Cross Training

Jeff Fisher
Director of Instruction
Fisher Bryan Golf Academy at Longbow Golf Club
Mesa, AZ
jfisher@obsports.com

More Information

Sometimes golfers have a hard time feeling the correct motion associated with the golf swing. As an instructor, I have found that it sometimes helps to equate the motion of the golf swing to the motions made in other sports. Two of my favorites are throwing a baseball and swinging a tennis racquet.

Throwing a baseball creates the same chain reaction of movement involved in swinging a golf club. Start by planting your lead foot followed by the shifting of weight with your lead knee and then a rotation of the thigh, hip and chest followed by the whip-like action of the arm.

It also creates a thought process I like to have my students have in their minds. When you are throwing a baseball you are not thinking about the motion of your body, rather the motion of your arm. The motion of your body is there to support what your arm is doing and therefore you are able to toss the ball to your target. The same is true in golf. If you are focusing solely on what your lower body is doing you are likely to forget about the golf club, but if your thought process is to produce the correct swinging motion of the club, your body will support that action.

The swinging of a tennis racquet also has two uses. Again, it follows the same chain reaction of body motion that swinging a club does, but it also helps in the release of your right arm (for a right handed golfer). The same action of the right arm that is required to hit a forehand in tennis is also required to fully release your golf club. You will notice in the picture that my right arm has fully extended past impact with the face of the racquet pointing towards the ground. For golfers this is a critical move in getting rid of that slice!

Visual images are a great way to learn and getting pictures in your mind of familiar motions will certainly help you better your golf swing.

Jeff Fisher is the Director of Instruction at the OB Sports Golf Academy at Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Arizona. Jeff can be reached at 480.414.9330 or jfisher@obsports.com.