Developing a Perfect Circular Golf Swing

August 26th 2005

Last month I went into our JOB of swinging the club backward and forward, meaning in only TWO directions.  That is a very simple principle which I hope you can all see is derived directly from the meaning of "Swing".  By simply making a backward motion then a forward motion, our minds cannot over complicate matters.  This is the optimal mentality when approaching any shot.

This month I thought we should go into the other primary term used in our definition of a "Swing".  That is the CIRCULAR part.

Now, unlike the two circles we drew on the piece of paper last month, this circle that we draw with our hands during the golf swing moves around our body.  This actually gives us a wonderful tool to create that perfect circle.  If you remember drawing circles in school, you probably remember a compass.  It was that thing that looked like an A frame with one side that had a sharp point on it, and a pencil on the other end. 

By keeping the pointy end in one place and rotating the pencil around this point we drew a perfect circle.  This follows a very basic principle when creating a perfectly round circle. A CONSTANT AXIS and a CONSTANT RADIUS is required if a PERFECT CIRCLE is to be created.  If either of these two things shift, you will loose the circle and create an oval.

Now notice I am specifically saying the HANDS draw the circle and NOT the clubhead.  It is very important that you remember YOU are doing the swinging, the CLUB is the object being.  Therefore the CLUBHEAD will not be a drawing a perfect circle.

So now that we understand a circular motion can best be created with a constant axis and a constant radius, how does this translate to your swing? 

The answer is two very basic rules which can be internally monitored and therefore should be monitored EVERY PRACTICE SWING.  That would be "Balance" and "Relax".  By keeping your balance you insure a constant axis.  By keeping your arms relaxed you ensure full extension and therefore a constant radius.

So for the next few practice sessions I want you to monitor these two things as best you can.  See if you can identify where you loose your balance, and where you start to tense up your arms when you swing.  You can enhance your feel by closing your eyes.  This is the quickest way to identify those areas of your swing where you can improve... and you don't even need a camera for it.

Now, there are a couple of things in the setup which can get in the way of your ability to keep this constant axis and radius which I will go over next month.  I'm sure though that if you close your eyes just to pay attention to your balance and your tension level, you will find a dramatic improvement in your ability to effectively swing the club.

For more Golf Tips see Stevens Golf Tutorial.

Steven Bishop 
Steven is a teacher and trainer for Blaisdell Performance Systems in Arizona. Website: golfinstruction.biz

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