The Swing, Part 5
The Difference Between a Hit and a Swing
This may seem like a strange topic, but whenever I watch golfers I divide them into two categories: hitters and swingers. What I am doing here is trying to explain the difference between the two.
A hit has a target and concentrates on the ball; because of this, it can be off target and it loses energy when it strikes the ball. A swing has a path, and concentrates on direction so it continues its energy and direction through the ball. This process results in more energy transferred to the ball and more consistency in the direction. A hit begins in the arms and hands and works its way quickly through the club to the ball; the hands in particular are controlled by small muscles and prone to error. The swing starts in the feet and works its way up through the body, allowing rotation of the hips, torso and shoulders to provide the acceleration. The arms and hands play a passive role, allowing the club head to swing through the hitting zone. This reduces errors. The ball is important to a hit. The ball is not important to a swing. When you hit at the ball you lose as much as ten miles per hour of club-head speed the instant you make contact. This will rob you of distance. Swinging through the ball adds distance and ball control. Jack Burke, Sr. said it best:
"Let the ball get in the way of the swing, instead of making the ball the object of the swing."
So, what does a swing feel like? I think a good description would be the feeling you had on the swings when you played in the park. When you sat on that park swing you developed a feel for direction change and momentum build as you continued through from top to bottom to top. In the golf swing there is a direction change and momentum build as you continue from the top of the backswing through the downswing and to the finish. In the park swing you waited for the backward momentum change at the top of the "backward swinging direction," and you let yourself fall (change direction) before you began to pump. The best park swingers recognized this change and with perfect timing could take their swings high in just a few pumps. The swinging action was effortless. The pumping action came from the hips, the torso, the shoulders, and they used their arms and hands just to hold on. They worked with the momentum of the fall as they pumped to create the effortless swinging action.
So it is with all good golfers. The change of direction at the top of the swing and momentum in the downswing seem effortless to the untrained eye. This effortless swing is a result of combining the drop of the arms into the swing and uncocking the wrists with the momentum created by the rotation of the hips, torso and shoulders. The ball leaves at a velocity that seems unwarranted by the effort. If we pay attention to how this momentum is built we will learn to swing and not to hit.
The mechanics are relatively easy. The arms, especially the forearms and the hands, must remain passive during the takeaway and the direction change. The wrists get involved in cocking and uncocking the club, but it can be said that both of these actions will happen almost "on their own" if you allow them to. It's when you get involved that you get in trouble. Get out of your own way and let the swing happen.