4 Ways To Create A Smoother Start To Your Swing
On the surface, golf is very simple. All you have to do is put the ball in the hole in the recommended amount of strokes or less. Sounds simple enough but as a golfer, you know that is not the case. As the late and great Arnold Palmer once said “Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening – and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented.“
When you arrive at the course before a round of golf, expectations are high and you head to the range to get a nice warm-up session in. You stripe the ball in what seems to be in flawless fashion and now you’re prepared to shoot the best round of your life. You head to the first tee, amped and ready to go, then suddenly things change.
You stand over the ball and suddenly your body turns to stone. Your body, arms, and hands tighten up and create excess tension that hinders your swing. The start of your swing is compromised and hitting a good golf shot has now become more of a challenge.
If this happens to you, then finding a trigger to help you reduce tension and create a more timely and smooth start to your golf swing will be beneficial. Here’s 4 ways to create a smoother start to your swing!
Trail Heel Off The Ground
Most golfers tend to have a trigger that they use to get their swings started. A trigger is just a physical movement that lets your mind and body know that it’s time to swing or “pull the trigger.” Golfers don’t all have the same trigger which is why it’s important to experiment and find something that works for your true swing.
One trigger you can try to implement in your own swing would be Golf Fanatics coach Jeff Ritter’s trigger. He will stare down his target, put his clubhead on the ground, and then begin his trigger to let him know to start the swinging motion. That trigger is lifting the trail heel off of the ground about a half an inch. Once that trail heel replants itself into the ground, his body knows to begin the swing. It’s a simple yet effective way to get your swing started!
Trail Knee Toward Target
Another trigger you can try would be from the Black Knight, Gary Player. Player begins his golf swing by bumping his trail knee toward the target. He resets to how he set up at address and then starts his backswing.
With over 165 worldwide wins over the span of his career, and multiple major wins, it’s easy to say he’s one of the best to ever play the game. This trigger has been in his swing since his early years and lasted the test of time to now when he still plays golf. It couldn’t hurt if you tried implementing his patented move into your own swing.
Rotate Hips Towards Target
This swing trigger is used by a variety of past and current professional players. They tend to rotate their hips toward the target, and then proceed to start their swings. One example of this is Sam Snead. He began his swing by turning his hips slightly towards the target and on the turn back is when he knew to begin his swing. Arguably one of the most pure golf swings ever known to man, this trigger allowed him to start his swing consistently each and every time.
This trigger is also prominent in Matthew Wolf’s swing. His is more exaggerated than what you would normally see, but it works for him. It just goes to show that you can play around with each of these until you find something that sticks for you.
Touch & Go
If you’re one to stand over the ball, hesitate and think every swing thought possible, this is the trigger for you. As you go through your routine, make your waggles, take one last look, now it’s time to go. For the touch and go, once you set that clubhead down on the ground, your swing starts.
Adopting this trigger will force your body to go and get rid of the excess of thoughts going through your head over the ball. When you stand over the ball too long, you know the outcome isn’t going to be ideal before you even swing the club. This is an easy trigger where you don’t have to make any adjustments to your body and you can put this in your swing immediately.
Conclusion
If you feel stuck and tense over the ball, it may be time to incorporate a trigger into your pre-shot routine. There are plenty of ways to do this and you have to find what works for you. These swing triggers are simple and easy to implement into your routine without making big changes to your swing. It’s the off-season and it’s a great time to start implementing changes and working on your golf game. Create a more smooth and more timely start to your golf swing by adding a swing trigger.
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