To understand the timing of the golf swing one must understand that parts move different distances and different speeds but that all move at the same rate or RPMs (revolutions per minute).

For years I have heard from golfers that they have bad timing or they needed to slow their swings down. But they really did not understand what timing or what needed to slow down.

The golf swing is a system containing three distinct areas. Your body, your hands and the club head. Each of these areas moves at different speeds and different distances, but they all move at the same rate. We will use the buttons on a shirt placket as the center point of the body. These buttons move only 3 to 4 inches in a golf swing. As a result they only need to go ? to one mile per hour. The hands move 2 to 4 feet in a golf swing so they need to go 4 to 5 miles per hour. The club head moves 16 to 20 feet in the golf swing and as a result it needs to go 50 to 130 miles per hour.

A popular tip to help golfers start their downswing is by turning their lead hip (left hip for golfers that play right handed) out of the way. This tip was popularized by Ben Hogan in his book, Five Lessons – The Modern Fundamentals of Golf, and while I am a big proponant of the way Mr. Hogan swung the club and played the game, you need to understand the whole story of his career. What few golfers know is that Hogan was a severe hooker of the golf ball early in his life. This hook was so extreme that it almost led him to quit the game. He learned how to play a controlled fade with a few adjustments to his grip and how his hips worked on the down swing. This turning of his left hip allowed him to delay the club head and his lower body would prevent the face from closing too early – allowing the ball to drop slightly to the right.

Most golfers are slicers of the golf ball or, at the very best, fight a fade and Hogan’s tip will do nothing but hurt their game. The club head is already being delayed and the last thing they need to do is delay it more. To help my students at the Grande Dunes Golf Academy understand the 3-area system in golf, I have them work on this simple drill.

Figure 1	Figure 2	Figure 3

Take the club back to the top of the swing as shown in Figure 1. From the top of your swing bring the club to impact with your back still facing the target as shown in Figure 2. Note that at impact I have the toe of the club facing the target – it is as if I was trying to hit the golf ball with the toe of the club. Most golfers who fight a slice have the club lagging behind the body and hands as shown in Figure 3.

What is happening in Figure 2 is that from the top of the swing my right forearm is separating from my right shoulder. This separation allows my hands to move farther than my torso. As the club moves down I allow the club’s face to close and pass my hands. This allows my club head to move farther than my hands. Remember the system? If you do this slowly you can make it extreme. This drill allows you to feel the opposite of where you have been. If done correctly when you are hitting golf balls you should produce a low hook. Then try to do this in a full-speed golf swing. The key here is to watch the ball’s flight. If you still see the golf ball moving left to right, you need to do more of the drill and focus on hitting lower “duck” hooking, low and left, shots. If you see an excessive hook from your full-speed golf swing, you now can turn your lower body out of the way earlier. Either way the goal here is to get your swing to “sync up.” Separation of the swing’s three areas will be your key to success.

Brad Redding
PGA Master Teaching Professional
Golf Magazine “Top 100” Instructor
Director of Instruction at the Grande Dunes Golf Academy
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