Mechanics of a Golf Swing

By: Nick Kuta, Tyler Meerdink, John Hellekson

Gripping Techniques

There are three primary gripping

techniques golfers primarily use when attempting a golf

swing.

-Overlapping-Interlocking

-Baseball

Overlapping

-The Overlapping Grip, is the most common grip among golf players.

- This grip places the club in the fingers and is the grip most likely to be taught by golf instructors.

- Place your hands on the handle and place it between the index and middle finger on the lead hand (for right-handed golfers, the lead hand is the left and vice versa).

- The lead hand thumb should fit in the lifeline of the trailing hand.

Interlocking

- The next most common grip is called Interlocking.

- This grip is very popular and has been used by many male and female golfers.

- To use the Interlock grip, take the little finger on the trailing hand (the trailing hand for right-handed golfers is the right hand) and intertwine it with the index finger on the lead hand.

- Interlocking grip is extremely useful to golfers who have small hands, weak forearms and wrists, and beginners in many cases prefer this style of grip.

Baseball

- The baseball group is the least preferred grip among teachers. - Although it is not favored by teachers, there are still professional golfers who have used it: Beth Daniel, Bob Estes and Dave Barr, Art Wall Jr. - Teachers often suggest this grip to beginners as it simplifies early instruction. - To position your hands properly for the baseball grip, start with a enclosed lead hand grip, followed by a perfect secondary grip. - Basically what a golfer does is grip the club with both hands entirely.

Professional Golfers Grip Preferences

Interlocking Overlapping Baseball

Tiger Woods Harry Vardon Beth Daniel

Jack Nicklaus Phil Mickelson Bob Estes

Rory McIlroy Arnold Palmer Art Wall Jr

Lee Westwood Vijay Singh Dave Barr

Feet Placement

Driving - Place your feet shoulder-width apart. A good rule of thumb: the longer your club, the wider your stance needs to be. - Determine which foot is closer to the hole and angle it outward approximately 3 inches. - Point your other foot straight forward, or perpendicular to your target. This is important to the backswing, since all of your body weight will shift to this foot.

Chipping - Place your feet close together. Your heels should be between 6 to 8 inches apart. - Angle out your toes slightly so that you have a more open stance.

Putting- Begin by comfortably positioning your feet. This can be close together or a few feet apart. Unlike with a basic swing, foot position during putting is largely up to the preference of each golfer.

- Take a few practice putts 4 to 5 feet away from the hole to determine your accuracy. If you're hitting the cup every time, back away a few feet.

- Now change your foot position by moving them closer together or farther apart, and take a few more putts. Take note of your accuracy with your feet in different positions and use that which works best for you.

Upper Body/Follow Through-When getting ready to swing a golf club, the golfer first needs to properly place the golf ball where he feels it is most comfortable at.

-Next, obtain whichever golf grip you prefer and lay the head of the club on the ground near your ball. - when laying the head of the club on the ground your arms should be very lose and have a slight bent at the elbow.

-Next, make sure that your grip, feet, arms and ball are exactly where you want them, because you want to be comfortable on your back swing

-As you enter your back swing, twist at the core and lift and extend both arms behind you.

- Make sure your top arm is bent at a 180 degree angle while your bottom arm is at a 90 degree angle.

- While making sure your arms are at the proper degrees, your head looks down and does not move.

-As soon as you extend your arms behind you, your head shall be on top of your top arms shoulder looking downwards.

-Next, when you start moving to target the ball, slowly bring your hands and arms on a downward angle towards the ball while still making sure arms are slightly bent, head stays still the whole way and hold tight your grip.

- As soon as your strike the ball (see below image.)

Caption #1As you see at moment of contact the golfers head is still and down, arms are slightly bend, and still maintains his proper grip.

He is in a proper stance to deliver a powerful strike through the ball.

Practice, Practice, Practice

-No golfer becomes good because they were born with the proper mechanics.

-A golfer needs to put hard work and dedication into their game in order for them to be successful.

-Rain, snow, hail or sleet, golfers need to find ways to improve their game so when any conditions arise during a match that they are up for the challenge.

Wrong! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s50K65PNeBU

Right!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYSfXYE9_CU&feature=related