In order to improve your golf swing, you need to need to be efficient on how you build and release energy during the swing.  The secret for creating good golf shots is efficient build up and release of energy.  Inefficient motion creates poor golf shots.

Before discussing efficient energy build and release, you should have a precise setup.  This means you need to have a proper grip, a proper aim, a proper stance, and a proper posture before you start your swing.   This should not be minimalized or ignored.  In fact, most golf “problems” are attributable to poor setup.  It is very easy to develop flaws in your setup.  In fact, when PGA Tour professionals need to fix their swing, it is usually something in the setup that needs attention.

Once you have established a proper setup, an efficient golf motion will improve your golf swing.  The most important part of an efficient golf swing is to ensure that the right upper arm is precisely synchronized with the movement of the right side.  The efficient swing should begin from the ground up.  This means the feet start the back swing and the down swing.  The term “from the ground up” refers to motion starting from the bottom of your feet continuing up through your ankles, hips, upper body, and upper arms.

The lower body supports the movement of the upper body which in turn supports the swing of the arms and hands.   The lower body supports the upper body and responds to the efficient movement of the upper body.

An efficient swing creates tension in the muscles of the legs, upper body, arms, and hands.  You may have heard or read that tension is bad for a golf swing.  In fact, it is tightness that is bad for your swing.  If your muscles get tight, the tightness restricts movement.  Consider the bow and arrow.  If there is no tension built up in the bow and bow string, the arrow does not travel very far or straight.  Another analogy is when you snap your fingers.  If the fingers do not press against each other to create tension, there is no snap.  You feel tension build up quickly in your fingers and the most tension is felt just before the snap or release.

The upper body and arms coil in the back swing while the lower body supports the coil. The tension is felt in the hips, upper body, arms, and hands.  The tension is the feeling of the muscles being engaged and stretched.  Creating this tension is the result of a resisting or counter motion.  Just as opposing resistance during a tug-of-war creates tension in the rope, opposing motions creates dynamic tension that you feel in your muscles.  When the upper body is coiling in the back swing, the firm right ankle and supporting lower body provides resistance to create the stretch that is felt in the hips and upper body.

What about the hands?  Most golfers use the hands to “flip” the club at impact.  This tends to add loft to the club head.  This is a very inefficient way to use the hands.  A more efficient method is to try to “do less” with the hands.  What you should feel in the fingers of the hands is tension created by the engagement of the fingers as described in my blog, “How to Use the Fingers.”  As your hands are moving down past the right side during the down swing, the fingers should feel the centrifugal force and the force of gravity.  This little stretch in the fingers will prevent the hands from lifting at impact.

Focus on executing an efficient swing instead of trying to hit the ball.