After 40 years on my golf journey and many blog articles, I have settled on what I believe is required to successfully learn how to achieve a consistent golf swing based on my High Percentage Golf method.  The key is to not focus on the ball but, instead, focus on doing a few efficient movements and feeling the automatic reactions to the movements.

My blog post, “The Mental Game,” describes why golf is really a mental game that requires mental strength in order to develop a consistent swing.  My blog post, “It is a Challenge for Adults to Learn the Golf Swing,” describes the mental challenge that adults face when trying to learn the golf swing.

My blog post, “Action vs Reaction,” describes that the movements that are taught in traditional golf instruction are really reactions to the movements of one or two points of the body.

The movements of a few points of the body will result in a consistent and efficient “High Percentage Golf Swing.”  If these points become the focus of the swing instead of focusing on the ball, everything else in the golf swing, back swing and down swing, will become automatic.  The golfer does not need to attempt to focus on anything else to achieve a consistent and efficient golf swing.  This is hard to believe, but true.  It is so totally illogical that very few golfers will even attempt to go down this path.  That is why golf is so hard.

Golf is a mental game so if the average golfer has the mental strength to focus on moving these points of the body, and not the ball, the results will be mind-blowing.  This is easy to say, but extremely hard to do.

Visualize the points as specific pin points on various parts of the body that must be engaged.  The movement of these points feel relaxed, loose, smooth, and stretching.  The movements are not tight, jerky, or violent.

Focusing on what is in front of the body, the ball, and trying to hit the ball is a very inconsistent and inefficient way to swing.  By focusing on the points of the body, the focus shifts to the body.  Again, this is easy to say, but extremely hard to do.

It takes commitment to train the mind to focus on moving the points of the body and feel the reactions without doing additional motions.  If the mind truly focuses on these points during the swing, the mind cannot focus on hitting the ball.  The task of the golf swing is to redirect the mind from hitting the ball to making an efficient and consistent motion.  The ball’s role is to be a feedback mechanism to indicate how efficient the golf swing was executed.

Embracing and trusting the goal to focus on moving the points takes time.  Starting with small swings of four feet in length and gradually progress to longer swings is an effective way to start to trust the focus on moving the points of the body.  My blog post, “Feel an Efficient Swing,” describes how to feel the right pectoral and the front right hip bone.  My blog post, “How to use the Fingers,” describes how to engage the inside of the tip of the little fingers.

The Right Pectoral and the Front Right Hip Bone

The stretch up of the right pectoral causes the upper body to react by rotating over the supporting lower body to build energy.  The upper body, arms, and hands react to the vertical motion of the right pectoral.

The reason vertical movement of the right pectoral causes the upper body to automatically coil is because of the tilt in the spine.  When the spine is vertical, moving the right pectoral up and down causes the upper spine to tilt back and forth like a tree swaying in the wind.  But, moving the right pectoral when the spine is tilted causes the upper body to rotate around a stationary spine.  When the upper body coils, the club moves away from the target.  When the bottom of the front right hip bone “bounces” up, the upper body uncoils and the club moves toward the target.

Moving the right pectoral is an efficient way to move the club away from the target.  Moving the right pectoral during the back swing creates momentum in the upper body and eliminates the need to actively move the arms and hands in order to move the club.  The hands just hang onto the club.

The Inside of the Tip of the Little Fingers

The stretch up of the point on the inside of the tip of the little fingers is engaged throughout the swing.  The engagement is a feeling of vertical action.  This causes the hands to stretch up and the wrists to cock.  The reason to focus on vertical action of the little fingers is to eliminate the “hit” or “help” action of the hands that is natural whenever the golf ball is present.  That is why the practice swings of most golfers are free and rhythmic but most golfers will use a jerky and violent motion when the golf ball is present.

Use the vertical action of the little fingers to override the “hit” or “help” tendency.  During the swing, focus on the stretch of the little fingers.  This helps keep the club moving away from the body during the down swing.  Which is how Jack Nicklaus described the feeling of the motion of the club during the down swing.

The stretch of the little fingers is the best way to have the club head make solid contact with the ball because the stretch of the little fingers causes the club head to “shallow out” at the bottom of the swing.

My blog post, “Famous Golfers Swing Videos,” shows the swings of famous golfers.  They stretch the little fingers.  They use the momentum of the right pectoral to swing the club up in the back swing and use the action of the front right hip bone to swing the club toward the target in the down swing.  This movement of the points of the body may not be readily apparent, but by watching the videos and focusing on the specific points of the body, the movement can be “felt” or “sensed.”