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Free Golf Driving Tips For The Backswing

Helpful Golf Driving Tips

Welcome to the Full Swing Lessons for the Driver. This is Lesson Three: Set Swing Backswing for the Driver. This lesson is designed to help you get from the Club Parallel position up to the midway point of your backswing. This is an important position to get to because from here you can generate a lot of power and accuracy. Your swing does not need to be much longer than this, and as we will discuss later, it is your flexibility that will determine how much longer your swing will become.

Almost everyone has the ability to get to the set swing position. Allan Doyle from the Champions Tour has a swing that does not get past this position and he hits it great. So let's work on getting to the Set Swing Position so that you can hit longer and straighter shots.

Golf Driving Tips Step #1 : The Address

  • Please see the Full Setup for the Driver Lesson for complete details on how to position your body to make your swing easier to execute.
  • It is very important that you have a solid setup position before you start trying to make swing changes, or start building your golf swing. You can not take advantage of a great golf swing with a poor setup position.

Golf Driving Tips Step #2 : Club Parallel

  • Please see the Takeaway for the Full Swing with the Driver Lesson for more complete details on how to swing back to this position.
  • Turn your shoulders and chest to maintain your triangle.
  • Your club should be parallel to the ground in line with your toes.
  • There should be very little change in your weight distribution.

Golf Driving Tips Step #3 : The Set Swing

  • When the set swing is done properly, you are setting yourself up to have a powerful golf swing.
  • This is the part of the swing where the club starts to move up as well as around your body.
  • At the set swing position your left arm should be parallel to the ground.
  • Your left wrist should be flat. Any change to your left wrist has a direct effect on the angle of your club face. A flat left wrist keeps your club face square, so try to maintain that position through your swing.
  • If your hands and wrists are relaxed (remember this game needs to be played relaxed)...then your wrists should hinge naturally so that your club and arm for an 'L'. The Set Swing can also be called the 'L' Swing.
  • There should be very little movement in your weight. This will help create more of a turn and less of a slide. Turning creates power. Also...we always try to eliminate unnecessary movement. We don't need to slide to create power, so remove it from your motion, by keeping your weight centered over your ball. Your left knee should point towards your ball. If so, then you are staying centered over your ball during your swing. If it points behind your ball it means you have slid too much. If your knee points ahead of your ball, your weight has stayed too far forward and you will lose a lot of power.

Golf Driving Tips Step #4 : A Final Check

  • The key to getting to a good set swing position is to make sure that your shoulders and chest are turning the whole time. If they are then your hands will be in front of your chest, and your chest will be fully turned away from your target. This will put your back to your target. This is a very powerful position to be in at this point. The more your chest turns away from your target the more 'easy' power you will have available for your downswing.
  • Your right knee should stay flexed throughout your backswing. If your right leg straightens it will lift your club off line. You will then have to try and time the correction during your downswing...and that is too hard to do consistently.
  • If you make a good turn with your chest and shoulders the you should maintain the angle between your upper body and lower body. If you compare this picture with the address position picture, you will notice that the angles are the same. If that angle changes then it becomes much harder to hit good shots consistently.
  • Now...unless you swing like Jim Furyk...the butt end of your club should be pointing at your ball. If it does then your club is on 'plane'. This really means that your club is on line and it will be easier to return your club to your ball properly to hit a solid shot.

Thank you for taking the Set Swing Backswing Lesson for the Driver. It is very important that you get used to the set swing position. It can help create very powerful shots. Please do not move onto Lesson Four: Set Swing Lesson and Follow Through until you can execute Lesson Three comfortably. If you don't take your time learning this lesson it will only lead to frustration down the road.

Once again, using a mirror is a great way to practice. You will really be able to see if you are in the correct position without being concerned about where the ball is going.

Good luck with your practicing and playing. May you 'Play Your Golf Dreams' sooner with the help of free-golf-lessons.com.

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PGA Tour Winner Quick Lesson

Congratulations to Steve Stricker on his victory at the 2012 Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

I believe the commentators said he has won 9 times in his 40s. That is amazing!I also agree with Sir Nick and Johnny Miller that his swing will be copied in the future. Technology has reduced the need for hand action in the golf swing to generate power. Watch the old videos of Bobby Jones to see how much action he created compared to that of Steve Stricker.

A great objective for any player is to eliminate any unnecessary movement. Stricker does a great job of that. His hands stay very quiet on the backswing. His wrists hardly hinge at the top of his backswing. You can see from the above video that his backswing is all shoulder turn.

His downswing starts from the hips and he simply turns everything through the golf ball at the same time. His hands and wrists release naturally without any effort. This is a great way to have a consistent rhythm through the golf ball on every shot. This swing delivers enough power to win on Tour.


European Tour Winner Quick Lesson

Congratulations to Louis Oosthuizen and his victory at the 2012 Africa Open.

Louis burst onto the scene with his dominating performance at the Open Championship. Many have predicted multiple wins for this player. His victory this past weekend is likely one of many to come.

In the video above pay really close attention to when the video ends. Take a look at his left foot. Notice how all his weight his on his left heel. This is a great sign that he has cleared his hips properly.

One of the key reasons for starting the downswing with your lower body is to clear your hips out of the way to create more room for your arms to swing through impact. It is a great indicator as to how well you cleared your hips, when almost all your weight is on your heel.

If your weight is leaning on you toes or even the middle of your foot then you have not rotated and cleared your hips enough through your downswing and past impact. You really want to feel the pressure of your weight on your heel like Oosthuizen.

Make sure you start your downswing with your lower body. At the top of your backswing; either pull your left knee or your left hip (right handed player) towards the target. Also make sure your hips keep rotating through impact and into your finish position with your weight on the heel.