Perfect Golf Swing – Pre Shot Routine For All Golfers

The following is a nice little trick to maintaining a smooth unforced golf swing that was borrowed from the baseball world.

In the space of one evening I saw two separate shows and something clicked when I saw a connection between the two. The first show was about a baseball charity event where some famous players were being interviewed at a charity golf event – turns out that a lot of baseball players enjoy golf. In the interview, one player mentioned how some of the baseball players are naturally long hitters of a golf ball.

So, two hours later, highlights from the PGA tour were being shown and it showed Miguel Angel Jimenez doing his pre-shot routine on a fairway drive. What got me was that he used a baseball style swing, with the club head a good one to two foot above the ground (at the bottom of the swing). It looks like he uses it to ‘groove’ the swing – i.e. to find his rhythm.

I’ve been using Miguel’s baseball style drill as part of my own pre-shot routine and it definitely encourages a coiling motion around the core muscles and a smooth transition from back swing to down stroke.

Why Does This Work So Well?

While a baseball swing and the perfect golf swing may be dissimilar in many ways there are some key elements relating to how powerful shots are made that are similar:

- Both require a strong stable stance around which the rest of the body pivots.

- The stomach muscles are the powerhouse of the swing. As the body pivots it is essential that the back swing ratchets up the stomach muscles and that the hips start the transition from back swing into the down swing.

- Tense muscle groups inhibit the coiling ability of the body which reduces the power of the swing. By doing a pre-shot drill (loosely swinging the club without the club impacting anything) it encourages a loose swinging club path.

The perfect golf swing cannot be attained over night but one thing is certain – using a golf swing that is constrained and fails to use the core muscle group will not deliver the full amount of power to a golf swing. Performing the baseball drill is a simple pre-shot routine to relax the muscle group and establish a groove to your golf swing.

Looking for more golfing tips? Discover the Perfect Golf Swing ebook. Each ebook comes with free extras covering golfing tips.