using the MGS for the drive, results for the irons is encouraging but not as repeatable, I am probably not executing it quite right but I am persevering, I think I am not trusting the no effort idea and trying to influence the swing or/ and holding hands too far from body,
Usually people new to MGS have much more success with the shorter clubs! The mistake 9 times out of 10 (without knowing what ball-flight your irons are producing!) is that people do not KEEP THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BODY (TRUNK) LOWER THAN THE LEFT! This is THE MAGIC MOVE of MGS.
With my irons the ball goes to the right but I am also not getting a clean square impact consistantly. I put more success with the driver down to the feeling of a more gravity led drop from the top and I seem to have more time to let it happen naturally. I realise my observations are subjective and may not be a true reflection of what is happening. Thanks for your repy, I will pay more attention to keeping the right side lower.KBO !
Other less likely reasons than lifting your right trunk during the backswing, but which I’ve also seen over years of teaching MGS include
1. Twisting your clubface open as you twist your body ‘closed’
2. Not lifting your arm vertically upwards but swinging in as you probably did before, or twisting during your backswing
3. If your driver backswing was long and flowing and you do that with the irons then too you could very well hit them thin and push them out.
Three days ago, I hit 90 balls on the driving range using the MGS and was astonished at how well I was striking the ball most of the time. That was my first and, so far, only practice in using the MGS.
Yesterday, I used the swing for the first time during a round of golf and although I was less relaxed in using it than I had been on the range, I nevertheless struck a lot of very satisfying shots and ended with my best score in quite a long while.
Perhaps the most encouraging aspect is that when I made a poor swing, I felt that I knew exactly where I had gone wrong. And I reckon my most common fault was to come out of my posture too soon in a reversion to my previous way of swinging.