The key is to build a simple, low maintenance, and repeatable swing and here is how you can do it from A to Z.

UPDATED AUGUST 2020: EXPLANATION OF THE GOLF SWING - MADE EASY 

Unfortunately the golf swing is not a natural swing, by that I mean we were not born to swing a golf club. The golf swing must be built from the ground up using certain techniques many of which are described in this blog.  Good luck and let me know if this blog has helped to improve your golf swing and game in any way as that would be my satisfaction and the sole reason for writing this.

READERS COMMENTS:

"Thanks for your work pulling together the best information a golfer would need to develop a great, yet simple, swing. Now, as we head into the winter, I need to focus on my rotation and my triangle to get better for next year. My goal is to break 90 and enjoy every round of golf." Bruce C. October 2013

"A brilliant piece of instruction. The explanation given for different facets of the swing are simple and concise. I am treating this site as 'my bible' Thanks." Bruce M. from Australia. May 2014.

"Great Blog!! This is great information and should help those golfers that are struggling, in particular the "Connection between your arms and body" and "The Magic Triangle" are two key elements that have helped me in the past (along with the waggle of course)..." (read more in comments section below). Broc. July 2015.

INTRODUCTION:  When I first started golfing I  consistently shot over 100. Although I didn't consider myself to be a duffer,  my golf scores and lack of consistent ball striking indicated that I had the dubious distinction of being included in that group.  I never knew what it felt like to actually compress a ball.  I didn't have club head lag and consequently I lacked distance on all of my clubs.  As I couldn't hit any of my long irons, I would leave my 3, 4, and 5 irons at home and used 7 and 9 woods instead.  I also made sure that I had enough balls in my bag before a round of golf because I would lose at least four to six balls each time that I played. Naturally, I had many bad habits as I lacked a basic understanding of the golf swing.  I  swayed on my back swing and my arm was not connected to my body.  I rolled my forearms on my takeaway which opened the club face at impact and I sliced regularly because of an outside in swing plane. I also thought that if I swung harder I would be able to hit the ball much farther, boy was I wrong, it actually led to more wicked slices instead.  Practicing at the driving range until I got callouses also did not help, all I was doing was grooving a faulty swing. In fact, it was not uncommon for me to hit several balls over the right side boundary fence with some sensational slices where the ball rolled backwards toward me!

I lacked the proper swing mechanics, essentially I was clueless about the golf swing. After shooting way over a 100 on a consistent basis for several years I finally had enough and decided that I needed to learn the essential fundamentals of the golf swing.  Everything changed after I read Ben Hogan's book "Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf". It was a golf epiphany for me,  it was the road map I desperately needed as it made me realize that if I worked on developing the proper swing mechanics I could simplify my golf swing and become a consistent  striker of the ball (by the way this is a MUST READ book if you are a high handicapper).

Thus began my journey, and over time my swing began to evolve. I gained about 75 yards more off the tee, my slices disappeared and my balls were going straight on a consistent and regular basis.  I also began working on my short game from 80 yards and in, including chipping off the green and within two years I became an 8 handicapper,  I consistently scored in the low to mid 80's and if I shot in the high eighties, lost a ball, or landed in an OB then that would have been a bad day for me. In fact I shot my fair share of rounds in the 70's, the best round being a 3 over par 75. In this blog I will share with you what I've learned through my own struggles in order that you may see some improvement in your golf game as well. 

There are many theories about the golf swing, some teachers will say one thing, others will say something else that is a bit different. There are also different golf swings, some golfers like Bryson DeChambeau and Ben Hogan have a one plane swing, while golf legend Jack Nicklaus had a slighter steeper "two plane" swing. 

As these two methods are quite distinct it adds to some of the confusion when someone is first learning how to swing the club. There really are no secrets or mysteries that needs unraveling. Instead the key is to build a basic swing foundation by learning certain fundamental concepts, and then it will be up to you to decide what works best for your swing and what doesn't. This compilation of what I consider basic fundamental concepts is by no means intended to give you the swing of a scratch golfer or that of a very good amateur tournament player.  It is not meant to take the place of individual golf lessons, but it  should offer some helpful tips, and hopefully to bring some noticeable improvement in your game. I cannot guaranty that you will become a single digit golfer as there are other shots in golf that you will also need to be proficient at, such as sand shots, chipping, putting, pitch shots, lobs, fades, draws, knockdown shots, course management etc., but there is no reason why you cannot become a single digit handicapper if  that other part of your game is manageable or under control.  Also addressed in this blog are some of the more common beginner mistakes and some visualization tips which should help you to sense the movement being described.

If you have anything you would like to share with others please do so, or if you have improved your golf game because of something that you may have read and learned from this blog, please also share your experience with us so that others may also share the joy with you. I remember the biggest thrill was shooting in the 70's for the first time. It was the culmination of dedicated work, having sound swing basics, and a repeatable swing. It was also comforting knowing that I was no longer a duffer.  I wrote this blog only because the golf swing was a mystery to me for many years as no one sat me down and explained these concepts to me or gave me the proper drills or visualization tips to work on. Instead I had to find out the hard way by trial and error.  I decided to do this because I wanted to share some of what I had learned to become a single digit golfer with you, but more importantly because of the satisfaction that I would get if I can help others out there who are struggling with their game the same way that I was.

GRIP: There are three common types of grips, strong, neutral and weak, and how you swing may determine which grip is best suited for you, https://thegratefulgolfer.com/2015/01/25/golf-grip-strong-weak-or-neutral/. How to grip a club is also discussed in detail in Ben Hogan's book https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez6Y-fMXWew.  Grip pressure should never be too firm or tight. I would say my grip pressure on a 10 scale is about a 2 (1 being relaxed and loose, and 10 being tight like a clenched fist).

TENSION KILLS. Relaxation is a critical component of the golf swing. The importance of  being relaxed in the golf swing is illustrated by the following example. Imagine holding a string tied to a weight at one end. If you hold the string end with your thumb and forefinger and start twirling or spinning the string around your head you will notice that the rotation is much faster when your fingers, shoulder and arm are relaxed and not quite as fast when you pinch your finger hard against your thumb while twirling the string, or when your shoulders and arms are tense or stiff . Its the same with the golf swing, if your  grip, forearms and shoulder are relaxed, your club head speed will be faster. Whenever a golfer is too tense or firm several things will inevitably occur, he will be too quick with his swing, he will shorten his arc in the swing, and he will lose major club head speed.

TIP: If you hold a loaf of bread in the middle without crushing it, that is the grip pressure you should have. 

GOLF SWING, PHYSICS: The golf swing from a physics standpoint consists first of a windup, then a release of that stored energy as the golfer unwinds, its like winding up a spring then letting it release. Leverage, torque, centrifugal force, elasticity, and momentum play important roles in the golf swing. Think of the golf swing as a top that is balanced, the center of the top doesn't have to spin very fast for the outside edge to spin exponentially faster but when a top is wobbling and not balanced it will rotate much more slowly. Similarly if your swing rotation is not balanced and is off center your golf swing will not reach its optimal rotational speed.  Ballerinas and professional ice skaters have powerful rotational spins, this because they rotate around a fixed and centered axis, they also have sturdy postures. So, if you want to swing like the better golfers you must rotate around a fixed axis and a sturdy posture in order to achieve maximum centrifugal force.

FINDING YOUR POST OR "AXIS" TO ROTATE AROUND: To be able to swing around a fixed axis and generate the maximum rotation (i.e. like a top which has only one axis), we must first identify that axis. If you are a right handed golfer, the proper axis or post which your body will be rotating around is your forward or left leg, it should not be your back or right leg. Most duffers will make the mistake of using two axis in their swing, after set up they shift their weight to the back leg and rotate around it for the back swing, then they shift their weight over to their front leg and rotate around it for their downswing. They do this because they feel that by swaying it somehow gives them more power when in fact just the opposite occurs. Claude Harmon, who is the son of Butch Harmon, has a great drill which involves no shifting of the weight over to the back leg and it identifies the left leg as being the proper and only axis that you should be rotating around (and more importantly as is discussed later, where your weight should be when winding up and swinging through the ball), see  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBv0m03pl74.  It appears that this amazing video lesson no longer exists so here is another excellent MUST SEE video covering this same subject by Shawn Clement http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2FnfZlRwak. I refer to this drill as the "secret golf drill" because most beginners or high handicappers know nothing about the concept that is explained in these videos.  If you learn nothing else from  this blog today, just remember the lesson in these videos as it will definitely help you to consistently strike the ball much more solid every time you play a round of golf.  

COMMENT:  "....When things start going wrong on the course I will use the one leg drill to hit shots and its saves me. I really do not lose that much distance with the one leg drill." July 17, 2016."

ANOTHER COMMENT FROM A DIFFERENT GOLFER:  "I started with the 'secret golf drill' that you pointed out in your blog by Claude Harmon and used my six iron and then tried it with my driver. I struggled a bit at first but once I kept more weight on my left side my shots began taking off and they were going straight too. A week later I played a round of golf and it was quite incredible for me. For many years I have not used my driver off the tee because my slice is so horrible. Instead I have used a long iron, this time at least half the tee shots with my driver were on the fairway and the rest were easily playable and even better is the fact my drives were 40 to 50 yards longer than the past. I practice this drill before my round, it only takes a few minutes but it gives me the muscle memory for hitting good shots. My score was 102 whereas it averages between 114 and 120 normally. It was really fun and I was quite amazed, to put it lightly. I attribute the improvement to just this one drill. Thanks again, I really appreciate it. Have to study the rest of your golf blog and see if I can drop my score even more." Pete G. from Hawaii. Aug.2014.

Update: May 2015 from Pete G. "My unofficial handicap was around 40 last year but now it is officially a 23 and still dropping..I almost broke 90 a few weeks ago, or was close anyway. I needed a birdie on 18, which I have done before, but instead got a triple bogey!!  Ended up with a 93, my best score so far!"

Update: It took him a little over a year to  break 90 but he finally did it, this from Pete G. 
"First time I broke 90, shot an 89, Yah! I enjoy the game much better now. The course I played at has a 72.1 rating with a slope of 131". Sept. 22, 2015. 

PROPER SETUP IS ESSENTIAL AS IT ESTABLISHES YOUR SPINE ANGLE - Golfers need to develop a sturdy posture at setup in order to maximize their swing rotation. High handicappers with no solid posture or setup will often times 'raise up' prior to impact resulting in topping the ball or shanking it. So let us do a complete review before we cover anything else. A proper posture and setup should be one of your swing keys not only because you need a sturdy frame or posture but because it also helps to establish the spine angle for your golf swing.

Setting your posture is accomplished as follows.  Stand straight and upright like a soldier at attention, now take your normal golf stance with your feet at about shoulder width apart. Place your hands on the club and take your grip, now move both of your hands away from your body about a foot so that the club shaft and not your arms  is parallel to the ground and the butt end of the club faces your stomach, from this position simply bend at your hips until the club head touches the ground, you now bend your knees slightly to feel more comfortable. This is your set up position, your back is straight. Looking at this position from a side view, there is angle between your back and the back of your legs which we shall refer to as "spine angle". The position you are in is like a quarterback in a shotgun formation getting ready to receive a snap from his center, this is your set up position, it should feel athletic, because posture and your set up is so important. I GO THROUGH THIS PRE-SHOT SET UP ROUTINE every time before hitting a ball, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc6CDw5xjLo. Your weight should be just on the front of your ankles under your arches or on the balls of your feet, see  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh9yRynkg1A. 

SPINE ANGLE:  Maintaining a spine angle during your swing is also another pre-requisite for a consistent golf swing. Although this facet of the swing is critical, it is most often overlooked by high handicappers as many of them will come out of their spine angle during the golf swing. For more about the importance of maintaining the spine angle during your swing and for a helpful drill, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-lOBU2otVY. In this video analysis of PGA golfer Adam Scott's swing, the instructor keys in on maintaining the 'spine angle' throughout the golf swing, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uxKPv0aJSM.

NOTE: A faulty posture and setup, or coming out of your spine angle is like a top that is spinning with a broken or bent axis, consequently spin rotation is severely compromised.  

CONNECTION BETWEEN YOUR ARMS AND BODY EXPLAINED  Your arms (arm pits or triceps, but not your elbows) must be connected or 'glued' to your upper body if you want to develop a repeating swing. Without this connection you will have a weak arms only swing with a resultant loss of accuracy and power on all of your golf shots.  Pressure between your armpits and the sides of your upper body ranges from a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the hardest 'glue' pressure that you can exert) should be around 2 or whatever you feel comfortable with, so more like a soft glue if you will. Too much pressure is not good as it will tighten up your shoulders and arms thereby severely restricting your overall ability to swing the club, too little pressure however and there is no connection between your arms and your body. For more on a "connection" drill, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Kp_Hdoxk3k , in this video the instructor places a towel under his armpits so you can get the sense of what it feels like being connected when you swing (or you can use your wood head covers, putting one under each armpit). Some companies sell swing trainers which are elastic straps that you wrap around your chest and loop your arms into.  In Ben Hogan's book there is a illustration of what he means when he says a golfer should be connected, it is a series of rubber bands that wraps the golfers arms against the side of his body as if he were in a cocoon. A drill to understand this concept and develop the proper technique is to place a volleyball between your forearms and elbows and take your golf swing (without a club), making sure that the volleyball does not fall to the ground, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmE-TxvyDkY. PGA golfer Martin Kaymer uses a tennis ball as discussed above with his wrists slightly pressed against the ball to keep it from falling down, this drill also keeps his triangle intact during his swing, see http://www.golfdigest.com/blogs/the-loop/2014/05/the-logic-behind-martin-kaymer.html. 

This connection of your arms to your body is an essential element of the golf swing that serves several important purposes:

 1) It keeps your arms, chest and upper body working together as one integrated unit.  It automatically prevents the dreaded 'chicken wing' right elbow position at the top of the back swing. 

2) Connection puts you the position to be a consistent ball striker with power and accuracy, unfortunately those without a connection usually have an "arms only swing,"  these golfers generally will flail, or cast at the ball which results in weak and inconsistent shots.

THE MAGIC TRIANGLE MUST KEEP ITS SHAPE AT ALL TIMES.  At setup, if you were to draw a line from one shoulder to the other shoulder, then draw lines down from each shoulder down through your arms to where your hands connect and hold onto the club this would form a triangle. Now imagine a line from one elbow going to the other, this is the base of a smaller triangle, which we shall call your magic triangle. VERY IMPORTANT KEY:  Keep the interior angles of your magic triangle the same throughout the ENTIRE golf swing, from start to finish. I refer to the magic triangle, together with arm to body connection, as an 'upper body unit' in the discussion that follows below under  "One Piece Takeaway."

 

WHY THE MAGIC TRIANGLE IS IMPORTANT: This triangle establishes your frame and without a solid frame your arms will work independently of each other and your swing becomes a 'loosey goosey' arms only swing that results in weak hits, inconsistent shots and erratic ball striking.  So remember whenever your magic triangle loses it shape by opening up, or collapsing, your golf swing will also break down because there is no longer any structure or frame to it. Incidentally, did you know that the triangle is one of the strongest geometric shapes capable of withstanding significant external forces. It is the shape used in bridges and trusses to give them strength and its role in the golf swing is just as vital. 

Look at the shape of the professional golfer's triangle at address, takeaway, top of back swing, impact and finish position, the interior angles of his magic triangle remain relatively the same throughout all phases of the golf swing. When you play a round of golf you can't bring a volleyball or tennis ball with you so if you feel that your swing is breaking down imagine that there is a wooden dowel between your two elbows with the sides of each elbow in contact with the opposite ends of this dowel with enough pressure against it to keep it from falling to the ground. This imaginary dowel establishes the base of your magic triangle. This mental imagery has the effect of keeping your elbows the same distance from each other throughout your swing from start to finish. Try practicing this without a club at home so that this magic triangle sensation becomes a part of your muscle memory and ultimately your golf swing.  The lesson to be learned from this drill is that your elbows should not pinch or come together towards each other nor should they separate or move apart from each other which would lead to a chicken wing. This exercise will help to maintain the shape of the magic triangle in your swing and give your swing the structure and frame that it needs in order to develop a repeatable swing and become a consistent ball striker.  If you need more muscle memory here is a golf aid that could help you to maintain this magic triangle throughout all phases of your golf swing  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhgvxcf6yxw.


COMMENT FROM A READER:  "I have struggled myself especially when it comes to chipping or even those shots that are inside 50 yards. I practice in the basement with a chipping net and I have had sessions where I hosel every single chip into the net. I try everything that I know...slow down, straight back, relax...nothing works. It has got to the point where I feel like I want to give up on golf. Then I remember the triangle and it fixes it every time. No Joke! My swing is good and my technique is good, but for some reason when I concentrate on the triangle and staying connected...watch out"

ONE PIECE TAKEAWAY: When you begin your take away, you must rotate your 'upper body unit' (which is your magic triangle and connected arms) TOGETHER WITH the rotation of your stomach or body core.  Ben Hogan did this and some golf instructors refer to this as a "one piece take away."  See  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS2wAcjB-Nw. It is an integrated movement of your 'upper body unit' and your body core working and moving in unison with each other.  Most beginners and high handicappers do not realize the importance of this critical move, instead they will take the club back first with their arms and then rotate their hip a bit later, accordingly, it is a disjointed and unconnected move.  A drill to learn how to sync your takeaway move is to grip down on a club couple of inches below the grip along the shaft of your club so that the butt end actually touches your stomach. When you take your stance your club is now a couple of inches above the ground, proceed by taking the club back by turning your shoulders and your upper body unit, together with your stomach or body core while maintaining the connection between the butt end of your club and your stomach. Everything should turn together as a one piece take away, or as one integrated unit, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm7HdZ3nl0o. 

SUMMATION: This is really a simple way to do a back swing. When you are 'connected', you simply rotate your shoulders to take the club back into your back swing.

EASY WAY TO GET INTO THE TOP OF THE BACKSWING WITH A FULL WRIST COCK: While updating this blog  I was fortunate to have found a video recently by PGA member Tom Saguto (Sagutogolf.com). To help you to get you into the top of the back swing, he says that you should just fold your right hand up 90 degrees (if you watch closely, he does it so that he ends up with a full wrist cock at the top of the back swing). I begin folding my right hand up when my club shaft is at around the 9 o'clock position in my back swing.  I also make a conscious effort to keep my left arm fully extended and straight as comfort will allow me to in order to get a wider arc on my back swing. See  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upSYBqiVEBs.

Another tip for the back swing which he discussed is the left shoulder bend.  Try to focus on getting your left shoulder to tilt pass parallel and point it downwards towards the ball or towards the ground while taking my club back. For more on this and for some drills, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UoUKCqzjAw and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kQ_Sd6ZsQs&list=PLgF6XBYcxSD3_OhpXaikClUNDJWUTnTZG . A visual imagery that may also work for you is to imagine a coin resting on the top of your left shoulder at setup position, then when you take the club back and into your back swing you want that coin to fall to the ground just by your left toe. This move will give you a fuller shoulder turn and also keep your head centered.

 

Because there are different swing planes as discussed earlier, there is a difference with respect to the right elbow position at the top of the back swing.  On one end of the spectrum golfers like Ben Hogan, Bryson DeChambeau, Webb Simpson and Matt Kuchar have their right armpit or tricep connected against the side of their  body at the top of their back swing, this results in a flatter and compact swing plane. On the other end Colin Montgomery and Jack Nicklaus have a steeper, or what I call a "two plane swing", consequently at the top of their back swings there is airspace between their tricep and right side of their body. 

Depending on what type of swing plane you have, the separation or distance between your right armpit/tricep and the right side of your body will vary, but as is explained later those with the in-between and the 2 plane golf swings will have to reconnect their right armpit/tricep with the right side of their body (or into the 'slot") prior to the downswing. On the other hand, with the one plane or flatter plane swing,  the  right tricep is already connected to their body so by eliminating  this move it helps to simplify the golf swing.  I actually prefer this later method better as I cannot spend hundreds of hours on the driving range just to learn how to drop my arms into the slot and getting the timing down right.  

THE NUMBER ONE SHOT KILLER FOR HIGH HANDICAPPERS IS SWAYING,  SHIFTING THEIR WEIGHT and MOVING THEIR HEAD OFF CENTER AND TO THE RIGHT ON THE BACK SWING.  Many high handicap golfers make the mistake of shifting their weight over to their back foot during their takeaway and back swing. They do this because they think it will give them more power when they rotate around their back leg when in reality just the opposite occurs. The role of your right hip during the back swing is to act as a post. As we have seen from the secret golf drill by Claude Harmon you really do not shift your weight to your right side or to the back leg because it is the forward leg that is the axis that you will be rotating around. The problem with shifting your weight to the right is that it leads to a corresponding lateral movement of your body and consequently your head.  Not keeping the head centered or steady is a critical mistake in the golf swing. All of the good golfers have a 'posted right leg' which prevents them from swaying during the back swing, it also helps to stabilize their weight. See this article by Chuck Evans, Golf Magazine's Top 100 teacher on this subject: http://www.worldgolf.com/golf-instruction/chuck-evans-golf-instruction-head-center-4689.htm. At Whistling Straits, swing coach Sean Foley gave Tiger Woods some specific drills to work on to keep his head centered. One of them involved having his caddie hold a hold shaft against the right side of his head as he took his back swing thereby preventing him from moving his head laterally to the right. "There is no reason to have lateral movement off the golf ball," said Foley. "It impedes the proper turn and forces the eyes to make a new calculation. There are 15 reasons why its bad."  For this drill to keep your head steady, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5zKLRjbcMA&NR=1&feature=fvwp.  The next time that you practice, have someone take a video of your swing so that you can see if your head remains steady during your back swing. If you look at the swing of former PGA champion Jerry Barber at http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/371242-jerry-barbers-shiftless-swing  and compare it with legendary golfer Ben Hogan's swing, you will see a remarkable similarity between the two of them.  Notice that Jerry Barber's swing incorporates the fundamental mechanics taught to you in Claude Harmon's swing drill that was mentioned in the beginning of this blog.  The swings of Bobby Jones, Sam Sneed, Ben Hogan and Fred Couples all had centered and steady heads. If put a pencil on your monitor to mark their head position during their back swings you will see this common trait among all of them.  At his setup, former Masters Champion Zach Johnson appears to have more of his weight over to his left side at his setup, this helps him to keep his head centered in his backswing, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Soba0sGGML8f. In Jordan Speith's swing, his head  is centered, but it does move slightly down as he completes his back swing and then raises back up as he completes his release https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=pgN1DAbiKqk#t=298.279229 (using the ground as leverage to spring load his legs gives him a more powerful swing). 

If despite taking lessons and practicing at the range you find that you are still swaying and moving your head off to the right then any of the following methods could provide some relief:

1. Another way to stabilize your head is to "preset" or place more weight on your left foot as compared to the weight on the right foot at setup position, say around 55 to 60 percent over your left foot and 45 to 40 percent over your right foot, and then keeping this weight distribution the same or constant during the takeaway and back swing, this will allow you to center yourself and pivot in place. Once again during the takeaway and to the top of your backswing your body is rotating around your forward leg so there is no shifting of your weight over to your right side. Your right leg merely acts as a brace. Focus on keeping your head steady and rotate around your left axis (the right hip just turns correspondingly and does not sway to the right). For more about this method, see NEW VIDEO LESSON by Tom Saguto,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8ypS2TzWuw
2. Eliminate lateral sway on your back swing by using the starter move made popular by Sam Snead. Just prior to his takeaway he would point his right knee towards his left knee, this move locked or braced his right leg thereby creating a fence or post which prevented any weight shift or sway over to the back leg. This also allowed him to rotate around his left leg. It is explained here in more detail, see http://www.golftipreviews.com/2009/10/golf-swing-drill-eliminate-lateral.html.
3. Wider stance. Some golfers will establish a stronger and more athletic stance at setup, this is accomplished by taking a wider stance than usual (wider than shoulder width). PGA golfer Jimmy Walker  and LPGA pro Michelle Wie both have wider than normal stances, in Michelle's stance it appears that her knees are bowed slightly outward for added stability. Golfers who have tried a wider stance have noticed crisper ball striking and additional distance when hitting the longer clubs. This method can put additional pressure on your back however so if you have back issues or lack flexibility then it may be better to try some of the other methods instead that will put less strain on your lower back.
4. Most golf instructors will consider this next method to be somewhat drastic and perhaps even blasphemy, so you can take this with a grain of salt, but you can at least give it a try if nothing else seems to work for you. I have found this method to be quite helpful when my timing is not quite right as it helps me to be more consistent with my ball striking when hitting my irons and fairway woods, for one it keeps my head centered, it forces me to rotate around my left leg and allows me to compress the ball.  Essentially you preset about 10 percent more of your weight over onto your left foot at setup.  During the takeaway and up to the top of the back swing, try experimenting with gradually increasing the weight over your left foot so that when you reach the top of your back swing, around 60 to 70% or more of your weight is now over that foot, your right foot simply acting as a brace to hold you up. You may need to experiment with this and find the right weight distribution that is comfortable for you and which gives you the best results (maybe you don't have to load anymore weight onto your left foot as you take the club back). This weight placement over onto your left side allows you to rotate around the left leg, which is your axis, consequently, there is no shifting of the weight over to the right side. Be careful not to be in the reverse C position when you are at the top of your back swing (i.e. where your hips have swayed to the right away from the target and where your head and body is angling towards the target). You can avoid the reverse C by focusing on keeping your head centered and by not letting your right leg sway away from the ball, it also helps if you slightly straighten the right leg (there is still some knee flex) as you get to the top of the back swing position. If you feel your left knee straining a bit, you can try pointing your left foot more towards the target line to make it easier to turn around your left leg.  CAUTION: If you are not flexible or have knee issues then you should try another method as this movement can put strain on your left knee. 

The bottom line is that there is no right way or wrong way to keep your head centered, so use whatever method you feel comfortable with and which works best for you. 

SEE COMMENT BELOW THAT WAS SUBMITTED BY ONE OF OUR READERS REGARDING ANOTHER WAY TO PREVENT SWAYING ON THE BACK SWING.

STOP HERE - GOOD DRILL TO PRACTICE AT THIS POINT. If the concepts described above are mostly new or foreign to you then I would suggest that you go to the driving range instead of continuing to read this blog in order to prevent information overload. At the range, start with a 7 or 8 iron and take 1/2, and then progress to 3/4 swings and work on the following concepts until they become ingrained into muscle memory: Posture, arm to body connection, magic triangle, one piece takeaway as one integrated unit, and centered head. The swing will feel very 'mechanical' for you at first (maybe even a bit tight or confined), especially if you are a high handicapper, but this is because you are for the first time, working on developing a sound and solid structure for your swing, which is really the key to a repeating swing.  If you are struggling, remember to incorporate the one leg hitting drill.  When you find yourself hitting consistent and accurate shots with these irons, then try hitting with a 6 and then 5 iron (again just taking 3/4 swings) and if you can hit these irons consistently straight with no shanks, grounders, slices, or hooks, congratulations, you are now halfway there and have taken a big step forward. Once these concepts are ingrained into muscle memory through more practice, it will be much easier to transition over to a full golf swing. 

THE ROLE OF THE LEFT KNEE DURING YOUR BACK SWING: Most high handicappers are to active or sloppy with the their left knee during the back swing. This critical move should be subtle and relatively quiet, not too active and excessive. High handicappers will turn and move their left knee towards their right knee that is way too much (they do this to get a bigger shoulder turn) in reality and with the better golfers there is a slight bend of their left knee forward toward their left foot, and with just a little movement to the right. If the movement of your left knee is too 'active' and moves over too much towards your right knee, or if your hips over rotate, if will be difficult to get your left knee to properly straighten up or post up prior to and after impact. Watch this video for a full explanation of this concept:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlfV-d-v_-4

WRIST POSITION AT THE TOP OF THE BACK SWING: Golf pro's have different wrist positions at the top of their back swing, many have flat wrists, others like Dustin Johnson have a bowed wrist and a few have cupped wrists, notably the late Ben Hogan. Although most instructors like to teach the flat wrist method (where your left wrist lines up with your left forearm), today's flat plane golfers try to get a bowed or a wrist at the top of their back swing, if you can't do that because of physical limitations (lack of manual dexterity) then at least have a full wrist hinge at the 9 o'clock position in the downswing (this topic on having club head lag is covered below). 

THE ROLE OF THE RIGHT ELBOW IN THE DOWNSWING:  Prior to beginning the downswing, for the two plane swingers, their right elbow MUST drop back down towards the right hip and into the 'slot', this occurs when the right armpit/tricep reconnects into the right side of your body. This tuck move serves several important purposes, first it lowers the swing plane for the proper downswing path and secondly it allows the golfer to keep club head lag and leverage as the golfer maintains his wrist cock. You may have heard golf instructors describing the arc of the golf swing as "wide, narrow, wide", this tuck position or dropping into the slot being is the narrowing of this arc, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr0ApMMjUn4 . Dropping your arms into the slot can best be described as a reaction, as you rotate your lower body in the transitional move the upper body does not, rather it waits or stays behind for a split second, when this happens there is right side bend and the arms will drop or be pulled down into the slot as a reaction to your lower body movement.  For those with the one plane or flatter swing, this move pretty much happens automatically because the right elbow is already tucked or connected to the body, which started  from the backswing. 

Ben Hogan described his downswing as follows, "You move the lower part of your body, letting your arms and hands FOLLOW, bringing you into position to hit (the ball)", for this to happen your arms and shoulders must be relaxed and you must maintain the connection between your left arm pit and your left arm.  The following video discusses the role and positioning of the right elbow in the critical phases of the golf swing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-Ouba8VzGo.  For an excellent golf drill to practice hitting some balls while you are in the slot, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJs48ZQ7_3A. One thing to note is how his right elbow moves with his right hip as it unwinds with the wrists still fully cocked (this is the key to his power by the way). 

DOWN SWING - THIS IS PROBABLY THE NUMBER TWO BIGGEST SWING MISTAKE (and even I am guilty of it).  There is a proper sequence which you must follow in the downswing - it must be led with the lower body. A common mistake high handicappers make is that they rotate their shoulders and even their hips too early in the down swing (also called 'spinning out), as a result these golfers will come over the top with a resulting slice. As is discussed later, this is why finding your tempo is so important. Only bad things happen when you are too quick and try to 'jump' at the ball.

SEQUENCE OF THE DOWNSWING: The downswing starts from the ground up: In baseball, tennis and in golf there must be a transitional lower body movement that starts the down swing, this should be one of your swing keys if you are a high handicapper. I strongly recommend that you listen to golf legend Ben Hogan's explanation of this critical move, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?playnext=1&index=0&feature=PlayList&v=QL_6M_xZvq0  and see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inC8gkGcBtg&feature=feedrec_grec_index.  Ben Hogan's golf swing analyzed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKcxxTkysgc. The downswing sequence starts with a shift of weight over onto the left foot (more towards the heel), this causes the beginning of a counterclockwise rotation of the left knee. As the downswing begins, the left leg then begins to straighten up as the left knee completes its counterclockwise rotation. The left hip will rotate counterclockwise and the left leg and knee begins to move away from the target line as the leg straightens out (it moves backwards actually which helps to create the whip effect in your golf swing). The sensation you may feel is like doing the dance the twist...as your right hip is rotating forward, your left hip and leg is pushing back.  This action forms a post with your left leg which your upper body will be rotating around. After impact you should feel most of your weight upon your left heel. Your right knee should be kissing or almost kissing the side of your left knee (depending on your flexibility, etc.)

 

CREATING LEG TORQUE - THE IMPORTANCE ABOUT POSTING THE LEFT LEG.  If you played baseball before and hit with power you already know that one of the keys to hitting the ball solid depends on what the left leg is doing prior to and at impact, basically you will not be able to hit with power in baseball if the left knee is bent after swinging the bat (it lowers your head and you lose bat speed), this because there is no torque, basically to achieve more rotational power into the ball and create maximum distance you see many touring pros begin to straighten up upon their left leg prior to and at impact, this movement also allows them to clear their hips. At finish they will post up on a straightened leg. If you have played tennis before, in order to hit a forehand shot with any kind of power you would first plant your weight on your left foot then straighten it up (with the knee and leg moving back towards you) prior to hitting the ball. These opposite movements (one going back and one going forward) creates torque and it will give that 'whip effect' and help to slingshot your ball, a power move that all touring pros will do. This is why you see their two knees almost or even kissing each other at the top of their finish position. Most all high handicappers do not have this leg torque, this is one of the reasons why their drives max out at 200 yards no matter how hard they try.  On the other hand, a junior golfer who is less than 5 feet tall and weighs only 115 pounds can hit his drives close to 250 yards quite effortlessly, he does this because he know how to create leg torque (among having club head lag, and other facets of the swing down pat).

Try hitting a tennis ball with a bent left knee, or one that is moving forward versus one where the left leg is straight and moving backwards and you will see a NOTICEABLE difference in contact and ball speed. 

Tiger Woods and Jason Day create incredible leg torque prior to unwinding that stored energy and then releasing their club head through the ball. If you watch their golf swing in slow motion their left knee begins to straighten at impact and in fact moves or 'snaps' back towards their right knee, the same with Rory MclIroy who is also known for his long drives. http://www.golf.com/instruction/steal-rory-mcilroys-four-keys-super-long-drives . Bryson DeChambeau whose drives average over 340 yards, probably generates the most leg torque of all the touring pros.

CAUTION: Leg torque can create a lot of pressure on your left knee so it may not be for everyone. There is a safety concern with posting or straightening your left leg however, some golfers with knee issues, or those because of age are no longer quite as flexible could suffer knee strain or even injury due to this move, so take heed before you go out and blow out your knee.  Some golfers will point their left foot more towards the target to alleviate this stress on their left knee, others will keep a slight bend in their knee.  

Assuming that you have no knee issues and if you are looking to get maximum rotational speed here are some excellent video lessons about finishing by creating this leg torque, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqqRq6eKwH8, see also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6STO3FCqQ8. 

and  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwzJRhDWwqA (at 2 minute mark in this video).

Here is where sensations and movements differ:  For those with the a flat swing plane like Ben Hogan the striking of the ball feels like a "body swing", because everything is connected the arms feel like they are merely following the rotation of the upper body. I sense that they are not that too active in the swing, nor do they control the swing. Their is no flipping of the wrists as the club head simply rotates into contact with the ball as a direct result of the body rotating. 

I do not see Ben Hogan's right arm rotating over his left arm at impact, in fact his right wrist still has some hinge at and past impact, this would explain why at the top of his finish position his left palm is directly facing the target, this is also probably why he had a power fade.  I suppose those with a two plane swing feel that the arms are a bit more active in their swings... I wouldn't know and honestly cannot remember as I have not swung that way for a long time. 

EDITORIAL COMMENT ABOUT THE SEQUENCE OF THE DOWN SWING:  Everything happens so fast, so just trying to remember the proper sequence of the transitional lower body movement and dropping the arm into the slot at the right time and coming into the impact zone on a shallower swing plane is a difficult task for most beginners. In fact of all the movements and positions covered in this blog, the one that you may have the most problems with and requires the most practice and perhaps even some lessons is this aspect of the downswing. Many good golfers will spend countless hours on the driving range working on trying to perfect the timing and technique for this move, not to mention they also need to learn to re-route their swing plane (by dropping their right elbow down into the slot) for a more shallow swing plane. If you remember Lee Trevino's swing and even that of Jim Furyk, they take that loopy looking swing because they are re-routing their swing into the correct slot prior to coming into the impact zone.

Unless you practice it a lot it is hard to develop the muscle memory for this move, more so if you only play golf couple times a year and you don't have enormous amounts of time that you can spend on the range.  If you are a once or twice a month warrior, I therefore suggest that you try Ben Hogan's swing. There are less moving parts for one, and you don't need to re-route your swing to get into the slot like say Jim Furyk, this because during Ben Hogan's back swing his tricep is already connected to the right side of his body (there is very little air space between them), so he is halfway there to begin with. After that, he shifts his weight over onto the left side and begins to rotate then straighten up the left leg (he actually slides his left hip just a little) at the same time his right shoulder lowers itself towards the ground, and it is this movement brings his right elbow in closer towards his body thus ensuring that he is in the correct swing path coming into the impact zone. 

HIP SWAY.  Excessive hip slide or sway on the downswing should be avoided because you will compromise hip rotation, it is the hip rotation and posting on the left leg (discussed below) that is the engine which drives your swing. Although there is some hip sway during the transitional phase of the downswing, not wanting to get too technical but the better golfers will not let their left hip cross over the center line of their left ankle during the downswing - if you watch both Ben Hogan and Jason Day's golf swing and key in on their left hip in relation to their left ankle, by drawing a vertical line between the two you will see that when they rotate their hips it does not slide or sway past their left ankle during the downswing and at impact, this gives them maximum rotation and consequently maximum power. For a discussion about the role of the hips in Jason Day's swing, see  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2tM-w2ov6s  and see also this video which analyzes all of the critical components of his golf swing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kXgj9YQkTc. 

POSITION OF HANDS AT IMPACT POSITION. Another important position in the golf swing and one that is often times overlooked by the high handicapper is the position of the hands and wrists at impact.  Ben Hogan was able to generate a lot of power because his left wrist was bowed prior to impact. NOTE: If the right wrist is hinged,the corresponding result is that the left wrist will be bowed.

PROPER RELEASE - UPDATE AUGUST 2020 

I was very fortunate to have found this video lesson about the role of the right wrist at and after impact by Eric Cogorno Golf called "The Secret to How the Right Wrist Works in the Golf Swing". Just like finding Ben Hogan's book the "Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf", the discussion about the wrist position at impact is a primer for all to read.

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In a nutshell, he says that you do NOT fully release your right wrist hinge in the swing.  He also shows you a simple drill to develop this technique. 

Pay particular attention after the 4 minute mark in this video. Basically, he says the right wrist should still maintain a hinge not only at impact but also after. As the club is released the right wrist would naturally unhinge a "little".  I noticed that he also maintained a hinge into the follow through and up to his finish position. 

I will describe this movement  in words as best as I can (just in the event that this video lesson should disappear one day), so here is my best interpretation and visualization of this move.  Imagine sticking your right hand out to shake hands with someone, now rest that hand on a table (still in the hand shake position) in front of you. Your hand is in line with your right shoulder and your palm is facing to the left. Now, keeping the palm facing to the left begin to slide that hand to your left about 6 to 8 inches so that it lines up closer to your left shoulder. This move will cause a hinge to occur in your right wrist. Place a foam egg next to your open right palm. While keeping the bottom of your hand against the table, roll your right hand over the egg from 12 o'clock position to around the 9 o'clock position while at the same time somewhat compressing the shape of the foam egg down into the table with more of the padded area of your palm instead of the center of your palm. Do not flatten the foam egg totally, just apply some pressure and compress it. The foam egg by the way is your left hand thumb knuckle, and the rolling of the right hand over the egg causes the left hand to supinate at impact. 

Anyways.....hope you get the idea, but its much easier to watch this video several times and in slow motion if you can. 

There is also an impact swing aid that will teach you how to supinate your left wrist, as well as point your thumbs down to the ground at point of impact https://impactsnap.com/ (selected as the Best Training Aid by Golf Digest 2016).

AFTER IMPACT - THE ROLE OF THE LEFT SHOULDER. After impact your left shoulder should be pulling up but also around to your back, behind you. Your right palm is facing opposite the target. 

HOW TO REMEMBER THESE SWING KEYS WHEN YOU PLAY GOLF: So long as you utilize the concepts discussed here, you should be able to build your own sound, efficient, repeatable (because it is almost robotic like) and low maintenance golf swing.  To remember these swing keys,  I use a phrase or sentence and write it down on my scorecard before I play my round of golf, as follows:  "The Lady COP" (The "T" in The, stands for magic Triangle with fixed angles,  "L" in Lady stands for "L" Lower body initiating your downswing, "C" stands for Centered head (shiftless or centered weight), "O" stands for One Piece Takeaway, and "P" stands for Proper set up and stance with connection/arms established. You can come up with your own mnemonics, phrases, checklists or abbreviations or you can add your own swing keys if needed, for example if you constantly come out of your spine angle you may add an "S" (The Lady COPS), with "S" standing for spine angle, or if you need to remind yourself about dropping into the slot you can add a "W" for wide, narrow, wide and so forth, anyway I think you get the idea. All golfers have certain things they need to remind themselves of or to work on, some like myself will default to bad habits like swaying on my back swing and really need to guard against it, so we will all have our own mnemonics or swing keys that we need to remind ourselves with. I do this so that I can remind myself of what I need to focus on in order to have a consistent golf swing for the day. I don't use this as a swing thought since there are too many things to remember, so I use it only as a checklist and may review it periodically during my round of golf just to make sure that I am not missing or forgetting anything in my golf swing. 

"SWING KEYS" - SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS and GOLF TIPS

1. PROPER SET UP AND CONNECTION: Get into a sturdy stance and set up position. Establish and set your spine angle. Establish your connection.  Weight on arches of feet. You need to be and feel that you are in an athletic position. Stance should be around shoulder width, too wide of a stance and you will restrict your lower body hip rotation on your downswing, this leads to loss of power. Too narrow of a stance and you won't have a solid foundation or base. Connection pressure between armpits and body is light but it should be there, too much pressure will restrict your swing (i.e. you may end up hooking the ball), also you need to extend your right arm after ball impact and if your connection is too tight you will not be able to do that.

2. MAGIC TRIANGLE:  Make sure that the interior angles of your magic triangle retain its general shape during all critical phases of the golf swing.

3. ONE PIECE TAKEAWAY:  Connection is maintained between your arms and body. Your magic triangle and your stomach (body core) will turn together, in sync, as 'one integrated unit.'

4. CENTERED HEAD: Weight shift over to the right during the back swing will lead to swaying, instead brace or post the right leg to remain centered and balanced, keep your head steady and centered, and pivot where you are. If you feel that you need to shift some weight to your right foot do not let your weight pass over the inside of your right foot, the only problem with this method is that if you over shift your weight to the right side you may end up swaying, it is also harder to do when you have an uphill lie. 

5. Top of back swing - Back is facing target and connection. Arms and shoulders are relaxed, not tense, grip is relaxed and you can feel the weight of the club in your hands. 

6. LOWER BODY INITIATES THE DOWNSWING: The golf downswing starts from the ground up with the lower body initiating the down swing. This starts with a transfer of weight over onto your left foot, a rotation of the left knee, this is followed a split second later with your upper body unit uncoiling and rotating around your straightening left leg. Pros will begin this transitional move while they are still into their back swing. Avoid spinning your hips out to early and avoid swaying or sliding your left hip and left knee past your left foot. Remember your arms in the golf swing should be "wide, narrow, wide", wide on the takeaway, narrow during the transitional lower body move (the tuck move), and wide at release.

7. If you are cognizant of spine angle during the golf swing, this will prevent you from getting out of your posture. 

8. Finish: The shape of your magic triangle has really never changed from initial setup, take away, back swing to the finish position.  Most if not all of your weight should be over your left heel at swing finish position, your left leg should be straight and your right knee is 'kissing' or close to touching your left knee (depending on your flexibility).

9.  Prior to playing a round of golf, hit couple golf balls and see what swing thought you need to focus on for the day. Too many swing thoughts while playing will confuse you and cause you to overthink the shot (i.e. paralysis by analysis), so keep it simple when playing and try not to have more than one swing thought for the day.

10. If your swing isn't working for you then go back and watch the videos and work on these swing keys and drills, especially the "one leg" drill that is discussed in the beginning of this blog, if all else fails and you can't fix it yourself, or if you are getting serious about golfing then consider taking golf lessons and have your swing analyzed by a local golf pro as they can give you some very useful tips and drills to work on, during my journey I took my share of lessons from local golf instructors, some who were PGA affiliated and others who were not. I highly recommend that you find a swing teacher who has a video camera/computer set up with slow motion and frame by frame video capacity, Golf Tec centers are equipped with the latest computer golf analysis software and with their computer swing analysis the instructors will draw lines while you watch your swing on the monitor as well as compare your swing at various key positions with that of the touring pros (side by side).

            MUST WATCH LESSON  "GOLF SWING TIP HOW TO PERFECT YOUR RIGHT ELBOW MOVE IN DOWNSWING" by Russell Heritage Golf.  

Russell's explanation of the down swing is one of the best ever that describes in detail how to shallow your swing plane, but more importantly how to maintain maximum club head lag and be in the right slot or swing path prior to impact. His explanation of getting the "right elbow to drive in front of the right hip", is strikingly similar to Ben Hogan's right elbow vis-a-vis right hip position in his down swing.  Also contains a discussion of the left hand release which is similar to Ben Hogan's release.

Other videos that had some helpful tips and drills to get rid of your slice are as follows:

1. How to Fix a Golf Slice with Driver in 2 minutes by Adam Bazalgette. Head Pro of Scratch Golf Academy, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5zTSdWfkmo&t=22s.

2. Clay Ballard - An Easy Way to Create an Inside Out Swing Path, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeGINhNjB1U.

3. Eric Kaplan. Driver basics, fix slices, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEhmslCaVx0&t=9s.

4. Drill by Clay Ballard - "Stop Coming Over the Top! Drill to Fix Your Downswing & Slice", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6OOSVBCJL0&t=2s.  

A drill that I will do at the range to help me to find the right and shallower swing path coming into the ball is to set up like the 'one leg' drill by Claude Harmon (set forth in the beginning of this blog), but instead of both feet being on the same line, I will move my right or trailing leg a bit more off to the right to give me more stability. You may hit some draws, some may also go straight, but you should not slice if you keep your right shoulder from spinning out in this drill. 

My new blueprint or checklist going forward is as follows:

REVISED  "LIPS..TRW (TRW, like the old British Triumph sports car). 

"L" stands for Left shoulder pointing to the ground during the takeaway (if you had a quarter on that shoulder it must fall to the ground by your left foot).  "L" also stands for left arm being fully extended (but relaxed) going into my back swing. "L" also stands for actually lowering your right shoulder as you begin the transition move into the down swing (this to prevent your hips and shoulder from spinning out in the downswing and instead, to get you on the correct swing path coming into the down swing). 

"I" for Increasing the weight over onto the left foot during the takeaway move for irons and 3 wood (to compress the ball). It is different for the driver because your angle of attack cannot be too steep like an iron swing.

"P" for Posting the left leg and straightening it, prior to and after impact, even moving it back (I don't like to use the word snapping back, but you get the idea).  I get the sense that prior to impact I am pushing off my left foot to get my left leg to straighten up and to get my left hip to rotate counterclockwise. 

"S" for having a shallower swing plane for the downswing. 

"T" for Tempo...specifically slowing down my swing and developing a smoother and much slower tempo (thousand 1, thousand 2, thousand 3, and thousand 4). The first 3 counts being your back swing and the last count or 4 being your downswing. This is important for me as it allows my lower body to initiate the downswing and prevents me from rushing to hit the ball with my upper body first (spin outs cause an outside in swing plane).

"R" for most of the Right tricep (except for the elbow) being connected to the body NOT ONLY at setup, but more importantly during the takeaway and into the back swing move. "R" also for slightly rotating the handle of the club counter clockwise with the left hand on the take away and into the back swing, this to create a bowed wrist at the top of the swing. 

"W" for establishing a full Wrist cock at the top of the back swing and keeping that lag angle or wrist hinge at the 9 o'clock position of my arms in the downswing. At impact and thereafter, there will still be a hinged wrist (which is the same as a bowed wrist), it is just not as pronounced as it was when it was in the 9 o'clock position.

Over time I hope to reduce these swing thoughts from my check list or blueprint because they are a bit too much and ideally you only want one swing thought when you play your round a golf, but in reality these are the things that I presently need to work on at the driving range in order to get where I want to go (which goes to show that I have a lot of work to do to catch up on things).

*NOTE: We all have our own individual "checklist" or blueprint of things that we need to work on in order to develop our own repeating swing. What is good for your friend may probably not work for you, similarly what works for Jim Furyk may not work for Bryson DeChambeau. Likewise certain golf lessons and tips that you see on youtube may not work for you.  Basically, you need to experiment and find out what really works for you and that will depend on what kind of swing do you want to have, one plane, flat, or the two plane swing...    

When I started this blog in 2012 my blueprint at that time was "THE LADY COP". Today it is "LIP..TRW". The swing is not always going to be the same unless you practice regularly or play couple times a week and get it down into muscle memory (sort of instinctive at that point).  For the once a month or twice a month weekend warrior however it is really hard to develop that kind of muscle memory. One day you may have all the swing keys down and have a solid round of golf and shoot in the 70's, but the next month you may have forgotten one or two critical swing keys and you shoot an 87 instead. Take it with a grain of salt and try to just enjoy the experience, we are not golf robots nor are we PGA tour professionals. Per the USGA only 1 percent of all golfers are single digit golfers. 

MISCELLANEOUS:

ONE PLANE SWING VERSUS TWO PLANE SWING, WHAT ABOUT THE MIDPLANE SWING? FIND THE ONE THAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YmVNEXx9NM. How you can find out if you have a one plane swing or a two plane swing  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMHQQE4CqtQ.

BEN HOGAN'S SECRET REVEALED?  Supination of the left wrist prior to impact was how Ben Hogan hit the ball and cured his hook problem (he also had his left hand pointing at the target at his finish position), this resulted in an accurate and powerful fade shot. See one golfer's explanation in this video (i.e. he discusses the cupped wrist, the Hogan roll, and the Shangri-la position)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3lpCPIhgcU , and here is another golfer's take on when in the swing this secret move occurs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXhnFUMUIu4.

BOWED WRIST: Instead of cupping or pronating the wrists at the top of the back swing position and then laying off, or supinating them prior to impact (which is what Ben Hogan did), what if your left wrist was bowed at the top of the back swing position instead? Wouldn't it be easier to hit the ball with a supined wrist at impact? One of the longest and accurate drivers on the PGA tour Dustin Johnson does just that:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7VnEpLYvus. You must have good manual dexterity to be able to do this however, and having a two plane swing, versus a one plane swing, makes this move more doable. Here are some videos that analyze Dustin Johnson's bowed wrist position: http://www.golfchannel.com/media/golf-fix-dustin-johnsons-anti-slice-move/, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FEXQ3mNLrE and see also  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFMq0GYsX9A.

TIPS TO GET MORE DISTANCE WITH YOUR DRIVER: For an explanation how to use your core or abs to generate power in the driver swing, see,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40XsUZqD_x0 . How to create top spin by hitting on an 'up blow' and throwing through the ball, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6owaOPxEyF4.  

WHIP RELEASE: When you learn how to snap a whip there is a tremendous release of energy at the end of the whip where it makes that cracking sound, similarly if you could develop a 'whip type release' by harnessing and storing energy and then delivering it to your clubhead at the right time you will have much more speed in your golf swing.  How to transfer momentum to your driver to get more distance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkPkm8RnnOI. The audible whoosh drill to develop a whip release https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOFnJFPL2x4.

COURSE STRATEGY IF YOUR SHORT GAME IS SOMEWHAT SUSPECT OR NOT WORKING FOR YOU DURING YOUR ROUND. Being the longest driver in your foursome or always using a driver off the tee may not always be the ideal club to use if your don't have a good short game around the green.  For a lot of high handicappers (and for even some of the better golfers) sticking the green from 30 to 60 yards away is not always an easy shot to make since it is not a full swing (it is even harder if there is a green side sand bunker that you must carry with a tight pin placement), but if you can consistently hit the green from a 100 yards away with a full swing, then one strategy to help improve your scores is to play 'flag distance back to tee' instead of tee to green, by that I mean consider using less club for your drive or second shot (depending if it is a par 4 or a par 5) so that your final approach shot to the green leaves you with a full swing from about 100 yards away.  For example if you are playing a short 320 yard par 4, instead of automatically whipping out your driver, consider using another club off the tee that will get you 220 yards down the fairway, by adopting this strategy it will leave you with a full wedge approach shot of 100 yards. Naturally this strategy will only work if you can confidently hit a wedge with consistent accuracy from 100 yards away.

CONSIDER USING A DRIVING IRON OR HYBRID ON TIGHT FAIRWAYS. For the short and narrow par 4's or tight fairways that you always have trouble with, consider using a shorter shafted driving iron off the tee instead of your longer shafted driver or fairway wood, this for more accuracy and staying out of trouble. Once you have the swing down, you'd be surprised how much distance you can get with using one of these driving irons. Whenever I played certain shorter and tighter golf courses I would make sure that I had my 14 degree driving iron in my bag for that day.

Disclaimer:  If you have certain medical problems or physical limitations do not try any of the golf drills or golf swing concepts explained in this post unless your physician or physical therapist first says that it is safe for you to do so.

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