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Golf swing basics starts with understanding that the mind, your physiology and golf club combined create the swing. This is what might be called the foundation of modelling golfing excellence. The golf swing has many pieces to it from setup, to address to your backswing, downswing, impact and follow through.

Routines and good physical conditioning are a vital part of setting yourself up for success.

Most golfers focus on hitting the ball and that is it. It should be simple, just hit the ball. Smash the ball should make it go a greater distance, right? Yes it will if you can build club-head speed at impact and the face of the club is true, square at impact and you are playing to your line.

Many factors make this much harder for the average golfer.

Here are just a few ways you might be playing against yourself even before you swing your driver off the first-tee.

Your body is unfit, you have tight muscles or restrictions in movement in your joints so it is impossible for you to swing the golf club fully or on a true plane through the ball to your target. You guess your golf swing each time trying to find an answer on the course. You don’t have each step as a solid repeatable routine. You are thinking your way through every step of the golf swing completely distracted from playing to your target with a clear mind. Your golf clubs are poorly fitted to you in length, shaft flex and type or grip. This impacts your golf grip and how you hold your posture over the ball. The golf ball you are using is second hand, out of shape or worse cold which means less distance or worse.

As far as your golf swing goes get back to the basics. Here are a few things you can do.

Work on finding a groove for a swing you can repeat every single time without fail. Break your whole routine down step by step and master each step one piece at a time.

At the very least stretch and warm up before you play. Stretch and warm your muscles and joints, particularly hips, shoulders, wrists, elbows backs and legs. Practice a few shots with each club in your warm up too.

Start with a solid address of the ball with your feet aligned to the target, your club face square to the ball and line. Once you address the golf ball all the decisions have been made, breathe to manage those emotions or nerves. Breathe to let go, relax, get into your body. Know what shot you are playing and be focussed on a clearly defined target.

Build a backswing that works for you. You might shorten your swing to start with to play more accurate shots and then work on building your strength and power.

Know what starts your backswing. You want your hands, arms, shoulders and chest to move as a triangle. A low and slow backswing with your arms out straight is best.

You want to build your club-head speed in your downswing. At the same time keep your timing, rhythm smooth throughout your swing. Your natural rhythm can be found through the breath. Breathe in on the backswing and out through the downswing through the ball to the target.

The golf swing is a rotation of the body around a straight spine as the axis of turn. Rotation is impeded if the spine is not straight and the result is often too much movement up and down or sideways of the arms, hands or head.

Make the effort to build a solid golf shot routine and focus on the golf swing basics. Slow is fast what I mean is we learn best often in slow motion one step after another to build a repeatable golf swing. Your golf swing is a combination of your mental game, your body and golf clubs working as one in a golf swing that works.

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