name your swing thought!

[kds857]

What is everyone's thoughts as you make your backswing?/

 

I know pros say not to think about anything and just swing, but as an amateur, I still need a thought or two to remind myself what (or what not) to do.

 

I've tried a million things already, but the thought i use now when i swing are:

 

Driver: slow take back, good tempo

Irons: brush the grass

 

These thoughts work best for me.

 

In the past, I've tried:

- left eye on back of ball

- look at top of the ball

- pull with left arm

- keep head still

- full body turn

- keep head behind ball

- turn arms over

 

but for me, the two I use now give me the most consistent "solid" shots!!

 

Tell me what you all use so that I can try it out next time at the range!!

 

thx

[steve81]

i do all my thinking in my setup.

 

As soon as i start the swing and this sounds really weird, but i think about cheeseburgers.

 

Yeah i know, but for some reason it works.

[app10]

i do all my thinking in my setup.

 

As soon as i start the swing and this sounds really weird, but i think about cheeseburgers.

 

Yeah i know, but for some reason it works.

 

 

 

Is there bacon on the cheeseburger? What kind of cheese? Details are important. :cheesy:

[putts2much]

i just think of whats the best way to put it in the hole :smilie_cally:

 

nah, really, i just try to imagine ball flight or roll.

 

and at the range, i make sure no one behind me is swinging left handed.

might break a driver.... really, it happened to a good friend of mine :cheesy:

 

:)

[CHRISS1928]

i think about trying to find the right swing via swings ingrained into muscle memory...my mind goes blank when i take club away and i try to be build up a load and then just plow through the golf ball in a controlled manner in order to find the fairway

[KingOAces]

i concentrate on keeping my left arm as straight as possible on the backswing (rightey). This way i keep my swing wide and it actually keeps me from getting too quick.

 

KinG

[idrive400yards]

MY SWING THOUGHT GOES LIKE THIS.......DON'T HIT IT IN THE TREES, DON'T HIT IT IN THE TREES, DON'T HIT IT IN THE TREES..............DOH!, IT'S IN THE TREES. :cheesy:

[Albatros]

Good topic!

 

Right now I'm trying to get rid of all swing thoughts. I used to be(still are, sort of) consumed by swing thoughts - flat wrist, not too far inside, complete the backswing, etc, etc, etc. It would change every time out.

 

Now I'm just trying to think about a smooth tempo. Still, the occassional "position" thoughts creap in.

[cjdrcc]

I have a mental key of saying "target" in my head during the back-swing to keep in tempo. In the transition and down-swing, I think of the target I picked out and swing to the target.

[CashmereGoatJ]

I don't think about any of these things while I'm in my backswing. At setup, I focus on relaxing my hads, wrists, and arms. Also, I remind myself to keep my weight on the inside my right foot (righty swing) and to start my downswing with a good aggressive pulling of my hips.

[MrMom]

My swing thought.

 

Backswing SLOW & IN CONTROL (turning into a firm right side like the previous post aboive)

 

Downswing: LET IT GO and WHILE CONCENTRATING ON GOING THROUGH THE BACK OF THE BALL BETWEEN 3 to 6 o'clock.(I was coming over the top a little)

[littlepoison]

I try to stick to the "back-hit-stop" routine, which usually works well... but when I'm a little off kilter, it's usually because I've gone back to my old nemesis of snatching the club too far to the inside, and then looping steeply out and over for a viscious pull-hook. For me, "toe up, club up" seems to be a good swing key.

[AJS]

One thought that I have been working on now, that has totally helped my driving game. On the backswing, right arm should be a 90* angle, as if you were riding a bike and you wanted to make a turn, you would hold you arm up on that angle. This has helped my accuracy so much, also, I say to myself, swing through, not at the ball.

AJS

[housey]

I pick a target and just have that in my mind. I'll pick out a tree or landmark on the line I want to hit and have a picture of it in my in my head while I swing. When my head is clear it is great, when my head is busy it's hard to stop other crap coming in.

[bambooluv]

cho cho trains

[keith6]

I was fortunate enough to work for a company where our owner, Forstman Little who sponsors VJ, brought VJ to an event we held for some of our larger clients. VJ did a clinic on the range for about 50 minutes going thru his entire warm up routine, then his bag ending with his driver. When asked what he thinks of as a 'swing thought" he said he really only thinks of tempo. I think we can all agree it appears to work as his tempo is so solid and smooth. As he takes away the club at address he uses the word Seventeen. This is his way to keep a smooth tempo, take away thru impact. He said that most tour players fight tempo and alignment the most as mechanically they all are pretty tuned in on their swings.

[CashmereGoatJ]

This may seem odd to some people, but I do a drill to smooth out my swing. I swing the club forward about a foot then let gravity take it back to the address position and into my my backswing to promote a smooth one-piece takeaway. Recently I've move this into actually hitting balls, but I just visualize swinging the club forward and then when that visualization reaches the actual club I start my backswing. This has really helped my ball striking as of late.

[ateupwithgolf]

No, I don't think that drill is odd, it's similar to the momentus swing trainer drill, which aids tempo. My favorite has been for my backswing and is "sweep to the top." This I got from Bill Kroen's book, Golf: How good do you want to be? It gives me the feeling of everything moving together rhythmically.

[putts2much]

i just say for a smooth back swing....

 

a-l-i.... & da pu.... na.... ni..... before i hit the ball.

 

that gives me a lot of time to have a smooth take back.

[kds857]

great comments...

tempo is such a simple concept but so hard to execute when on the course. like many of you, i can seem to focus hard and swing nice on the range, but when i get up there on the tee box or try to crack a 5 iron 190 yards over a lake, most of my misses are high and right for a weak fade with little distance. when asking my playing partners what i did wrong, 95% of the time is a 'quick swing' where i dont complete my backswing and slap at the ball. i think like dogs, we all need some electric shock device to zap us everytime we get quick.. maybe pain will help our body learn to keep things smooth like boom boom or ernie.

 

Extra question 1: what is the truth about driving distance?? does michelle wie REALLY hit it 290, or do they measure the down wind, down hill par-5 drives with 70 yards of roll? I know the PGA guys hit it long, and anyone who has been to a tourney will attest to that, but Annika and Michelle and them? You hear on the news that they hit it close to 300 sometimes.. crazyyyy. if it were laura davies that hits it 500 yards, i'd belive it, but... haha.

 

Extra question 2: for irons, RIBBED grips or round?? does the rib helf square the club?? i need help with my push/slices!!!