You're Reading: Locking in Your Swing Thoughts
Somedays your golf swing is just simply locked in. Without any real concentration or extra effort, the ball comes off the center of the face and finds the intended target. Unfortunately, for most of us, these days are the anomaly.
Instead, most golfers usually experience days when their timing is off or their body is not quite moving properly or in sync. On these days, it’s important to have developed swing thoughts that work for your unique swing.
Most golfers are probably familiar with these thoughts. The definition would be any motion or technique that a golfer tries to realize in his swing during the duration of the swing itself. For example, after a golfer sets up to the ball, he may begin his swing with the idea of maintaining an on-plane takeaway.
Swing thoughts are also unique to each golfer. A thought that works for one golfer may not work for another. Jack Nicklaus admits that the one swing thought that “dominated” his game was “complete the backswing.” He interpreted this to mean a “turning of the upper body and the lower body and the completion of the backswing with the club going to a parallel position.”
You may try this out in your game. It may work for you, but just because Nicklaus has won 18 majors does not guarantee that it will. This is not to say that the finished product of his swing was imperfect or showed improper technique. Rather, it is to say that this specific thought of completing the backswing proved key for him to consistently find the correct position at the top of this swing.
For some golfers, to mimic this same position, it may be more obvious and easier to focus on the left shoulder (the right shoulder for left-handed golfers) and ensure that the left shoulder turns till the point at which it is directly below the golfer’s chin before starting the downswing.
The best way to discover what works for you is to go to the range or out on the course and try some out. You may find that based on how your body is moving on a given day, one swing thought works better than another. This is fine, but you will want to establish consistency with swing thoughts that are most reliable for you.
While swing thoughts are a great way to add consistency and reassurance under pressure moments to your game, there is a limit to how many are actually useful before they become detrimental and your game falls into the slippery slope that is paralysis over analysis.
In other words, minimize the number of swing thoughts you use on a given day and especially for a given swing. Again, to quote Nicklaus, “Most people can think of one maybe two things during a golf swing. I can think of five or six and do them.” Understand that most of us fall into the former category capable of processing two thoughts.
A good way to apply this to your swing is to have one swing thought for your backswing and one for your downswing. If you find that one is sufficient, good – go with that. For example, during your backswing concentrate on keeping your lower body stable and avoid swaying. On your downswing, envision what Tiger Woods called “letting the club fall into position early in the downswing” to prevent an over-the-top motion and to create lag.
"Most people can think of one maybe two things during a golf swing. I can think of five or six and do them."
— Jack Nicklaus
Experiment with different swing thoughts, find the ones that work for your game, and remember, try not to complicate things too much.
