The Downswing

Driving down with hands and left arm-The triple combination-Slow and smooth-Active hands ALL the time

  The backswing has prepared us for the next phase - the action of bringing the club head back to the ball with the full uninhibited release of controlled power.

  I do not propose, at this stage, to deal further with the crucial transition which takes place at the top of the swing.  You have learned from a preceding chapter that the feeling of a slight pause helps in affecting the change of direction, but you must beware in making this pause not to turn the back-swing and the downswing into two entirely separate actions.  I am no believer in prefabricated golf swings.  The ideal is a smooth blend of the fundamentals, free from stops and re-starts.

  In fact the experienced and accomplished player is sensing the start of the downswing as he reaches the top of the back-swing, much as a bowman, smoothly and unhurriedly drawing back, senses the release.  These two points will be covered in detail when I come to the chapter on timing and coordination.

  For the present let us consider solely the downswing, and let me stress at once that it starts slowly and smoothly.  That is the way you let in the clutch of your car after slipping it into gear.  An agitated jerky foot on the clutch pedal and the engine is stalled.  It is even easier to stall the golf swing and turn it into a heave.  For your own sake make it slow and smooth at the start.

  Give yourself time and room in which to hit the ball.  Only in this way will maximum acceleration be reached at the right time, that is, at and through the ball.

  You commence the downswing by DRIVING DOWNWARDS with the hands and left arm simultaneously with the return of the left heel, still with left knee flexed, to the ground.  At the top of the swing the extreme operative points are the hands and the left foot.  By synchronizing the movement of these two extreme points you are set to move into a lateral shift of the lower part of the body.  Most important this, but I will come to it in due course.

  I have used the term "driving downwards".  But in the same way as the engine of your car takes up the drive slowly as you move away, so the left arm and hands come unhurriedly into the first movement of returning the club head to the ball.  Make it smooth all the time.  Don't rush it.

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