A couple of years ago, before I tried A Simple Golf Swing, I came close to giving up playing golf. I had been playing for around twenty years and my handicap was rooted in the high teens. I was frustrated that I wasn’t scoring anywhere near the level I thought I should be. I felt that I was a better golfer than my handicap or scores indicated and I felt helpless.

I tried a lot of remedies; reading instruction manuals, getting lessons from various pro’s and practising more. Despite all that, I couldn’t seem to improve. I had what I thought was a decent swing, and on the range I was able to consistently make good contact with the golf ball and hit decent shots most of the time.

My problem was that once on the course, my game went to pieces. I would stand on the tee and not have a bail out area to aim for – I was capable of hitting a severe hook as much as I was capable of hitting a severe slice. This was resulting in a lot of lost balls and causing my scores to be inflated with penalty shots.

Teeing off with irons is no fun at all either. In order to play safe I had to tee off with a six iron, which made the second shot a lot longer. This in turn puts additional pressure on the short game, leading to more dropped shots.  I just wasn’t enjoying my golf at all.

As I mentioned, I had tried numerous solutions to try and figure out a way to get round the course without losing six balls every round. The professional I took lessons from showed me drills which were designed to eliminate the right side of the target area, meaning that I would only have one potential bad shot to deal with – a hook. This was great, and I managed to eliminate the right side of the range from my game. However, back on the course and I was just as inconsistent as ever – slicing and hooking my tee shots all over the golf course.

I have always been able to hit the ball well, if not very accurately. Even with a handicap in the high teens I thought that if I could just gain some accuracy off the tee I could get my handicap down to a low number. All I had to do was find a way to consistently hit my tee shots on to the fairway.

One Sunday night about a year ago, out of frustration with the way my lessons didn’t seem to be helping my scores, I started looking on the internet to see if anyone else was having similar problems. Someone on one of the golf forums pointed me to the golf swing guru website. This website sells an instruction manual entitled ‘the Simple Golf Swing’, which was developed as a means of showing average and worse than average golfers how to break eighty. The website struck a chord with me – it promised me I would hit the ball straighter and more accurately than before, and with greater distance too. I bought the course that night, and spent the next few days reading everything.

Later that week I went to the driving range to practise what I had learned from the Simple Golf Swing. I made some notes to take with me, so I wouldn’t forget what I was aiming to do.

I started off with fixing my grip – luckily, my grip was already quite good so I didn’t need to make too much of an alteration there. I was determined to follow the instruction in the book as closely as possible. I then focused on my alignment and my takeaway.

It took me a couple of visits to the range before I started noticing the improvement in my ball striking. I was definitely hitting the ball straighter, and more consistently. However, I had seen this all before. I never had a problem hitting the ball well on the range – it was out on the course that my problems began.

I made several visits to the range, practising the lessons in the book, before I ventured out on the course for the first time. I was apprehensive, as I always had problems taking my range game out on to the course.

Right from the first hole I was amazed. My drive was right up the middle of the fairway, and I made the green in regulation. The range game had finally made it to the course! I enjoyed that round of golf tremendously. I didn’t lose a single ball, and I looked forward to hitting my driver off the tee for the first time in years.

That round was about two years ago now, and since then my handicap has come down from high teens to 4. More importantly, I am enjoying my golf again.

If any of this strikes a chord with you, then you could do a lot worse than try out the Simple Golf Swing. It worked for me.

The game of golf is truly an individual sport. The basics are the same for everyone; however, due to the differences in people’s body types no two people will ever have the same golf swing. Each person will have to adapt their bodies to perform a proper golf swing in their own way. Taking the time to develop your own method of playing golf will greatly improve your enjoyment and success at the game. Practicing the basic fundamentals of the game until they are ingrained in your muscles will lead to confidence on the course, and that confidence will lead to success and enjoyment of the game.

One of the most basic steps that you can put into action and see an immediate improvement to your golf swing is to keep your head still and look straight at the ball. The position of your head should be straight in line with your spine, and your nose should be raised up a bit so that when you start to swing, your left shoulder fits under your chin. Many players tuck their heads into their chests to try and keep their heads still and look straight down at the golf ball. Unfortunately, they cannot perform a proper golf swing while in this position.

If you are one of the many that are having difficulty keeping your head straight and an eye on the ball try the following. The next time you approach the ball, assume the correct stance with your feet and knees in position but keep your head and back straight, bend forward slightly at the waist and look straight at the ball. If you try and take a swing in this position, your left shoulder will most likely hit your chin. While keeping your eyes on the ball, raise your head slowly until your left shoulder does not hit your chin. Make sure that your head does not move from side to side by keeping your eyes fixed on the ball. Slowly go through the backswing and downswing portions of your golf swing. Do not hit the ball and do the follow through. Practice this portion of your golf swing focusing on keeping your head straight and eyes on the ball.

Practice this exercise in your backyard for about 25 times in a row and then take a break and relax a bit, then start again. Make minor corrections to your head and body position as needed to keep your eyes straight on the ball and your left shoulder from hitting your chin. This exercise will “train” your body, and your muscles will “remember” the correct position you need to be in to perform the movement correctly. Think about any sports athlete, they train and train to place their bodies in the correct stance and position to properly execute the movements necessary to be successful in their particular sport. You are doing the same thing by “training” your body to keep your head straight and position itself so that you can successfully execute a proper golf swing.

Another basic step that can work greatly towards improving your golf swing is to relax. I know it is easier said then done, especially when you are getting ready to put all your power into drive with an audience of either your co-workers, or better still your friends who will not let you forget it if you mess up. However, relaxing your muscles will help you to maintain the proper balance that is important to a great golf swing. Regardless of the golf clubs you use, your balance is the primary foundation of your golf swing, and the way to achieve good balance is to practice. A good way to practice improving your balance is to assume the address position with your club, relax your body and try holding it there for about 30 seconds. Does it feel like you have more weight on one foot or the other? Is one part of your body more tense then another?

Keeping your head straight and maintaining good balance are just two basic parts of a great golf swing. The exercises given above are just two ways that you can start training now to improve your golf swing. You can work on either one separately, or combine them together into one exercise. Improving your golf swing begins and ends with you. Training the muscles of your body to properly perform specific movements takes time and practice. The effort spent improving your golf swing will pay off on the course. Through exercise and practice, you will be able to slip into the proper address position and perform an effortless, powerful golf swing and feel just as if you were sliding your hand into a warm soft glove.

The Stack and Tilt golf swing is a phrase which I first heard of a couple of years ago, and relates to a technique of swinging the golf club which sounds alien to the more traditional methods. If you spend time watching the PGA tour on television then no doubt you will also have heard the phrase, but what does it mean?

During the course of my own swing, I take the club back and transfer my weight from my front foot to my back foot, so that the majority of my weight is on my back foot when the club is at the top of my backswing. As I swing through the ball, my weight transfers from the back foot to the front foot, (hopefully) at the point of clubface impact with the ball. This transference of weight is what I believe generates the greatest amount of clubhead speed at the point of striking the ball. To me, this approach makes sense, and it feels like I am hitting the golf ball with the entire weight of my body.

A golfer executing a stack and tilt golf swing would keep the weight on the front foot for the duration of the swing – i.e. there would be none of the traditional weight transference as described above. In fact, if anything, the stack and tilt golfer would actually transfer more weight to the front foot as the club goes back! So, during the swing, the leading side of the body would be ‘stacked’ over the front foot. That just sounds like it would feel weird…

The tilt part of stack and tilt sounds even more uncomfortable for traditional swingers like me. As the golfer brings the club back, the spine should tilt in the direction of the target, and this in turn causes the straightening of the right leg. This all sounds very complicated, but Golf Digest has a very informative article about this type of swing, and you can read that article here: http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/2007-06/stackandtilt3_gd0706 . There are also some photographs which probably make more sense than my descriptions.

So what are the advantages of the Stack and Tilt golf swing? Well, due to the much reduced movement of weight through-out the swing, there is a greater chance of hitting the ball the way you intended, as you have significantly reduced movement in your swing. You will also be hitting down on the ball more, due to lack of weight transfer, and this will result in you hitting the ball more consistently, so there will be less chance of hitting the ball ‘fat’ or ‘thin’.

From reading articles on the Stack and Tilt, it sounds like a really good way to swing. However, there would be such fundamental changes to the way I swing that I’m not sure I would like to try it myself without asking an instructor to talk me through it…

For something that has such a simple purpose – to propel a small ball from point A to point B – the golf swing is incredibly complex. The golf swing pretty much uses every muscle in the human body, and is a balanced combination of timing and power. The slightest alteration in the swing can ruin a shot, and even the most talented players in the world make bad swings.

The best players in the world can sometimes make this game look easy, but the one striking aspect of the PGA Tour is the tremendous variety in the pro golfers’ swings. No two players have the same swing. Sure there are players with similar swings, but all have their own individual differences. What makes those players so much better than us amateurs is that they are able to repeat the same swing every time, even under severe pressure. One way they can achieve this is by using some basic golf swing drills.

One crucial factor in the golf swing is the position of the ball in the stance. Of course this position will vary depending on the club selection, but the position for each club should always be the same. So, if you hit your three iron with the ball positioned one inch inside your left heel, then you should always hit it from this position. One golf swing drill is to perform a mental check of the ball position just before commencing the back swing. Think of an ‘L’ shape, to check the distance of the ball from your feet, and the position of the ball between your feet. If you are always hitting the ball from the same position in your stance, you will stand a much better chance of always repeating your swing.

Another excellent swing drill is to develop a pre shot routine for aiming at your target.  A lot of amateur golfers are guilty of standing up to the ball and taking a swing, without properly taking aim. You should know what your shot shape is likely to be, whether it is going to be a fade or a draw, and the approximate degree of movement of the ball in the air. Prior to hitting the shot, line up your feet, the clubface and your shoulders to the target. This might seem an obvious thing to do, but it is important to spend some pre-shot time on aiming the shot as accurately as possible.

The golf swing is over in a matter of seconds, and there isn’t time to process all of the information you need to remember to make a good swing. A good golf swing drill is to have one thought in your head through-out the swing – thing of this as a swing thought. For example, if you frequently hit the ball a bit thin, then your swing thought could be to keep your head down. Make your swing as normal, but your overriding aim should be to keep your head down, no matter what. You will definitely stop hitting the thin shots if you follow that drill.

As previously mentioned, the golf swing is a complex piece of machinery. If you follow some basic golf swing drills you will certainly improve your chances of getting a repeating swing, which will certainly improve your game.