How to Swing a Golf Club: 6 Fundamentals that Matter

There are so many opinions on how to swing a golf club that you are likely overwhelmed with conflicting information and swing keys. Today we have tried to simplify this with our top 6 fundamentals, the ones we think are the most important.

Here are the following 6 keys to swinging a golf club:

Impact

You will be a good striker if you manage to get a solid impact position. You’ll see all kinds of different moves each week on TV if you watch golf. Think about players like Jim Furyk, Adam Scott, Matthew Wolff, and others, who are all great players with totally different swings.

This mental exercise alone is enough proof that there is absolutely not just one way to swing a golf club but many.

There are a few Impact Keys to keep in mind:

• Hips open.
• The right knee should be kicked in.
• Head slightly behind the ball.
• Make sure the sternum is tilted slightly away from the target.
• The club and left arm should be in a straight line.
• Club face points at target, not way too left or way too right.

One thing that’s common in every player that we mentioned above is that their impact keys are always in place, no matter their swings.

Do This Exercise:

• Practice going from the top of your swing (backswing complete) to impact in slow motion.
• Then, take 100 slow swings in front of a mirror.
• Sooner, you will find a slightly different backswing position helps make your impact easier.

Furyk and Trevino found this, that’s why their backswings are so unique. If you can get yourself to impact and get your impact keys in place, you will improve.

Grip

You need to understand why the grip you choose is a key to your success. The grip decisions you make will dictate how fast the face closes as you swing into impact. A grip that is strong (held more in the fingers and less in the palms of each hand) will close the club face more aggressively.

You can understand this better by observing Paul Azinger’s swings, who has a very strong grip. He knows that his club face shuts very rapidly, so you’ll see him get his hips very open at impact (more than average) and hold off the release so that the face doesn’t shut faster and send his shots leftward. In fact, he mostly hits a left-to-right cut with that strong grip, and you should completely give it a try.

Do an exercise:

• Do the same drill as in the previous exercise, but change your grip after 5-10  slow reps.

• Go from a strong grip to a weak grip, and back, trying different hand positions to see how each affects your downswing feels and how your grip changes your ability to get into your impact keys.

Alignment

To understand alignment better, let’s go back to the impact keys. If lining up way too left of the target helps you get into a solid impact position then that’s fine. But try it, line up completely leftward, and do the slow-motion drill into impact. You’ll find you have to adjust your feels, or else you’ll end up hitting the ball straight to the left.

So, you must ask, “Is an open or closed stance wrong?” But, no it’s not, not if it helps you make impact easier.

Do this exercise:

• Following through the 1st exercise, take some open stances of varying amounts and do 5-10 slow reps from each position.
• Now try a few different closed stances. What feels natural and easy?

Make these mental notes. Understand how your stance affects impact.

Downswing Plane

Your downswing must stay on your side, the golfer’s side of an extending line. If you get on the opposite of that line, which slicers do, you will have an over-the-top (OTT) golf swing.

If you are an OTT swinger, you will have an almost impossible time getting into your impact keys on a consistent basis. Your club will be swinging way on the left of the target line which means it might get trickier for you to come into impact.

Do an exercise:

• Following the first exercise again, (yes, it’s all about impact) but with a slight adjustment, take your stance with the toe of your club resting up against a wall. In this case, you’ll be facing the wall, which will give you a firm boundary that you cannot cross.

• Then slowly go to the top and down into impact.

Club Face Angle

The goal is to get the club face pointing at the target at impact. If it’s pointed way on the left (closed) or way on the right (open), you’re going to face problems.

So, if you’re trying to hit the ball at a target, it’s much easier if the club face is generally pointing where you want the ball to go!

If you’re just starting to play golf, or want to improve your game, try to get the face pointed on line.

Do an exercise:

• Exercise 1 again, but focus on the club face this time.
• Go to the top of your swing and pause. Close your eyes, and swing the club into what you think is a good impact position in slow motion.
• Once you are in your impact position, open your eyes.

Where is that club face pointing? Get it pointing straight ahead while making sure all the other impact keys are solid. Try changing your grip (stronger/weaker) to see if it makes a difference.

Speed

You need to learn how to generate speed to maximize your distance to the greatest extent possible. The closer you can get to the green off the tee, the shorter clubs you can hit for approach shots, leading to you hitting more greens in regulation. This will result in lower scores.

Now, let’s be clear on our goals. First of all, focus on the proper impact position primarily. Once you feel like you’re hitting your impact keys, try to hit those keys at the fastest speed possible.