What’s the Proper Golf Swing, and How Do You Do it?

What’s the proper golf swing? Is there only one? How long does it take to master it? Can you master the proper golf swing?

All of these are questions that golfers consistently think about. You see, “the golf swing” has become like some unattainable holy grail. No one but Tiger Woods and a select few others can do it. Definitely not mere mortals like you and me. Yet there we are slugging around the golf course weekend after weekend with our improper swings trying to look good in front of our golf buddies.

Guess what? It doesn’t have to be this way. The proper golf swing is within reach of everyone on the planet. As a matter of fact, the proper golf swing is really not that hard. You may not know this, but you already know how to do the proper golf swing.

Here’s the deal. The golf swing is a completely natural motion. As a matter of fact, it’s a motion you already know how to do. You really don’t need to be taught the swing at all. The reason is this.

If you know how to drive a nail with a hammer or especially how to chop wood with an axe, you already know the proper golf swing. To see what the proper swing actually should feel like grab your golf club. (Try one of the shorter irons.)

Now, with the club in both hands (as if you were actually golfing), just use your wrists and chop the club up and down out in front of you. This chopping motion is actually what the wrists do in the right swing. As far as the wrists are concerned, the only real difference between chopping out in front of your body and a real swing is you do the swing to the side and not out in front.

If you’ll take this very natural chopping motion and just add a swing of your arms up and to the side, you now have a very creditable backswing. (The swing back in preparation for the swing forward.) Just swing back from this position and you’ve got your forward swing.

There are a few other things to be aware of with the proper swing, but believe it or not, it really is this simple. The proper swing is nothing more than a sort of smoother chopping motion done from the side. You’re not chopping wood. You’re just striking the Earth where the golf ball is.

Certainly, there are different type of swings, but they’re all part of “the right swing”. There’s chipping, pitching, and the full-swing. These are just variations of the proper golf swing, however.