Golf instruction is ever-evolving, but the best advice stands the test of time. In GOLF.com’s new series, Timeless Tips, we’re highlighting some of the greatest advice teachers and players have dispensed in the pages of GOLF Magazine. Today we look back to the March 1970 issue of GOLF Magazine for a ball-striking tip from Julius Boros.
As a golfer in my early 30s, I did not get to watch many of the greats play during their primes. Sure, I had the fortune of growing up watching Tiger, Phil and Ernie, and I’ve made my living covering Rory, Bryson and Scottie, but with so many legends of the game, my understanding only comes from the history books.
That’s one of the joys of writing Timeless Tips. Every week, I get to dive into the GOLF Magazine archives and learn from the legends of the game. This week, I stumbled upon an article from Julius Boros — and it pre-dates my birth by 25 years.
Check it out below to see how a three-time major winner thought about the swing. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised to note that the way the legends swung the club isn’t so different from the way the current greats do it.
Whenever a golfer tries to muscle the ball, or hit it extra hard, he very often makes a movement with his body commonly called a “sway.” Imagine there are two vertical lines boxing you in. If both your right hip and shoulder move laterally on the backswing so much that they go outside the line, you have swayed going back. This is a very weak position that also tends to move your head too far out of position.
Once he has swayed “off the ball,” as the saying goes, almost every golfer inevitably compensates for this error with another one. On the downswing the body now moves too far forward laterally and the left side and left shoulder move outside the opposite line, and the sway is then complete. By moving the body too far forward the club strikes the ball at an improper descending angle, the left side has not stayed “behind the ball,” and the result is either a low slice to the right or a pop-up “skied” shot. In every case little power is generated because the body has not coiled.
To avoid swaying | think of my chin as the anchor point under which everything turns. I initiate the backswing by pushing the club back with my left shoulder and left side, and by turning my left knee toward the right one. This creates a rotating body movement in which the right hip must turn instead of sliding laterally. I have coiled my body properly so that my back faces the target. The entire right side remains within the imaginary line.
From this coiled position at the top it is now much easier to recoil going into the ball. The shoulders turn under my chin, the right knee pushes toward the left, which facilitates the weight transfer, and my left side turns as though on a swivel. Now I have generated real power with my legs and body, and further increase it by being able to release my hands properly, at the point of impact. To hit the ball hard, accurately, and with consistency, keep your body within the imaginary box. Make it work for, not against you.
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