One conscious move for your backswing? Wow! Do you mean that
a main part of my backswing can be done with one simple movement?
Read on to learn some needed understanding of how this can be
achieved.

For your short iron hits your backswing is not as long as it is
for your longer irons and woods. One conscious move, done
correctly, is all you need to get your golf club far enough away
from the ball from where you can apply the desired hitting force.
However, there is an important "but".

Oh yes! Along with the "one conscious move" there is a whole
bunch of "don't move this and that". But, don't think you have
to remember all the "don't moves". They are remembered by the
thought of "controlled body movement".

By following the instructions of control and movement in my
upcoming putting and swing modules, you will automatically be
doing a ‘one-piece takeaway'. In fact, I have designed a putting
method which uses the first inch or two of the takeaway movement
of your basic chipping, pitching, and full swing skills.

Amazing! You can practice the early part of your ‘one-piece
takeaway' by learning and using my putting technique.

The instructions which tell you how to do the one piece takeaway
are in Part 2 of this title. But, first....

Some Body Awareness Stuff

When you stand at ease in your attention position your body,
arms, legs, and head have a beginning, natural position to each
other. There are basic movements which you can do which will
maintain most of your natural body position. Three of these
movements are:
1. Bending forward at your hips
2. Bending your knees evenly
3. Reaching your arms forward from your shoulders

(Hmmm! Do these 3 movements or positions remind you of something
you do when you golf? Or when you see other people golf?)

When you swing your golf club you will do one or more movements
which cause part of you to move away from your natural body
position. If you keep these unnatural movements to a minimum
you will have far less trouble with your golf swing.

It is easy to recognize unnatural movements. Think of how
comfortable you are in a standing position without being rigid.
When you make any movement from this position you will use some
muscles. You will feel less comfortable, even though some
movements are done within an acceptable range of comfort.

As you read this try a variety of bending or turning movements
in various parts of your body. You will find some which are
harder to do and which feel quite uncomfortable.

Hold both comfortable movements and uncomfortable movements at
a position away from your starting position. You will become
aware that within seconds it becomes harder to hold these
positions.

Now, make a comfortable movement to a comfortable position and
hold it. While in this position try a second movement. Think
about how hard it is to maintain the first position while you
do the second movement. Repeat this idea by firstly moving into
an uncomfortable position to begin this test.

The final test is to hold your left thumb with your right hand
and then try a variety of movements. It does not matter if they
are golf related movements or not. Your hands and arms will be
in the same position as they are when you hold a golf club. As
you experiment with a variety of movements ask yourself:

* Does this feel comfortable?
* Does this feel uncomfortable?
* For how long does a test movement feel comfortable?
* When does a test movement begin to feel uncomfortable?
* Does a test movement change the pressure of how you hold your
thumb?
* Does one part of your body begin to feel uncomfortable as you
move another part of your body?

Let your thoughts wander around trying different variations
of this test to find positions and movements which feel
comfortable or uncomfortable.

This test will help you to learn more about movements related
to your putting and golf swing. When you begin to follow my
instructions involving basic body movements and control you
will be more aware of your positions and movements which are
comfortable or not.

The goal is to guide your golf movements towards total comfort
and control. This includes being comfortable during and at the
end of the movement you are doing. Incredibly, you will find
that you will be establishing takeaway motions which will give
you a feeling of weakness but which set you up for explosive
and accurate power in the return part of your golf swing.

Do You Get Tired While You Golf? Here's What Might Be Happening!

No matter what your physical strengths are you will experience
some level of tiredness as you play the last few holes of your
round of golf. You may not notice this tiredness if you are
fairly strong. But, it will occur in the "small" muscles used
to control your swing movements.

You will be using one or more movements which take part of your
body, arms, or hands out of their natural alignment. Tired
muscles will make it more difficult to either maintain unnatural
positions or make it more difficult to do the adjustments built
into your swing which control unnatural body positions.

The first collapse in this scenario will be that your timing
of 2 or more movements will fail. You will feel awkward or weak
during a golf shot. Often, you will blame some technical part
of your swing such as your grip or weight shift or whatever.
As you become more tired you will have problems doing one or
more of your takeaway movements. The result is a poor golf swing.

A Move Which Can Cause An Unwanted Move

(Pictures and video clips are shown at my website
http://basicbodymovementforanygolfswing.com/onepiecetakeaway.html

Many golfers have learned to rotate their hands to begin their
takeaway or backswing movement.

When you rotate your hands you also rotate your forearms. This
causes pressure in your elbows and shoulders as your forearms
move out of their natural position to your body.

This turn of your hands can be a contributing factor in "the
flying elbow" movement. ("Flying elbow" is the name given to
the "flaring outward" of the right elbow from the body as you
raise your arms, hands, and club part way through your takeaway.
Left elbow for left-handers.)

When you begin to lift your arms you feel additional pressure
at your shoulders and elbows. As well, you are trying to position
the golf club in the ideal parallel position to the target line.
Moving your elbow out from your body is the easiest way to
relieve the pressure and to align your club at the top of your
takeaway.

If you do not move your elbow sideways from your body you will
have to develop an opposite turn of your hands and forearms to
remove the discomfort and to align your golf club for a better
swing back to the ball. This opposite rotation of your hands and
forearms starts part way through your takeaway --- about the time
any movement is reaching the end of its comfort zone. Movements
become difficult and the harmony of movements suffers. This
happens more often as fatigue sets in near the end of a round.

True. Golfers are successfully doing this corrective move. But,
it is an additional movement in their takeaway which has to be
done in time or in harmony with other movements. Any additional
or unnecessary movements take time to do. OR, they occupy some
of your swing thoughts.

You can add these movements if you think they will help your
"grooved swing". But, you must understand that you will have
to practice more often just to maintain your harmony of more
movements. You must realize that if you start getting poor
results with your swing that the early stages of the problem
most likely will be a breakdown of your timing and not some
fault of a part of your swing movements.

Here are the movements in this example:
* Turning your hands
* Turning your upper body
* Lifting your arms
* Moving your elbow sideways OR
* Turning your hands the opposite way from the first move
in this list.

This is a lot of work just to get the golf club far enough away
where you can generate a desired blow on the ball.

Cont'd in Part 2

About the Author

Copyright by Glen Osborne
July 2004
artcomment@basicbodymovementforanygolfswing.com
http://basicbodymovementforanygolfswing.com

Written by: Glen Osborne