GolfPlusMore.com

Matrix Golf has a special high performance golf shaft called the Matrix Ozik. This shaft is very different from conventional shafts. It incorporates new technology to make for a more perfect tee. There are several different Matrix Ozik Golf shafts to choose.

The Matrix Ozik XCON 7 Golf shaft uses technology such as Gradient Energy Flow. In conventional shafts, the energy is focused on bending the shaft between the tip and the midpoint. This causes a weakness in the shaft that affects how the club-head impacts the ball.

With these conventional shafts, the club-face is likely to slide across the ball. Higher spin rates result, and the ball will move off left or right. The Matrix Oziks Gradient Energy Flow technology forces more direct energy onto the club-head. This results in more stability when the club-head impacts the ball.

With more stability, the Matrix Ozik shaft lends the striking of the ball a more accurate impact, with less sliding on the club-face. Thus the ball has less back-spin. The Matrix Ozik gives a true high launch for distance and accuracy.

With the Ozik XCON 7, the weight ranges from 76 grams for the Regular or Firm to 80 grams for the X-Stiff or the XX-Stiff. The torque, because of the sophisticated design of the shaft, is only 2.4. The firm tip is an integral part of the design.

The Matrix Ozik TP-6 has been designed using the best materials on earth and cutting-edge technology, along with superior craftsmanship. The Matrix Ozik TP-6 has wrapped boron as a part of its construction. Ballistic Zylon is also inside the TP-6. G-MAT is another component.

The process for making a Matrix Ozik shaft takes 6 days, 12 steps, and 9 people. In the end, each shaft is given a unique soft feel finish. The Ozik TP-6 is a very lightweight shaft, ranging from 63.5 grams for Senior to 68 grams for X-Stiff or XX-Stiff. The torque is 3.5 to 3.6 and the launch is mid/high. It has a mid-spin.

The Matrix Ozik Code 8 is a new shaft that was designed to accommodate professional players who did not like the feel of lighter weight shafts. The Code 8s heavier tip section provides momentum in the swing and more head feel upon impact.

The Matrix Ozik Code 8 has a special mid-section with 50 count boron placed 10-12 inches away from the butt of the shaft. This makes for a very high MOI. It is best used for woods or on any club where the golfer wants a shaft with a heavier feel.

This Matrix Ozik shaft weighs from 80 grams to 84 grams. The torque is 3.1 to 3.2. It has a mid-launch and a low spin. It is ideal for a high level amateur or a professional player.

Prices for the Matrix Ozik shafts run from $300 to $650, but they are well worth the investment. The technology they use is top notch. They are high level shafts for players who are serious about their golf game.

About the author:
This article is written by Eric Stone.
He is an expert at selling custom golf clubs. custom golf clubs

The golf swing is arguably one of the most difficult athletic actions to perform. The golf swing requires you to draw the golf club through a long range of motion with proper technique and exact timing.

Any error in swing plane, timing, or sequence will cause your golf swing to suffer, and suffer it will. Unfortunately, the result of your golf swing suffering will be errant shots, poor golf scores, and frustration on the golf course.

Often the amateur is at a lost for why their golf swing results in errant shots. Countless hours are spent at the range in an effort to improve their golf swing. Hundreds or even thousands of dollars are spent on lessons each year, and not to mention the purchasing of new equipment.

It all adds up to a lot of time and money spent on improving the golf swing. Unfortunately, for many amateur golfers their handicaps and score never improve. Leading to the question “why is my golf game not improving?”

If this is you and this question lingers in your mind. The answer to your question could easily be staring right back at you in the mirror. The failure of improvement may have absolutely nothing to do with the driver you are swinging, the teaching pro helping you with your swing, or even your practice routine. It could all do with you! Yes you, the physical body swinging the golf club.

Keep in mind the golf club does not perform the mechanics of the golf swing. Nor do the mechanics of the golf swing execute themselves without you. It is you and your body executing the mechanics of the golf swing. The point to make is your body directly affects the mechanics of the golf swing.

Additionally, the golf swing requires your body to encompass certain physical qualities to execute the mechanics of the golf swing correctly. These physical qualities are certain levels of flexibility, muscular strength, balance, and power. If you are lacking the minimal amounts of flexibility, balance, strength, and power to execute the golf swing correctly. Compensations will occur even before you swing the golf club.

For example, let’s look at your flexibility. The golf swing requires you to draw the golf club through a large range of motion. The backswing requires a full shoulder turn to set the club in the correct slot for the downswing, and the finish position is almost a mirror image of the backswing.

In order to perform these parts of the golf swing correctly, the muscles of your body must be flexible. An inflexible body in which muscles are “tight” creates restrictions in movement. Restrictions in movement in relation to the golf swing will undoubtedly result in limitations pertaining to golf swing. The limitation will impede you from creating a full shoulder turn and balanced finish position. This causes compensations in the mechanics of the golf swing.

The entire body needs to be flexible for the golf swing. Certain muscles more than others are involved in the golf swing, and if these muscles are “tight” they will directly affect your golf swing. One such set of muscles is your hamstrings.

The hamstrings (back side of your upper leg) are often “tight” and cause problems to many people, not just golfers. However, they have a profound effect on the golf swing and it is not a good effect.

Hamstrings that are “tight” are in a shortened position. The shortened position of the hamstrings has a direct effect on the position of your hips. Your hips will be “tucked”, directly affecting your posture. This in itself can hamper the ability to place oneself in the correct position at address within the golf swing, not to mention maintaining a proper spine angle during the swing.

Additionally, “tight” hamstrings place an undo amount of stress on the lower back. Large amounts of stress on the lower back cause fatigue, soreness, and increase the possibility of injury. If you are a golfer that has ever experienced lower back pain you know the effect it has on your ability to swing the golf club correctly.

A combination of a postural change and undo amounts of stress on the lower back, just begin to scratch the surface of the effect inflexible muscles can have on the golf swing. “Tight” muscles change the kinematics of the body. As a result, the biomechanics of the golf swing must be altered. These alterations usually lead to compensations in the mechanics of the golf swing resulting in errant shot patterns on the golf course.

And no matter what you do in terms of practice or instruction these alterations will not go away until you address them. Just as you address swing faults, you must address flexibility faults. Flexibility faults can be addressed through golf stretches.

Golf stretches enhance the flexibility of your body in relation to the golf swing. Golf stretches often times return muscles that are “tight” such as the hamstrings to their proper length. This results in the ability of your body to perform the biomechanics of the golf swing correctly. If you are one of many golfers who are not finding their golf swing improving through practice and instruction. Take a moment and look at the body swinging the golf club. This very well may be the root of your golf swing problems. Fix your flexibility faults through golf stretches and find yourself on the road to lower golf scores and more enjoyment in the game of golf.

Sean Cochran

Professional golfers on the PGA Tour understand the connection between golf swing mechanics and the body. The most notable players in the world have regimented golf fitness programs they adhere religiously too. The benefits of such programs have been well documented in the media. Press clippings from Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, and Phil Mickelson all refer to golf fitness exercises being a component of their regular practice schedule.

The amateur can learn a lot from the pros. They can learn the importance the body has in relation to the golf swing, how golf swing mechanics and the body are intertwined, and improvement in the golf game requires the implementation of a golf fitness program.

Where most amateurs get “off-track” with their golf fitness training is the components and exercises incorporated in such a program. Golf fitness programs are quite different then “general” fitness or “weight training” programs. A golf fitness program is designed to develop the golfer’s body around the golf swing. In order for this to occur certain parameters and exercises are required in such a program.

First and foremost the amateur golfer must understand the connection between the golf swing and body. The golf swing is a complex series of biomechanical movements execute by the golfer. In order for the golfer to execute the biomechanics of the golf swing correctly. It is necessary for the golfer to have certain physical parameters well developed.

These physical parameters are flexibility, balance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and muscular power. High levels of flexibility, balance, strength, endurance, and power are required to execute the golf swing correctly. Often times the amateur golfer is not flexible enough, strong enough, or powerful enough to execute the golf swing correctly.

This results in the golfer developing compensation patterns in their golf swing. The result being poor shots and high scores on the golf course. Bottom line is a physical foundation of flexibility, balance, strength, endurance, and power is required to develop an efficient golf swing. If the amateur golfer is lacking in anyone of these categories the foundation upon which the golf swing is being built will be insufficient.

Once the amateur golfer understands the connection between the golf swing and the body it is necessary to implement a golf fitness program, A golf fitness program is different than “traditional” training programs in such this type of program develops the body around the golf swing.
A golf fitness program trains the body to the positions, movements, and requirements of the golf swing. A golf fitness program is not concern about “beach muscles” or how one looks in the mirror. Rather a golf fitness program has the primary goal of improving the scores on the golf course and play of the golfer.

This type of improvement is a result of using exercise to develop the physical parameters of the body relative to the golf swing. A golf fitness program will include flexibility exercises, balance drills, muscular strength exercise, endurance training modalities, and power drills. Exercises from all of these categories are included in a comprehensive golf fitness program.

Understand the exercises and drills within each of these categories are not necessarily traditional type of exercises. For example, flexibility exercises for golf are less concerned about touching your toes, and more concerned about completing a full shoulder turn. Flexibility exercises for golf are geared towards developing the flexibility within your body to execute the components of the golf swing correctly.

The same can be said about every other category of exercise and drill incorporated in a golf fitness program. The balance drills in a golf fitness program are designed to improve the golfer’s balance capacities relative to the golf swing. Power exercises in a golf fitness program are designed to improve clubhead speed. Where as power drills in other programs may be geared towards improving how fast you run.

Once the amateur golfer understands the connection between the golf swing and body, the elements of the body needing development relative to the golf swing, and the components of a golf fitness program. The final component of understanding is golf fitness training order.

Often times the amateur golfer desires more power (i.e. clubhead speed) in their golf swing. As a result they perform only exercises to enhance the power components within their body. What the amateur golfer fails to realize is developing golf strength, endurance, or power is useless if they do not have the flexibility or balance capacities to execute the golf swing. Developing the body for the golf swing requires the amateur golfer to follow a specific order relative to their training programs.

It is necessary for the amateur golfer to first develop their flexibility for the golf swing. Secondly proceed to increasing their balance capacities in relation to the golf swing. Continue the process with developing strength and endurance for the golf swing. Completing the process with power drills to enhance clubhead speed. This guarantees the effort placed within a golf fitness program will enhance the golfer’s swing. It becomes a simple process once the golfer is educated on the relationship between the golf swing and the body. The benefits a golf fitness program has upon the golfer’s swing, and how to implement golf fitness exercises correctly.

Sean Cochran

Are you too confused about weight training for golf?
There are many opinions in the golf world on whether weight training is beneficial or counter-productive to the golf swing.
On the PGA Tour it is a well-known fact that the majority of professional golfers are implementing golf fitness exercises into their training regimen. The goal of such golf fitness exercises is to improve their play on the golf course.
First and foremost, as a professional strength and conditioning coach on the PGA Tour, I see the benefits of a golf specific exercise program are well documented.
The confusion for most amateur golfers probably centers around what specific training modalities and exercises should they include in their golf fitness programs and what are the professional golfers doing.
I get a lot of questions on how are the professional golfers programs set-up, what specific exercises do they incorporate in their programs, and are the exercises in such programs similar to those found in local health clubs. A lot of people ask me if they should include actual dumbbell and barbell exercises into their golf exercise program.
The goal of this article is to provide you information on what the components, modalities, and exercises that compromise a good golf fitness program.
I will also provide you with a breakdown and sequence of a good golf fitness program.
First and foremost, I need to define a few terms to help you create an understanding of the basic goals of a golf fitness program. The main goal of a golf fitness program should be to improve your golf game through the development of your physical body. In order for you to meet this goal, the golf exercises within your program must develop the body relative to the golf swing.
At this point, I must explain a few things about the biomechanics of the golf swing. The golf swing is a total body athletic activity. Meaning the entire body is utilized to swing the golf club. Just as in baseball, you do not throw with only you’re your, but rather your entire body. The same is true of the golf swing; you swing the golf club with your entire body. This in the world of strength and conditioning is defined as an “integrated total body athletic action”.
The golf swing is easily defined as an athletic action incorporating the entire body to execute. Knowing this point, a golf fitness program must incorporate exercises for the entire body. A term we like to call “integration”. Integration is the utilization of exercises that incorporate the entire body. For example, the golf swing incorporates a rotational movement of the core (abdominals, lower back, hips, and obliques). An integrated golf specific exercise incorporating all these muscles would be a physio-ball Russian Twist in which all these muscles are working in a rotational pattern.
This is very different than isolating each muscle of the core and training them separately with isolation exercises such as abdominal crunches. The point to be made is; integrate the muscles of the body rather than isolating each muscle in a golf fitness program.
Secondly, the exercises within a golf fitness program must be “cross-specific” to the anatomical positions, movement patterns, and energy requirements of the golf swing. Simply stated this means train your body with exercises that place your body in the position your perform the golf swing, utilize exercises that move your body through the ranges of motion of the golf swing, and develop the needed energy requirements of golf.
For example, a golf swing is performed in a standing “athletic position”. Knowing this fact, it would probably be of greater benefit to perform a physio-ball squat rather than a seated leg extension for the golf swing, why? Because the physio-ball squat places your body in a position similar to a position in which the golf swing is executed. A leg extension isolates the quadriceps in a seated position, which does not train the body in an integrated movement pattern, nor in a position similar to the golf swing.
Cross-specific training results in a “transfer of training effect” onto to golf swing. This simply means the exercises you are performing directly affect your golf swing in a positive manner. One goal of a golf fitness program is to get the greatest amount of benefit from each of your exercises.
If you keep these two principles integration and cross-specific in mind when developing your golf fitness program. The choices made in the selection of exercises will undoubtedly be better for your golf swing.
Once these basic principles are understood you may begin the process of developing a golf fitness program. A golf fitness program consists of a series of modules. The modules are essentially different pieces of the program geared towards developing a specific improvement within the body. As a whole, the separate modules together comprise a golf fitness program. For example, flexibility training is one module that is contained within a golf fitness program. The goal of the flexibility module is to develop the flexibility parameters within the body required of the golf swing. Listed below in sequential order with a brief definition are the modules that comprise a comprehensive golf fitness program.
1. Flexibility Training: exercises to develop flexibility within the body required of the golf swing.
2. Balance Training: modalities geared toward improving your balance capacities in relation to the golf swing.
3. Joint Integrity Training: Exercises to develop strength and endurance in the joints of the body. Injury prevention based exercises for the shoulders, hips, and knees.
4. Core Training: Exercises to develop the required stabilization, strength, and endurance in the core region of the body for the golf swing. Utilizes a variety of modalities and equipment such as physio-balls, medicine balls, tubing, and dumbbells.
5. Total Body Training: Integrated total body strength, endurance, and power training exercises. Geared towards developing the needed strength, endurance, and power within the body in a cross-specific manner relative to the golf swing.
The most important principle to remember relative to the modules comprising a golf fitness program are the goals of each module and the order.
Training order is of the greatest importance with a golf fitness program.
Often times the golfer will attempt to develop power within their muscles before achieving the proper levels of flexibility that the demanding golf swing requires.
If you train this way, you will most likely develop power in the body, but you will likely not be able to use it effectively.
For example, if you develop greater amounts of power in the core region of the body, but don’t have the flexibility to execute a full shoulder turn. The ability of your body to utilize your increased power will be less than optimal. I can’t emphasize to you enough, keep the training order consistent as I outlined above.
Finally, the number of exercise choices you have in terms of flexibility, balance, joint integrity, core training, and total body exercises for the golf swing are too many to count.
There is also many types of equipment you can use for each component of your golf exercise program.
You can use stretch cords, tubing, medicine balls, dumbbells, and all other types of equipment within a golf fitness program. The points to keep in mind when choosing the actual exercises for your program are: 1) Do the exercises train the body in the anatomical positions of the golf swing? 2) Do the exercises take the body through the ranges of motion entailed within the golf swing? And 3) Do the exercises develop the required energy requirements of the golf swing?
If you use these questions in the decision making process of exercise selection, the final program you develop will most certainly be beneficial to your golf swing.
Sean Cochran
** The contents of this article are not to be considered as medical advice. Always consult a physician before beginning or changing any fitness program.**
This article is protected by copyright, 2006, BioForce, Ltd. All rights reserved.

Anyone can learn to swing a club, and play golf. Golf is like any other game; it is a compilation of a number of skill sets. One must learn to swing a club, to move the ball; one must learn to aim, to move the ball in the correct direction; and the object then becomes moving the ball proficiently around the hole and ultimately around the course. The object of golf is to score as low as possible. This article will discuss the swing itself, but do not think that a great swing instantly makes a great player. There are many skills to learn in playing any game, and golf is not different.

If you have been on a driving range, you must agree it is quite an interesting amusement watching all of the different methods people employ to move the golf ball. You have seen the “chop”, the “push”, the “scoop”, and on and on. It is amusing at least and excruciating worst, but entertaining none the less. Have you ever wondered why people swing the club the way they do? Are they mimicking a tour pro, or are they making it up on the go? The answer is that they do what they think is correct. This is not a characteristic only of golfers; this is a characteristic of anyone trying to learn a new skill. Boxing, lawn mowing, baseball, hammering, whatever the skill may be, there are different takes on how to do it. So as we watch the folks hit balls at the range, can we conclude that there are many different ways to skin a cat and one method is not better than the other? Yes and no; as long as the method employed allows you to move the golf ball from point A to point B efficiently, then yes. If you can consistently move your golf ball as you predetermined, then you are playing golf and your swing is O.K. However, if the method that you use is inconsistent, unpredictable, and limited, then no, your swing is not as good as it could be, or should be.

So how do you know if your swing is O.K.? If you are eating with a knife and fork and you are getting the food to your mouth in proper bits, assuming no bodily injury, then you are probably wielding the eating tools properly. I know, I have seen it too, the off person who holds their fork like a bicycle grip, but the food is consumed, and these folks are not losing weight, so they know how to wield a fork. The same is true of golf; we have seen many different swings, with different looks, but they cannot be called wrong if they produce the desired results. So the determining factor as to an efficient swing and a bad swing can be pared down to results. Does the swing in question produce good results? This is a simple concept, but some may argue what constitutes good results, and I must say this is an individual thing. A beginner may consider his swing a success if he can get the ball airborne. An expert would only consider his swing sound if he can consistently and on command move his shot as he has drawn it up in his mind. Ben Hogan said that he only hit about 3 perfect shots per round. Ben would move his ball toward the hole; if the pin was on the left he would draw the ball in, starting it at the center of the green and working it toward the hole. Likewise with a right side pin placement, Ben would fade the ball into the pin location, starting the ball in the center of the green and curving it toward the hole. If Ben decided to fade a ball into a right hand hole position and the ball ended in the middle of the green he would consider that a miss hit shot.

You are not Ben Hogan, but a good golf swing for the average player, needs to accomplish a few basic requirements;

· The swing must allow the player to hit the ball first and flush, meaning ball then ground.

· The swing must allow the player to produce adequate distance.

· The swing must allow the player to adjust and control trajectory and spin.

Some of you may want to add to this list and please feel free to do so, but I believe these three elements make up the basic criteria of a good swing. If you can do these things, you can play golf. Before we move on to how to accomplish these basics, I must point out that if you cannot do these things, it does not necessarily mean your swing is incorrect, it may mean that you have not mastered the skills yet. Remember, golf is an athletic action which requires some athletic timing and ability. Kicking a football is an athletic action that most of us can do, but as an athletic movement it can truly be mastered only by a great athlete. Golf is like that as well; only great athletes can ever hope to be top players. But unlike football kickers, average golfers can actually become quite good and compete at very high levels. Just remember that golf is an athletic movement and a lot of our failure in golf can be laid at the feet of poor athleticism.

All of that being said, golf is not high jumping; an average person should be able to average 80 around a par 72 golf course with little trouble and a sound swing. Before you write me and tell me that you know people with good swings who cannot break 80, I will tell you that there is more to golf than a good swing. Most talented players, who cannot score, do not score well because they do not know how to play golf. In case you were not listening; swinging the club is not playing golf, it is an element of golf. So what is the first fundamental of the golf swing? The first fundamental of the golf swing is to understand how to use the golfing tool. Remember the golf range, and the folks scooping their way to bad golf? These people scoop, because the golf club looks like it is made for scooping. In reality, the club does resemble a big spoon. The club has loft designed into the head to lift the ball in the air, right? So the beginner thinks that he needs to get under the ball. In reality however, the golf club is a little more dynamic than it looks. In fact the golf club is quite an ingenious design of physics. The club is designed so that the user can use it by applying only one force; tangential force! I know you all have heard that the golf swing is all about centrifugal force and on and on, blah, blah, blah. Well I am not a physicist, but I did take physics in school and I know that centrifugal force is an imaginary force. What? Yes, you heard me, there is no such force of physics. Look it up, centrifugal force is an idea, a concept to explain appearances, not a real force! So since we have cleared that up, we can dismiss the idea of applying a non-existent force to the golf ball. I only mention this because the idea of centrifugal force actually puts the picture in our mind of a club flying around in a circle and merely picking the golf ball up at the bottom and lifting it on its way. If this is your picture of the golf swing, I recommend that you rethink the golf swing. The club head does not trace a circle; in fact the head does not really trace any geometrical shape, but if pressed I would say it traces somewhat of an ellipse. Now please, do not think that I am arguing circles or squashed circles to be a smarty pants. These concepts are very important to visual learners. Some people can do anything they can visualize; these people must be made aware that the golf club does not swing in a circle, constantly being pulled outward. First and most important, this is not what is happening, and second it is not the picture you want in your mind. Remember, if centrifugal force were a true force, and you really swung the club centrifugally, then if the club head flew off during your swing (based on centrifugal force) it would fly directly away from you. For example if it flew off right at impact it would fly right into the ground. Now anyone who has ever had a club head fly off at impact knows that it does no such thing, it in fact flies out in front of you, down the target line. Why does it do this? It does this because the force you are applying to the golf ball is tangential force, not centrifugal force. Simply put an object traveling in an arc will leave the arc on a line tangent to the arc. This means that tangential force will move the ball or the club head if it flies off, directly down your line of play. So it has taken me a while to get there, but what this means to you is that you only have to apply tangential force to the ball, meaning hit it flush in the back and the ball will travel forward. Your job is to apply this forward momentum to the ball. The clubs job is to apply trajectory and spin to the ball.

If you learn nothing else from this article, please learn that the golf club is designed so that you only need to apply that one force. You make the ball go forward; the golf club will do the rest. That is why you have 14 clubs to choose from; sometimes you want the ball to go higher, sometimes lower. The club will take care of trajectory, spin and distance; all you do is apply the force. For the most part, on full shots you apply the same force for a driver as you do for a seven iron. They go different distances and fly different trajectories, but you have done nothing, but apply the same force to the back of the ball. That brings us to hitting the ball flush. To make the ball fly straight you must contact the ball directly in the back of the ball, generally near the equator of the ball. If you think about your golf clubs, you will notice that when you putt the putter will contact the ball directly on the equator. If you hit it below the equator the ball will loft in the air and if you hit above the equator you will pinch it against the ground and it might hop a little. If you have read any putting books you might have been taught to forward press your putter (meaning leaning your putter handle forward of the blade and ball). The reason some teach this is because putters like all clubs have loft and if you sole your putter with your hands directly in line with the ball and the head of the putter you will hit the ball slightly below the equator and the ball will loft in the air. Keep in mind that the putter was designed to do just that, hit the ball up into the air slightly and then roll out. Some teachers do not like this effect on slick greens, so they advise the “forward press” with the hands; this takes loft off of the putter allowing your stroke to catch the ball directly in the back, on the equator. When you catch the ball directly in the back you will impart maximum forward momentum. This is true in putting and it is true with every club in the bag, so if you know your goal is to hit the ball in the back, and you know that with the club perfectly soled with your hands in line with the ball you will contact the ball under the equator. Your goal with most clubs is to apply maximum force to the ball so you need to contact the equator, if you contact below the equator your shot will fly higher and shorter than you desire. Therefore it is common sense that at impact your hands and the grip end of the club must lead the club head past the ball. Remember to contact the equator of the ball with the sweet spot of the club the loft must be turned down! Meaning hands ahead with a descending blow.

Now that you know where to hit the ball for the perfect straight shot, it should not be too far of a stretch to figure out how to hit higher or lower shots. For the perfect straight, long shot every club must lean forward at impact; in fact a wedge will lean more than a seven, which will lean forward more than a driver, but the hands will never be behind the club head. If you ever have a chance to see yourself on camera, take a look at your hands at impact. In relationship to the ball and the club head, your hands should be slightly in front. If they point at your belt buckle, or worse, you do not have an efficient swing and you cannot play consistent golf. If your hands are ahead, then your swing can produce solid contact and maximum distance. For those of you who do not get into this position you must learn how to do it. Now this is a problem, because to properly swing down and through, a golfer needs to produce adequate lag and pivot in his swing. And quite frankly these are athletic movements. You have heard that the golf swing is a marrying of an arm swing and body turn. Unfortunately that is true; I know you were hoping to hear otherwise. The good news is that it is not super hard to accomplish this move to some degree. The bad news is that if you cannot turn through the golf ball you cannot properly compress the golf ball and take your divot on the pro side (in front) of the ball. I mention divot, because if your divots start at or just past the ball it is a pretty good bet that you are contacting the back of the ball properly. So watch to see where your divots are appearing, you need to move them forward to play consistent golf. So you need lag and you need to turn through the ball for your swing to consistently contact the ball in the rear. Lag simply is a term which defines how much angle you have between your lead arm and the club shaft on the way down to the ball. At some point that angle will reach 180 degrees. Remember at the top of the swing you want 90 degrees and as you swing down that angle increases until after impact and then it resets in the follow through. The reason you want to retain some of that lag (meaning impacting the ball before your angle hits 180) is so that your club head bottoms out in front of the ball, not behind. That move will guarantee that you contact the ball directly in the back. But that move is not done in a bubble; if you swing your arms and do not clear your body, you cannot hold onto that angle. In fact, if you keep light pressure in your low hand (right for righties) and gently turn through your shots with your body, you will create the lag you need. This really is quite easy and can be accomplished by any coordinated person. You can also preset this gentle turn through the ball by playing with an open stance. There are many methods; you will find what works for you.

The killer of a good swing is the hit impulse. Remember back on the range, and the choppers that we saw? The hit instinct is the strongest natural force in golf. Remember I spoke of the myth of centrifugal force? Any golfing physicist will verify the hit instinct force, this force is not imaginary, but it can be overcome, maybe. You cannot develop lag in your swing if you hit at the ball. The very act of hitting will release the angle that you stored at the top of the swing; you must relax your grip (especially in trailing hand) and gently pivot your body through the ball and into the through swing. Only until you develop effortless power can you play the game well. If you hit at the ball, you will produce powerless effort. An affective powerful swing comes from proper ball contact, from a club travelling on the proper path. If you can hit the ball in the back consistently you can control the curve and trajectory of the ball. And if you can control the ball affectively then you have a good swing.