The Down Swing

How To Use The Downswing

The downswing in golf is undoubtedly one of the most critical parts of your game. The downswing has been the subject of a lot of misleading advice, leaving a golfers worried about their backswing and always trying to improve the backswing, even when it is the single best part of their game. Most golfers start their downswing by turning their shoulders, which often causes them to end up swinging their clubs across the intended line of flight from out-to-in-- with their shoulders open on impact.

To start your golf downswing you want to feel as though your hands stay at the top of your backswing and your front leg starts the downswing. This won't happen of course but that's the feeling you should have. You should experiment with different parts of your front leg to start your downswing. But I recommend using either your front knee or your front hip. So simply swing back as normal and then feel as though your hands do nothing. It should be your front knee or hip that pulls your golf downswing into action.

You must follow a straight line when making the impact with the ball and then follow through without deviating; if your club curves off, so will the golf ball--and it will more than likely end up in the woods, rather than on the rough. When performing the downswing, you must also keep it powerful to get the furthest distance possible and maximize flight time. To achieve this, your shoulders must be square at the moment of impact - and you must follow through with your swing to ensure the ball is forced along a straight path. One fault even pro-golfers have is reliance on the dominant right hand.

from the left hand entirely to the right. This makes the right hand throw the club head forward, over the left hand and arm, which destroys the club-line and releases the club head too early, which results in a weak out-to-in impact. To correct this, you must retain control in the left hand and left arm throughout the backswing and downswing. This will make the right hand assume it's correct role and allow for the perfect downswing, giving you the power to hit the golf ball and guiding the ball in straight flight.

A good drill to get this feeling is to swing back as normal but pull your front foot in so it touches your back foot at the top of your backswing. And then to start your downswing simply move your front foot into it’s normal position and swing through.