Understanding Your Golf Swing Mechanics
It is important that you understand your own swing mechanics as you work on improving your game and becoming a better golfer. When you understand your own swing, you will be better able to make adjustments on the go and fix your swing quickly when things go wrong. There is nothing wrong with having a golf teacher or instructor help you make the improvements you want to make – but you still need to understand what you are doing and why you are doing it.
There are a few ways to better understand your swing mechanics, and some of them are listed below. Record your swing to watch later. If you like to hit practice balls on the driving range to work on your swing, try recording some video of yourself hitting shots so you can review your swing later on. Most smartphones have the ability to record video, so ask a friend to take the recordings for you on your phone. Later, you can watch the videos on your phone, or even load them to your computer. As you watch, take note of the different mechanics in your swing that stand out. If you lose your way at some point, you can come back to the video to try and get back on track.
- Swing in slow motion. By making some swings in slow motion, you will quickly find parts of your swing that might not feel comfortable or completely balanced. You should be able to make your swing just as comfortably in slow motion as you do at full speed – if you can’t, something might be wrong mechanically. Try this exercise from time to time and you will learn a lot about how all of the moving parts in your swing come together to create one cohesive unit.
- Watch other golfers. It is amazing how much you can learn about your own swing by watching other golfers in action. Watching professional golf on TV is a great way to do this because there are so many good swings among the pros you will see playing on the weekends. Pay attention to how their arms and legs work together to create a whole swing, and compare that to what you do. You don’t have to copy their swings exactly, but just use them as a guideline to give you direction when you try to fix things that you think might be wrong with your swing.