Saturday, January 24, 2009

Haney's Swing Concepts--Part 2


Haney preached two concepts: First, the golf swings on an arc and the golf club swings up, then down and then up again. Any swing with too much or too little of one or both of those concepts leads to problems. “Most people swing back to flat and come down too steep,” he said. Second, golfers must swing on the proper plane. Haney said golfers have different planes depending on their height but all good golfers keep the club on the proper plane. He recommended swinging the club with the club head several inches above the ball imitating the motion of opening and closing a door. Squaring the club at impact and closing it down will help eliminate spin and increase distance.

Speaking of distance, Haney said golf is a game of distance and direction. But distance is the most important factor in playing good golf. So how do you get more distance? Haney said the answer is to swing faster. “You can’t swing slower and hit the golf ball longer,” he said. Tiger can swing up to 140 miles per hour and most touring pros swing more than 126 miles per hour, Haney said. An increase on one mile per hour will send a golf ball 2.3 yards farther, Haney said. But he emphasized that swinging faster is not the same as swinging harder, noting that when golfers try to swing harder, they hold the club too tight. “You get speed by relaxing and softening your muscles, which will enable a bigger shoulder turn and more wrist cock. “To make a better swing, make a faster swing,” Haney said.

Hitting range balls while wondering whatever happened to Brian Claar.

No comments: