Golf Swing Made Simple! | ME AND MY GOLF

Today we're going to be helping you understand the golf swing a little bit more for all you beginners out there. Hi, I'm Andy Proudman. And I'm Piers Ward. You've joined us at the stunning Asprey Hall Golf Club and you're watching Me and My Golf TV. So today's question comes through Facebook from Mark Johnson and Mark's asking basically can he learn some of the basic fundamentals of the golf swing. Mark's saying he's watched a lot of videos through YouTube and there's so much out there that a lot of it's contradicting and it sounds like you're getting a little bit confused and a lot of it's aimed at maybe trying to fix golfers rather than helping them sort of build a solid good golf swing. So we wanted to do this video and it's something that we don't do a lot of for beginners so hopefully this will help today a lot of you out there if you are just starting the game. So Piers, one of the big things with beginners is really important is concept. Correct. We talk about this a lot. A lot of people have the wrong idea of what they should be doing in the golf swing. So today Mark we want to make sure that you can really understand what we're trying to do with the golf swing and then have something practical that you can use as well. So we want to go through some of the mistakes that a lot of you guys make. So first of all Piers, we're going to talk about probably the most important part of the golf swing which is sort of from hip height both sides of the swing. And what we're looking for to produce a consistent or a straight shot. So first of all, we want to hit the golf ball pretty straight Piers. And that would seem obviously a logical thing to do. What we want to do is hit the ball pretty straight. So in order to do that, what does the golf club need to do? Okay, so the biggest and I can actually relate to this when I first started playing golf, I thought it would make sense to keep the club pointing the target. So we've got to turn the club around the body because as soon as we put the ball to the side of us, it is going on an arc. Okay, so there's no real straight lines. It has to go around our body. Okay, so the biggest common mistake that we see is a lot of people in order to try and hit a straight shot, they think the club should travel back in a straight line and through in a straight line. And that will definitely not allow you to hit a straight shot. So the first thing that you want to understand is that the club is going to move in and around. So from a good golf swing, we want the club to move in from the target line, back to the target line and then in from the target line on the way through. So as you can see there, nothing travels in a straight line, hopefully the ball, but the golf club does not travel in a straight line. So that will help us produce a straight shot Piers. There's something else that's going to help us produce a straight shot as well, apart from the direction of the club swinging and that's the club face. Yeah, that's more important really as well. So we need a tennis racket for this one to highlight the difference. So we're going to switch camera views here. So to highlight this Piers, now again, this is another thing that people get confused with is that they think that to hit that ball straight, we've got to keep that club pointing at that target. And what does that lead to? Lots of bad shots unfortunately. I mean, again, I think it's because the golf ball is to the side of you. I know if you are putting, it's a little bit easier to keep it straight back and straight through. Again, there's lots of different putting methods out there. But as soon as we put the ball further away from us, then this is why a lot of people struggle with the driver. I think when they first start is because the concept of turning isn't correct. So using this tennis racket here, we've got the cover on still. So if you notice when I get back to the waist high position we were talking about at the beginning of the video, we can see the cover there. Now, as I swing through to the corresponding point on the way through, you'll see that we can see the strings and a lot of people will do that to start with. So how does that relate to the face position, Piers, then? So what was the face doing in the back swing and through swing? So it's turning. OK, so we're allowing the face to open on the way back and then we're allowing the face on the way down to close to a square position and then it closes. So you can see that golf club would be opening and then closing, where as Piers mentioned there, a lot of people are trying to keep it square on the way back and then straight on the way through. And again, that leads to all sorts of problems. We very rarely see people when they first start over-rotate it. It's often an under-rotation on the way back and way through. So I think, like we said, the concept is the really important thing. The club moves in and around from the target line on an arc, not straight, and the club face opens and closes. Now, how can we then put this into something practical that we can do, Piers? So if we grab a golf club. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, one of the biggest problems we have with coaching sometimes is we get too complicated. But I do think it's important to have these checkpoints. So I think a great thing that I like to get people to do when they're first starting is to allow the club to turn, but at this waist-high position, the leading edge or the toe of the golf club, we want it pointing up and on the way through, again, corresponding, we want it pointing up. I think that's a really useful checkpoint because people can do that in mini swings. So they can stand here, do this, do this, and actually hit some shots doing this. And what tends to happen, they turn the club, but they get used to knowing how to turn the body as well. I think that's really important. And working on this part of the golf swing is just, this is the most important, this is where we're going to hit the golf ball, OK? So if we can work on this and then maybe extend as we get better and better and more comfortable with this, it's going to help. That's just going to increase the power. But certainly allowing the club to open and close through the right position and the club to move in and around the body is going to have a big effect on your consistency. Absolutely. And I know that this is for Mark who's just maybe starting in the game, but I know for a fact I've taught people who've been playing the game for 10 years and I say to them, what should the club do? And they actually think it should be doing straight. And they've been doing it for 10 years. So get the concept right from the beginning, Mark, and this will really help you. It will help you grow from there. Yeah, I think the most important thing. So let's just hit a shot, please. Let's just demonstrate you hitting a shot just from, again, this would be great for you to do, Mark, just going back to waist height, through the waist height, allowing the club to open and close. Absolutely. You know, I've got the driver here now and I really do get people to start with, I can hit 20 yards. Yeah. And I think it's, you know, do it as simply as that. And it's really hard to hit the ball soft to start with. Especially with the driver. You certainly want to do a rip with the driver. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Yeah, I usually do. But yeah, so on this one, literally, I'm going to get the club, turn it and turn it and that's gone about 20 yards. Now, it might seem like a really, it might seem almost too soft that. But for me, that's a fantastic way to learn those positions. When you feel comfortable you're doing that, then put the power in. Great. So, Mark, I think the most important thing you can take out today is concepts. You know, we want to make sure that you understand what that golf club should be doing. If you understand that, that's going to have a massive impact on the learning and what you do in your golf swing. So please post your comments, guys. Again, you know, I mean, a lot of you there might have the wrong concept in your mind. So hopefully that's going to help you as well. Give us a thumbs up if you like the video and we'll see you next time on Me and My Golf TV.