Three Principles To Get Your Swing In Sync

By Jack Moorehouse

Synchronizing your golf swing is critical to becoming a great ballstriker. Generally speaking, poor shots result from being out of sync. Great shots result from your swing being in sync. Get all of the moving parts working in the proper sequence and you'll create a chain reaction that delivers the clubhead powerfully and squarely to the ball. You could say, then, that the true goal of every golfer—whether an elite player with a low golf handicap or a hacker with a high golf handicap—is learning to swing in sync.

But the golf swing is different for every player. That means that how one professional golfer like Michelle Wie gets her swing in sync differs from how another professional golfer like Charles Howell gets his swing in sync. It's also means that how Howell gets his swing in sync differs from how a player with a high golf handicap gets her swing in sync. Nevertheless, common sync principles do exist. What's more, you can learn them by taking golf lessons, reading golf tips, and/or watching others. Below we explain three of those common principles:

Principle #1: Complete Your Back Swing
Each golfer has a unique sequence of motion. It's the DNA of his swing. Golfers must discover their swings' DNA to be great ballstrikers. Novice golfers, for example, often assume that the less movement they have in the swing the better. Unfortunately, this leads to some poor swings thanks to an incomplete body turn during the backswing. Having no width in the swing, the golfer takes an axe-like chop at the ball.

To hit the ball solidly, you must swing the club back with your arms as your body winds up. Then uncoil it in the downswing, releasing the force you've stored. But some golfers with high golf handicaps never compete their backswings. They're too much in a rush. A simple drill to develop a more synchronized swing is taking the club all the way back to the top of your swing and then coming through to the finish. Hold the swing at both the top and the finish while you count to five.

Principle #2: Keep Your Body And The Club In Sync
Many golfers turn their bodies too early on the backswing—a common error addressed in many golf instruction sessions. This move causes the hands to pull the club too far inside the target line, flattening your swing. All you can do from this position is lift the club to the top with your arms to finish the backswing. This independent motion of the arms and hands results in a lack of coil, the club being swung over the top, or the golfer releasing his hands too early.

Good synchronization starts with your takeaway. To improve it and promote better club head position, practice your takeaway with a club tucked across your chest and under your arms. This makes you aware of your shoulders slightly tilting as you take the club away and the front shoulder turns under your chin. The clubhead should remain outside your hands at this stage of the swing.

Principle #3: Release The Club Properly
Golfers of all golf handicaps get out of sync when the lower body gets overactive on the downswing, outracing the hands and arms to impact. As a result, the club gets stuck behind the body on a swing path that's too far inside. This can cause either a blocked shot or, if the golfer tries to compensate with his hands, a hook. When a golfer's swing is in sync, he can simply turn the front side of his body through and hit the ball as hard as he likes. A simple exercise to eliminate this fault is to hold a club upside down and practice whipping it down to where the club's shaft parallels the ground while keeping the lower body fairly passive.

Getting your swing in sync is the key to great ballstriking—no matter what you're golf handicap. Some say it's the golfer's one true goal. The principles discussed above will help your get your swing in sync. But others common principles exist, which you can learn by reading golf tips, taking golf lessons, and/or watching others. The effort is worth it. When you're all synced up, you'll hit the ball on line with solid contact consistently.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.