The golf swing is mostly a matter of staying in balance. At address, you are in a state of balance. The feet are firmly planted. The head is steady, with the eyes fixed on the ball. The weight shifts between both feet as you waggle the club. The grip is light and ready for action. The hips are quiet, anticipating the coming turn. The arms are loose, like a sling ready to whip into the shot. Even the ball sits so serenely on tee or turf, the unsuspecting recipient of unbridled molded metal launched like a hammer from the thrower’s lunge. The waggle settles into a quiet stillness in that final moment before the club is drawn back, before centrifugal force emerges from the hara, the figurative center, of the golfer’s soul. Balance. Even the air stills, in response to the golfer’s equanimity.
Ah, if only that moment of stillness, of quiet, of mind as dumb and silent as a water buffalo, as my Buddhist teacher Ajahn Sumedho would put it, could be retained throughout what is now to happen. If only that homeostasis could be retained throughout the swing of a golf club. But alas, the moment of truth comes. The swing, the movement, must commence, and with far more urgency than the infamous Garcia waggles of yesteryear. The tsunami approaches. No time for thought or further preparation. The water rises and you can’t see over it. You’re in too deep now. You’ve made the date and it’s time to dance and you better know your steps or your date will leave you dancing alone. Your date…in golf? Your swing. Your confidence. Your self respect. Your balance.
Since your downswing comes on as fast as a Navy Seal at bin Laden’s hideout, the start of that action is crucial. It must be well timed or your balance will be compromised. So you have to find a pace that will help you maintain balance through impact to follow through, but is not so slow as to compromise distance for accuracy. Now most amateurs think that the faster the pace, the farther the ball will go. But this is only true if you can keep your balance throughout. Chi Chi Rodriguez had a very short backswing but an extremely quick pace, and this worked for him. John Daly has a very long backswing with a much slower pace. Freddy Couples has a backswing at about parallel with a relatively slow pace. At the follow through, all of these accomplished pros were and are in balance. In fact, just about all touring pros share this characteristic, despite the many variations of form and pace. Each has found a pace that allows them to make solid contact while staying in balance.
So you need to experiment in the laboratory: the range. You’ll find right off that the longer the club, the more difficult to retain balance while achieving distance and accuracy. Therefore, the driver is the most important club in the bag to find the correct pace for your swing. Controlling the clubhead of a driver is a bit like swinging a snake by the tail. It helps then to have your driver professionally fitted to your swing, especially the shaft. That way, whatever pace is best for you will take full advantage of the technology of modern clubs.
And how do you finish the driver swing? Your weight should be on the front foot, with your back foot positioned on the toes. Your hands should be high in the follow through, with your belt buckle facing the target. If you’ve been in perfect balance throughout the swing, you will hear the result with the crack of solid contact, and there is often a forward recoil of the club as you’d feel after a firing a gun. It’s an extremely satisfying experience. Unfortunately, many amateurs I see end with their weight on their back foot, their clubhead skewed left of target, their forward arm bent like a boomerang, and about as balanced as a drunk driver. The flight of the ball, the other major barometer of balance, will usually be anywhere but straight and off the ground. Often playing a high spin ball more suited to a pro, the ball flight will be curved, either hooked or sliced in the woods or rough or whatever trouble the hole defends itself with. We have an expression that “the course beat me up today.” Not correct. We beat ourselves up with our out-of-balance swings.
And what about irons and hybrids? More than the driver, these are clubs where the weight has to be shifted quickly and forcefully from the back foot at the top of the backswing to the front foot at the start of the downswing. It’s the only way the clubhead can contact the ball first then the turf, producing the action of the ball rising up the angle of the club face and grabbing the grooves for the backspin needed to hold a green. That’s how and why a divot is needed and taken–a divot about the size of a dollar bill. Anything less and you have a chunk, a thin, a top, a skank, or a shank. Again, balance is the key, and the weight shift and hip turn and still head keeps you there.
Finally, there are the eyes. If you close your eyes and spin around, you’ll probably lose your balance. In golf we use the eyes to watch the ball, which becomes the object of our concentration. Throughout the day, our eyes help us stay in balance, help orient ourselves to our surroundings as we constantly shift and adapt to our changing reference points. With golf, it’s easier as we have only one reference point to focus upon: the ball. Watch it throughout the swing.
There’s more, I know. But this should give you enough to experiment with. Next step is to hit the range and play with the combinations and permutations of balance. It’ll help you reach the next level…and not fall off.
The Mindful Golfer 