Friday, April 29, 2011

The X-factor in Golf Swing!

There is one fundamental thing no one really talks much about in attaining consistent perfect golf swing. Know what that is?

BREATHING!

This is one thing you have absolute control that can absolutely throw off your swing if you don't do it the same way every and each time you swing your golf club.

Most of us just assume that breathing will occur subconsciously and naturally while we swing the golf club, but there are so many things that can go wrong.

For example, you can breathe faster, hold your breadth, exhale during back swing, breathe shallow, breathe too deep, breathe with your mouth open or closed, or just plain breathe with no consistency at all!

If you hit a perfect golf shot and remembered everything about the swing but forgot how you breathed, you will not be able to reproduce it. Breathing has to be consistent and must be the initiator of your swing.

Here's the basic Jedi Golforce Technique of Breathing developed by IJGF:

1) Make your stance as usual to address the ball for a shot.

2) Do your preshot routine as usual, whatever that may be. Breathe normally.

3) As you initiate your back swing breathe in slowly through your nose or mouth all the way to the top of the swing. Knowing how much to breathe in is tricky part but about 75% of maximum capacity. Don't breathe in as much as you can since that will restrict your rotation. And don't breathe in too little since that will decrease your power.

The key is to breathe in at a constant rate that will continue until your back swing is at the top at which point your lungs are filled with air and chest cavity expanded to generate maximum muscle tension.

Do not breathe in too fast so that breathing stops before reaching top of your back swing.
And do not breathe too slow so that only half of your lungs are filled at the top of your swing. You will be surprised how breathing and back swing can coincide perfectly to achieve maximum comfortable tension at the top.

4) During the down swing just let your body PUSH the air out naturally through your partially opened mouth. The thoracic cavity will decrease in volume and this helps your muscles to contract faster generating faster swing speed.

DO NOT hold your breath during forward swing!

Applying same breathing technique will drastically boost your confidence. It will also allow you to maintain constant tempo of your back swing with increased power and speed of your forward swing.

Being conscious of your breathing will also remind you whether you are nervous, tense, or tired. It will help you relax and reproduce that perfect shot each and every time.

Good luck, and may the golforce be with you!