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Newsletter - Issue 30 Date 08/01/07
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Develop a Soft Swing to Avoid Tension
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I received the bulk of this week's tip in an email from Doc O'Leary
and decided to add a few of my own thoughts and pass it along.

Most high-handicappers have a few things in common:

1) a white-knuckled strangulation grip on the club during address 
2) holding the breath on backswing 
3) a sudden and severe tightening of the all muscles during the 
downswing and at impact 

This amount to tension with a capital "T", and the solution is to
"soften" your swing.

Watch any world class sprinter. What's he doing just before the race? 
He's loosening his muscles.

You have to do the same in the golf swing. It's a chain reaction 
that starts from the ground, then moves through the pivot into your 
arms, down the club shaft into the golf ball.

The idea is to STORE power until the exact right moment. Let the 
"chain reaction" work, and keep your muscles soft so that power can be 
delivered to straight into the ball.

When done correctly, it feels effortless.

I'm not just talking about loosening your grip pressure, but releasing
the tension in your shoulder area and neck. You do need a structured swing
but not all the tension.

Here are four things you should do before you drive the ball:

1) Do a quick body scan to notice where you’re holding your tension.
2) Take three deep breaths. 
3) Remove all the worry and tension out of your muscles
4) Keep your swing soft and slow, allow the pivot do all the work. 

The sprinter knows relaxed muscles fire stronger and more effectively,
and now you know too. Let that chain reaction of power happen in your 
swing and keep soft.