Swing Thought for the Day: Why 2 Levers are Always Better Than 3 (Ep.85)

So I had a great day playing some golf with some clients today at Shingle Creek here in Orlando. Great golf course, they recently redesigned their greens and they’re super challenging. They’re built up with shaved areas all around, so it requires really good quality golf shots to get the ball into position.

I had some good things going on and some simple swing thoughts that I thought I would share with you.  I’m always about minimizing tension in my swing because I think it brings more repeatability and better tempo. Whenever I get squeezed in the club tightly, I know that I lose speed and power as well as consistency. I feel like the tension in my hands and arms are in fact interrupting the physics of the golf swing.

If I’m able to relax my arms and hands, I’m focused more on what my core body is doing to rotate back and through. the arms hands and club just go along for the ride and the club returns back to the ball repeatedly every single time.

To that end, your golf swing begins as a one lever system. It’s basically a straight line down your left arm down the shaft of the club. As you swing the club further back, you allow your wrist hinge bringing into play a second lever. This is the most powerful system.

Now, some people who either lack flexibility, or if they get too quick in the transition of their golf swing, their hands and arms collapse towards their body. A bent left elbow in this situation brings a third lever into play.

A three-lever system is nowhere near as powerful as a 2 lever system. Not only that, the circle that the club is traveling on is now smaller, so having lost the radius of our swing there are huge challenges with bringing the club back to the ball repeatedly and solidly.

Today I was just thinking about soft arms and hands, yet maintaining that tool ever structure throughout the entire swing. Hope that helps you guys.