One step in achieving that is keeping a well-organized golf bag, which is the ‘holy grail’ for a good golfer – amateur or pro!
Not only does it protect your equipment from scratches and damage, but it also ensures that everything you need is easily accessible during your round. This organization helps reduce stress and save time on the course. More importantly, a tidy golf bag promotes a smoother game by allowing quick and efficient access to your clubs and accessories.
Now that you have your golf bag in order, it is time to get out there and swing!
Sharing with you 10 of the best golf swing tips to help you get better this season. These tips have been curated to give you an edge by taking you through the steps on how to swing a golf club – whether you are struggling to get that perfect shot or even if you are going to step out to hit your first swing. These golf swing tips can be applied to any handicap player, from scratch to a beginner.
Best Golf Swing Tips (Key takeaways)
Here is a quick overview of the most crucial golf swing basics that you must keep in mind to move towards achieving the best golf swing. Going through this section will be helpful in case you do not have the bandwidth or time to go through the whole article just yet. However, don’t forget to come back here at a later time and do read through in detail too.
- Position of hands and wrists: Improving your golf swing heavily depends on the positioning and movement of your hands and wrists. It's essential to understand and master the correct angles and positions to enhance your swing effectively.
- Listen to the experts: Be careful of where you pick up your golf swing from. However well-meaning, the best golf swing tips may not come always come from your friends and playing partners; it would help to listen to the experts.
- Technology and feedback: Keep track of the latest technology as well as feedback for your game and incorporate both regularly into your golf practice routine. This will definitely help to improve your game.
- Understanding and intent: To advance your golf swing techniques, it is important to be intentional about your movements and understand the proper positions in a golf swing.
- Go wide, consider all aspects: The best of players make sure to not be one-dimensional in their approach toward the game. Great players consider all aspects of the game, from alignment to equipment and everything in between.
Detailed Tips for Improving Your Golf Swing
Unlike any other game, golf affords its players a unique system that differentiates one player’s ability from the next. This is known as the handicap system and it is very handy for a golfer to be able to understand and further their game. While each player has different styles, scores and club preferences, one of the most important aspects is their golf swing.
How does a player achieve the perfect golf swing?
There is no magic wand or no trick that will bring you there in a jiffy! However, there are some important and practical golf swing tips that can take you down the road to becoming a great player.
Let’s take a look at the 10 pro tips to a get your golf swing basics right. These tips can be applied to any handicap player, from scratch to a beginner.
Tips:
1. Focus on wrist movement and angles
It is very important to comprehend the how the wrist movements and angles affect your golf swing. Your wrist angles control the clubface and in turn the club face controls where the golf ball goes.
If you have poor wrist movement from the start of your swing, it becomes very difficult to recover and hit straight shots. So, remember to understand your wrist movements and angles to land the best golf swing!
2. Hands are key
I have heard a lot of golfers, new to the game or not, lament about the boredom they face while having to spend time on perfecting their grip. They just want to go out there and swing away.
And I always end up asking the same thing – how will you get the perfect swing with an imperfect grip? It may not be the most exciting or fun thing to do, but is the ONLY thing you need to work on.
The best would be to practice the neutral grip position, which will ensure your shots do not go too far left or right. However, don’t be afraid to alter your grip slightly to suit a certain shot.
Bottom-line, give your grip the attention it deserves and make that perfect swing!
3. Clubface angle is what causes the problems
The importance of the clubface angle can be described in a single line – it has about 80% influence on the starting direction of the golf ball.
An open clubface is open to the target line or pointing right of your target for a right-handed player and can cause a slice. A square clubface, at impact, is square to the target line; hitting a shot with a square clubface should result in a golf ball that flies straight.
So, varying your clubface for a few minutes in every practice session will enhance your ability to control the face at impact.
What causes the clubface angle is another matter and needs further work to understand and correct, but the first step is to understand that the clubface is a key factor in getting the swing right.
4. Left-hand needs to be in charge
They say most batsmen from the game of cricket make good golfers since they need to swing the club same as swinging the bat! But, the major difference lies in how the hands are used. For a right-handed golf player, the left-hand needs to be the one in-charge.
To understand this, start by taking some practice swings placing just the left hand on the club. Once you have got the hang of it, add the right hand on the club and swing and feel the difference. Your left hand also needs to lead the way for chipping and putting.
Allow the left hand to lead and the right hand to just be on for the ride.
5. Learn to compress the ball
Want to get the ball up a little higher in the air?
Plant yourself firmly and hit down and through the ball to get a great distance and trajectory with the iron shots.
To learn proper ball compression, start with chipping. Begin by taking a narrow stance and gripping down slightly on the club. Lean a bit to your left side before starting your backswing. When you strike the ball, maintain that weight on your left side to ensure a clean hit.
Focus on accelerating through the ball and keeping your right hand passive. You should notice that your chip shots become higher and straighter using this technique. Once you master this with chipping, apply the same principles to your full swing with iron shots.
6. Play with different stance positions
Every golfer is unique with no two players being the same in their style. One of the differentiating factors among a great and an average golfer is how well and quickly the golfer understands the importance and impact of their stance on the game.
The key is to figure out and set yourself up with a stance that is comfortable for while also helping you swing the best. You can start by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, weight balanced, feet square, and clubface square and spend some time at the practice range to find that sweet spot.
Even though the perfect position of your stance will vary depending on the club you choose, a good posture, hinged at the hip, with the upper body bending forward and the arms hanging straight down is what one needs to aim for.
Tip: Some technology always comes in handy. Using an alignment stick and a launch monitor would help to get your stance correct.
7. Don’t Take it Easy
Most definitely not! You cannot take it easy! Golf is a sport and no one ever achieved success in a sport by taking it easy. You have to go after the golf ball and hit it hard to try and get distance and accuracy.
Never stop accelerating through the golf ball even as you learn to improve your balance and to have a better tempo in your golf swing.
Go after the ball and accelerate to a full finish. It will take you down the path to becoming a much better player with that perfect golf swing.
8. In challenging conditions, trust your judgment over your ego
Like any other field of life, a golfer’s ego can be the most destructive mental obstacles that needs to be overcome to play golf consistently at their potential.
Golf course conditions can get difficult and unfortunately, when the going gets tough, the ego can lead a golfer to transfer the blame for what happens on things such as faulty swing mechanics or other bad technique, without analysing and figuring out the core issue.
It is essential to put your ego aside, not over or underestimate yourself, and make the game easier on yourself when the course conditions become difficult.
For example, if it is an especially windy day or the course is wet due to the rains the previous night, it would be crucial to make the needed adjustments, however simple they may seem. It may rankle to do so, but make and accept that adjustment to get the best out of yourself and your golf swing.
9. Never take a swing without a defined target
The golf course is your playground but it sure is a vast one! So, when you tell yourself that you need to hit it straight, that may not be the best plan as that would leave too much room for error.
To pull off that perfect shot, always define and pin point your target to a specific spot or a line on the fairway or green before going for that swing.
Try to narrow your target down to a specific spot or a line that you can go after.
10. Use the ground to your advantage
Using ground forces to enhance power and stability.
Remember when stepping out on to the course - the ground is your friend in getting the golf swing right. The ground forces allow you to gain both torque and power in your swing by utilizing the ground.
It is important to keep you weight centered in the feet. That can give the most power to you swing as the hips and body can coil while you are pushing down and through, making the best use of the ground. Harness the power of the ground to get the most consistent shots.
Common Mistakes to Avoid in Golfing
While you work on incorporating the best golf swing tips and techniques into your game, also ensure to avoid these top five common mistakes you may be making that may hinder your game and ruin the perfect golf swing.
- Skipping the warm up
Golf is a physical sport and no sport can take off well without the correct warm up. No one, and I reiterate, NO ONE should skip the warm up. Limber, loose, warmed up muscles are the key to a powerful and perfect golf swing.
So, before you go out there ensure taking smooth swings with each club in your bag, starting with the wedges and progressing to fairway metals and driver.
- Ignoring making the right choice of clubs
Did you think they make different clubs just for design sake? Absolutely not! Every golf club has a defined role and function.
Make sure to get fitted correctly with the right clubs as that will go a long way toward helping you achieve that perfect golf swing.
- Swinging too hard
A hard and fast swing will surely give you a long shot provided you are have achieved perfection already and are able to strike exactly in the middle of the clubface. Any deviation and you would have made a bad shot.
So remember to slow down and give the swing time to happen in a proper sequence. Help yourself to achieve cleaner shots measuring good distances more consistently.
- The death grip
Gripping too tightly on the club is a common error that a lot of golfers tend to make, the general conception being – the harder the grip, the better the swing and distance covered on the shot.
However, it actually has the absolute opposite impact. Gripping the club too tight makes your muscles stiff and ends up slowing down the swing. So, keep your grip optimal and maintain a loose, flowing action for the best golf swing.
- Poor alignment
One major cause for that leads to golfers making bad shots is poor alignment. It is most important to keep in mind that alignment is not a one-time thing - it must be continually maintained. The best of golfers need to work hard at checking their alignment.
A quick tip that will take you a long way in improving your golf swing is to avoid lining up the feet and aiming directly at the target. Instead the toes should be lined up parallel to the target line.
Conclusion
Do remember, it is important not to overthink and make your golf swing harder than it really is!
Embarking on the journey to perfect your golf swing can be a rewarding experience. Consider enhancing your routine by playing regularly and on a variety of courses—over 400 are available across various locations in India. Experiment with different stances, adjust your grip style, and continually seek new knowledge.
Swing away!
