Mastery of golf's fundamentals is the first step toward better golf and consistent iron play. The fundamentals form the framework and the foundation upon which the entire swing is constructed.

Actually, building a swing is much like an architect building a house. If he builds it hurriedly—without a good set of plans—it becomes structurally weak and the slightest of pressures could send it tumbling to the ground. Such is the case in golf.

Since you are the principal architect of your swing, how can you develop it so that it will consistently repeat itself, swing after swing, no matter what club you may have in your hand? Where do you start and what should you work on to develop your swing? The answers to these questions lie principally within the framework of golf's four fundamentals: (1) the grip, (2) the address, (3) the backswing, and (4) the downswing.

From the outset, every golfer should realize that certain procedures must be followed if he is to develop a swing.

There is a certain fundamental process, or sequence, involved in learning how to play golf, and it cannot be circumvented.

THE PROCEDURE. To the beginner, and even some advanced golfers, this fundamental process of learning how to play golf may seem a little involved, but it actually is not, particularly if you develop your game in an orderly, sensible manner. The orderly sequence would be this way:

1. You learn to swing first by practicing the fundamentals.
2. Secondly, you learn to control the ball by practicing intentional fades, hooks, high shots, and low shots.
3. Finally, incorporating the first two phases into your over-all game you learn how to score by playing as regularly as you can.

Obviously, you cannot learn control and scoring techniques before you master golf's fundamentals. Many have tried—and are still trying—but they cannot hope to improve unless they overhaul their swing completely because the swing habits they have formed are permanently ingrained within their muscle structure. Doctors will tell you that it is easier to form a habit than break one, and in golf this is especially true. You will progress faster and will become a more consistent player if you form the correct habits of the swing than if you learn to play in a haphazard manner.

THE SWING EXERCISE. One of the best methods I have found of developing a smooth, consistent swing is an exercise most golfers use when they warm up before playing a round of golf. It is a simple little maneuver designed to train a golfer to intrust his swing to his arms and body instead of his hands. Begin by assuming the position of address, and make certain that you are comfortable and relaxed. Then, with the upper part of your arms and elbows in close to your chest, turn your body back so that the arms are about belt high. The left shoulder and left arm are highly instrumental in this turning movement, with both the shoulder and the arm forming a pushing-back type of action.

Next, swing the arms forward until they are about belt high in front of you, making certain that the lower part of the body—the left hip and left leg-initiate the forward swing, as the arms are swung out toward an imaginary target. The right hand also turns over the left hand as the arms are swung forward. Perform this swing back and forth for a few moments, letting your left knee and right elbow flex on the backswing and then your right knee and left elbow on the follow-through. You will soon get the feeling that you are swinging with your legs and hips and that your body is swinging the club. This creates the feeling of the one-piece swing that all of the good players have and talk about.

This swing exercise also emphasizes a feeling that you should have when performing a full swing: that of having your body generating the power and your hands applying it, at the last possible second, with a whiplike action of the wrists and hands. If you have intrusted your swing movements to your body and arms, the hands will automatically lash out and whip the clubhead through the ball with terrific accelerating speed.

The average golfer, however, courts disaster if he becomes too conscious of his hand action through the ball. That is why this swing exercise is so important, because it will teach him every fundamental movement in the swing without too much of a mental effort on his part.

If you will practice this swing—the right way—for five or ten minutes a day for six months, you will be surprised at your progress in developing a fundamentally sound swing.

Another reason it is so important to you is that it makes the swing perform automatically. After a while, your swing becomes less and less a conscious effort and your reflexes take over. The great players of today swing almost totally by masterfully controlled reflex actions in which they do their shot planning behind the ball; then they step up and hit it without thinking too much, because they have committed their swing to "muscle memory." In the long run, the closer you can come to making your swing a reflex action, the better player you will become.

Fig. 1. There is always trouble on the golf course, and Littler found it here during the last round of the Oklahoma City Open in 1960. Although he bogied the par-three hole, Littler went on to a three-under-par 68 and a total of 273 to win the tournament. (AP Wirephoto)

My advice in this regard is to make a thorough and diligent search for a swing that is completely natural for you and which embraces the fundamentals. Then stick with it.

THE PLANE OF THE SWING. Only the better players fully understand and appreciate this concept of the swing, yet it is tremendously important in the over-all development of a repeating swing. Precisely speaking, the swing plane encompasses both the backswing and the downswing. However, the angle is slightly different going back and up from when it is coming down and through the ball. The backswing plane is determined by your height, your arms, and the distance you stand from the ball at address. Visualize, if you will, a line running from the ball to the top of your shoulders. The pitch, or angle of this line, is the plane along which the backswing operates.

The plane for the downswing is not as steeply inclined, and it projects slightly outward (inside out) through the ball. To insure that you swing up and down on this swing plane, the body, arms, and hand movement must work in perfect harmony throughout the swing. The movements, particularly the first part of the backswing and the start of the downswing, must function smoothly and correctly so that one part of the swing, for example, the arm movements, does not work separately from the body movements. To stay on the backswing plane, simply swing back in a one-piece action as described previously. Getting on the downswing plane is a little more difficult, however. This movement is more difficult to master, which is one of the prime reasons why many golfers suffer the despair of complete frustration when they attempt to move into the downswing correctly. Actually, the golfer changes planes without thinking about it when he initiates the downswing by turning his hips to the left and toward the target. This moves the body to the left and lowers the right shoulder— this latter movement is a potential swing-wrecker if the shoulder is permitted to rush around ahead of the hips. Always remember, the right shoulder works behind and then under your chin, not around and over it.

You can check your swing plane in another way if you have a large mirror. Take a club and swing it to the top of the backswing. If your arms and hands are at a point between your shoulders and head, you are too upright. Conversely, your swing is too flat if your hands and arms are below your shoulder. The desired position is with your hands directly to the right, or behind your right shoulder at the top of the swing, if you are a right-handed player.

The plane helps form what is known as a "grooved swing." By swinging up and down in this slot position, your swing will take on a consistency that will not only give you confidence but will free you of the mental strain and worry about whether your swing will hold up under pressure. It almost has to, for the movements of the body, arms, and hands are performed almost instinctively during the backswing and downswing.

At the risk of getting ahead of myself, and putting the cart before the horse, there is one more important function of the swing that I would like to discuss here very briefly before proceeding into the actual mechanics of the swing. It concerns developing a rhythm for swinging, sometimes referred to as "timing."

After you have reached a point where you feel that you have mastered the mechanics of the swing, you should begin to develop a rhythm for swinging. This is generally referred to as timing. Very little is ever written on timing the swing, compared to the fundamentals of the swing, but I feel it will merit your close attention sooner or later.

Learning to time the swing is like learning to dance or play a musical instrument. You have a certain rhythm or "beat" which you must swing into—and so must you when playing golf. Some players have a fast swing tempo, others a slow one; it all depends upon their physical makeup and habit patterns.

By experimenting and trying different speeds, I have developed a set rhythm of swinging the club. I try to maintain this rhythm with every club, trying not to change the tempo of my swing when I change clubs. Naturally, I am swinging faster with certain clubs, say with the long irons and woods, because I take a fuller body turn with these clubs. Thus, the speed of the clubhead increases with the longer-shafted clubs, owing to a fuller clubhead arc, but the tempo of the swing remains the same. This is an important thing to remember at all times.

In this chapter, I have tried to brief you on the over-all concept of the golf swing as I see it—hitting the high points, so to speak, before getting into the meat of the matter. You can now be thinking of what I have pointed out in this chapter as you progress through the remaining pages on learning how to become a good iron player.

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