No Backswing Golf Revisited

3-27-09:
I've decided to give the no-backswing golf swing a serious try.

One of the nice things about this winter session has been that I've got plenty of time to experiment.

I've learned a lot about my swing just by virtue of the number of swings I've made.

There's a certain mindless pleasure in just swinging my driver.

Anyway, at my last range session during a stretch when things weren't going particularly well, I started using a no-backswing swing as a method of simplifying things.

Here's some video of me trying the no-backswing-swing:
http//www.youtube.com/my_videos_timedtext?video_id=vFzD_SycsMU

All of a sudden there were a hundred thoughts going through my head as to what I should be doing, and I had completely lost my concentration.

My backswing felt extremely awkward: "have I taken the club back far enough?", "it doesn't feel right", etc.

I started using the no-backswing w/out really thinking about it, and I did start hitting the ball better, mainly because it cleared all the backswing thoughts out of my mind.

Once I started hitting better I did go back to a normal backswing, but the fact that the no-backswing helped stuck in my mind.

I looked for the website I had originally visited to refresh my memory as to the "correct" technique, and I used it exclusively during my swings this morning.

After some experimentation, I found it particularly helpful to twist my torso back in preparation for my downswing instead of "pumping" my arms.

I read somewhere to think of the No Back Swing (NBS) like a baseball swing. You're like the batter at the plate, the bat in the ready position. As the pitcher releases you twist back just a bit before swinging.

To get another perspective on the NBS I decided to stand upright, hold my driver like a bat and take a few swings. The first thing I noticed was that my swing naturally started from my thighs and hips - exactly what I had been working on. Except with this swing I didn't need to work on it, it just happened.

I tried to keep that basesball feeling as when I addressed the ball in the normal manner. Once I got into the "set" position I started my swing by twisting away from the target. This worked really well. By starting the swing with a twist, the natural impulse is to straighten back - starting with the lower body.

After two sessions where I was trying to start my swing with my legs and come in behind the ball it was happening naturally, effortlessly, by using the NBS technique!

Now I could concentrate all my efforts on focusing on the back of the ball.

I feel like this is a big step in the right direction.

Here's the link to the site I used as a guide to my swing:

http://www.golf.com/golf/instruction/article/0,28136,1652866,00.html