#1 - Keep My Back To My Target On Downswing
So to explain, the key to hitting it not only straight but consistently in the middle of club face is to make sure that at impact your hips and upper body aren’t ahead of your arms and the golf club. By doing this I make sure that I am more square at impact instead of too open which can create slices and those drives that go straight to the right towards those dreaded out-of-bounds white stakes. This swing thought also creates lag during the down swing which also creates more distance. Notice how Tiger Wood’s back is still to the target on the beginning of his downswing and his hips are still square.
#2 - Keep A Loose Grip In The Transition From Backswing To Downswing
One of the most important things during a golf swing is tempo. This swing thought definitely helps with tempo, when focusing on this thought is most important when you get to the top of your backswing and begin to start your downswing. Often most golfers want to hit the ball further and further, so its an instinct to hold onto the club harder when you begin your downswing as you want to really to take a rip at the ball. This ultimately causes your hips and shoulders to get ahead of your arms and the actual golf club. So at impact your hips, chest, and shoulders are too open at impact creating another slice. This swing thought ties in a bit to the first one and I’ve often tried to use them in combination with each other. You can see the transition from the greatest ball striker ever, Tiger Woods, and although it’s hard to tell from a picture what his grip pressure was you can guarantee his grip pressure was perfect, and as you may have heard before your grip pressure should be like holding a bird, not too hard to hurt it, but just enough it doesn’t fly away.
#3 – Swinging To “Right Field”
So to start this applies to right-handed golfers, if you’re left-handed just reverse this swing thought. So what does swinging to right-field mean? It’s a play on baseball, many golfers played baseball when they were young and transitioned to golf as they got older. If you’ve played or watched baseball you know where right-field is, so as a right-handed golfer I’ll often try to swing my club from the inside-out towards right-field picturing a baseball outfield. One of the most common mistakes amateur golfers make is taking their downswing from the outside-in instead of from the inside out. Also known as swinging over-the-top, this swing path often creates…yes once again, the dreaded slice. Again all of these swing thoughts can be somewhat combined or rotated. They all help create great timing and tempo during your swing, which is the key to hitting it longer and straighter. You can see in Jordan Spieth's swing how he forces the club head “inside-out” and towards right-field through impact.
#4 – Dragging The Club Back Low, Slow And Straight
This is great for every swing but especially great off the tee with your driver. If you think of taking the club back low and slow it also helps you bring it back straight as well. This is an amazing swing thought for beginner golfers as well as scratch golfers and amateurs. It helps in so many ways and I will explain. The “Low” part helps you from breaking your wrists to early during your backswing. While some golfers can make that swing type work, most do not, taking it back low helps your wrists load closer to the top of the backswing, you get your weight back into the right position, as well as helping to create the lag between your hands and the clubhead, which is necessary to truly hit it as far as you possibly can. Below you can see how Rickie Fowler takes the club back low and slow and in one piece.
#5 – Putting – Keep Your Head Down Until You Hear The Ball Fall To The Bottom Of The Cup
Putting is one of the most important parts of the game of golf so one of my top 5 swing thoughts had to be about putting. This is definitely not one of my originals as many teaching professionals around the world have said this to their students before, however I believe it truly makes a difference for all golfers from beginner to pro. The idea of this swing or putting thought throughout your putting stroke is to make sure you’re completely focused on truly watching your putter hit the golf ball during your putting stroke. Why is this important? Well, lining up a putt is an entirely new topic, but other than lining up your putt, the equally important factor is focusing only on the distance you have to hit your putt. And to that point a putt that you hit in the center of your putter will roll further and straighter than one thats hit off the toe or heel of your putter. Yes, putters have even increased their MOI and mis-hits during your putting stroke may not come out as bad as they used to with older blade style putters, however we all want to go low and make more putts. So this is truly one swing tip that will instantly improve your score and isn’t that hard to adapt to. Obviously, if you haven’t heard the ball hit the bottom of the cup after 3-5 seconds or so, you missed…but you know you made more of an attempt at that perfect putting stroke we all dream of. See below how Rory keeps his head down even after the golf ball leaves his putter.