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A Balanced Golf Swing Makes for Some Long Drives
I arrived to Chicago last night for the Western Open. Five of the top six players in the world are here for the event (should make for a good weekend). I was fortunate enough to get a round of golf in before heading to the Midwest.
I played with a couple of friends who were actually roommates of mine in college. Yes, we do have some fun stories from those days, but we will leave those for another day.
One of my friends drove the ball quite well. He got through the ball very nicely and had one of those classic reverse ŎC" finishes (his short game and putting was a little different of a story, remember what Dave Pelz says...)
My other buddy, well, lets just say it is one of those rounds you just want to forget.
We have all had them at one time or another, where nothing seems to go right, and at the end of the round, your just tying yourself up in knots trying to figure out what is wrong with your swing.
My friend was no different. Tee shots went left and right, snap hooks, approach shots thinned, bunker shots skulled, need I say more?
Flat out it was an ugly round of golf.
Now the funny thing during the round was on about the 17th hole the assistant teaching pro drove by in a golf cart.
My buddy stopped him and yelled out; "Larry, after I get back from my business trip next week, I want to set up some lessons with you."
Larry said; "no problem, just give me a call."
Now I am not one to often provide swing advice to friends, but what was happening with my buddy definitely fell into my area of expertise.
I asked him; "How come you are setting up those lessons?"
He replied; "Because I have no idea what is going on with my swing and I am hitting it terrible!"
I replied; "I think there is more to what is going on than some problems in your swing"
My buddy said: "what do you mean?"
I told him I have been observing his golf swing all day and noticed something very interesting.
I said; "Almost all of the time after you get yourself set in your address position. You make some type of posture change.
This causes your spine angle to change during the swing, setting up a whole series of compensations.
It makes senses for this reason alone why you are hitting the ball so inconsistently."
I continued on with the discussion and told him;
"Some of the SWING FAULTS you have in your golf swing are what I call BALANCE FAULTS.
In order to maintain your posture and spine angle throughout the entire golf swing, your body must stay BALANCED.
Balance is controlled by your body, not your golf swing."
"You can fix these "BALANCE FAULTS" through the implementation of BALANCE EXERCISES.
These types of exercises will improve your ability to maintain your SPINE ANGLE and POSTURE during the golf swing."
To wrap up the story, my buddy nodded his head in agreement and said:
"So if I put some of these BALANCE EXERCISES into my golf swing improvement program, I am going to see my swing get BETTER?"
I replied: "Yes"
He replied: "where do I sign up?"
Make It Happen!
Sean Cochran
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