Like a baseball swing
Last time on the course, I hit some amazing shots when I concentrated on my hip turn. Today, I went to the range intending to ingrain such a hip turn. My secondary goal (as usual) was to flatten my swing arc.
As I was nearing the end of my session, I was still a bit out of sync. I was working on my two keys when suddenly it hit me: a baseball swing is flat, and power comes from the hips and lower body. My swing thought became “swing like a baseball bat” and I started hitting straight and long.
I was never any good as baseball, but channeling my rudimentary baseball swing may be the key to improving my golf swing. One principle of a good golf swing is starting the downswing with the lower body. A baseball swing intuitively starts with the lower body. And it would be impossible to duplicate my steep, outside-in swing path with a baseball bat, unless I was bunting down the third base line.
A note of caution: I’ve never claimed to be a teacher, but I certainly would not recommend a “baseball swing” swing thought to someone just starting out. This would undoubtedly lead to disasters like whiffing and topping.
1 year ago