Swing Thoughts...How Many do you Have?

I have published similar posts on this subject, but I think it is important to remember it is a golf "SWING" we are trying to make and not a golf "PAINT BY NUMBER"!

Which golfer are you?

This one, whom is "locked" up due to over thinking?

Or this one, a free swinger with no thought to the outcome?

I have found many golfers play like the first golfer.  Too many swing thoughts and not enough time!  Now, this may not be entirely your fault.  For example, if you are in a profession which requires attention to details, numbers or high focus, then you may tend to play with a great number of swing thoughts.  This is due to the fact you want order to the chaos.  There is nothing wrong with this, BUT you need to cut the thoughts down to maybe two at most.  I think this type of golfer is too focused on the outcome.  It's OK to go through your process as far as hitting the shot at hand, but when it's time to pull the trigger you have to let go of all those thoughts and SWING THE CLUB!  There is a good book "Swing Thoughts" by Don Wade (1993).  In this book, top players share swing thoughts they used to win tournaments.  Most of the thoughts shared were very simple, concise and easy to picture. 

If you look at Fred Astaire in this video, I am not so sure he has any swing thoughts.  He is in rhythm and balance and doing what he does best...dance!  Obviously he has perfected his craft of dance, but look how it translates to the golf swing.  I love the freedom of movement and ease with how he moves from golf ball to golf ball.  I guess one could overdo this freedom and lack of details, but for this type of golfer I think there are 10 that play too tight.

For the golfer which has too many swing thoughts, this is a drill I use to free up the golf swing.

The first part of the drill is starting your swing with the club about two feet to the left of the ball.  I call this the "SWING-SWING" drill.  By starting the club in this position, you will feel more of a "swing" to the top and a "swing" to the finish.  Try hitting ten balls with a 7 iron (on a tee) from this position.  I think you will find your back swing will be smoother and you won't start down before you get to the top.  The second part of the drill is to start with the club hovering just above the ball.  Again, tee up a 7 iron for this drill.  I call this drill the "FORWARD-BACK-FORWARD" drill.  To start your swing just swing the club forward about two feet, then swing to the top and then through to the finish. You want the swing to feel very rhythmic and at an even cadence.  You will feel your knees working with the club and this is good.

For the golfer that plays too loose, I will work more on the process and details of set up and visualization.  This will slow that golfer down just enough to get focused on target.

Once you figure out which category of golfer you reside, you can begin to work on the things which will help you play your best.