IT'S GOOD FOR YOUR GAME
The secret sequence
of the professionals
The “effort” part of your swing is the backswing because you must overcome the force of gravity as you take the club to the top. Once your club reaches the top of your
backswing, it's poised to take advantage of the very force that was working against it a moment before. You simply let your hands drop down the gravity gradient
before any upper-body turn occurs. Think of it as a surrender to gravity that drops your club into proper hitting position.
To get the feeling of the sequence — dropping your hands before turning around — hit practice balls, trying to drop your hands onto your right foot before you allow any upper-body rotation.
It should feel as if your hands are moving in slow motion at the start of the downswing. And although you might feel as though you will release the club too late, this is
exactly how a correct swing feels when you surrender to gravity.
After all, that's why it's called the “downswing” and not the “around swing.”
Dr. T.J. Tomasi is a teaching professional in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Visit his website at tomasigolf.com.
From the top of the swing, don’t try to swing TO the ball. Let the hands fall to the back foot.
Once the hands start down, they are in position to be whipped to impact by the rotation of the body, so the proper sequence is “down, then around,” not “around, then down.”