Golf, it’s for sure one of the most difficult game to play, and there are more people trying to peddle quick fixes for your problems than Carter’s got liver pills. If you think I’m exagerating go to the golf channel for a little while and see how many advertisements you find for the next best training aid. Some of these training aids will work, I can’t dispute that. However I’ve always wondered if we need to have this perfect swing in order to enjoy the game and have a half decent score.

Golf Swing Truths: While we all want to critique everyone elses golf swing, or at least I do, the truth is all the little things we talk about in not lifting the head, rotating our hips, keeping our arms straight are all to ensure just one thing happens. When our golf club goes through the down swing to make impact with the ball, that the club face is perfectly square so that the golf ball goes straight.

Now I’m not saying that you won’t need to pay close attention to holding your head down, feet aligned and all of the other finer points of the golf swing. However, what I am saying is that you don’t always need a perfect swing to play a half way decent round of golf. So with that being said what does it take to have a good swing?

Facts about the Swing: Okay, so it is not so much facts plural as it is a fact. While your friends on the course will be quick to advise you that you raised your head or you’re not lined up correctly, there is really only one key thing that must happen to make sure that the ball goes straight. You must have the face of the club square to the golf ball at the moment of impact.

Sure, all those other points your buds constantly bug you about are important but they are all related to that one major point. We must be sure the club face is connecting with the ball “square on” to make sure it goes straight, and as long as possible. So if all of those points we scrutinize over about the golf swing aren’t as important as we thought, what does it take to develop a good swing?

The Bare Essentials to make it go Straight: There are five points I am going to list that I think are the lazy way to hitting the ball straight.

Knees: This might not seem all that important but when you’re addressing the ball you should have your knees slightly bent. Not so much that your knees are interfering with your swing, but ever so slightly to give you perfect balance.

Back: I see a lot of golfers, when I’m out on the course, hunched over the ball and trying to swing away at it with no success. With your knees being slightly bent, as mentioned in the previous point, connect at the hips and hold your back straight. The pivot point should be your hips and you should maintain approximately the same height through your back swing, and down swing until you’ve completed your follow through.

Arms: This is another difficult one. Most golfers want to swing the club like a base ball bat or a hockey stick, depending on the other sports we play. Golf is a game of finesse, no powering through the ball. As you take your club up in the back swing try to think about keeping your front arm (left for right handed golfers) straight. This will help keep the club head on the same plane as it comes through the down swing to impact.

Head: We already touched on this, but keeping your eye on the ball is most important. One point to note here is that you shouldn’t have your head turned down so much that your face is parallel to the ground. Tilt the head forwards and look downwards at the ball, but keep your chin up enough so that your arms and shoulders can come through as you swing.

Hips: This is where you’re going to generate the power for your swing. You don’t want to lean forward during the swing, you can to try and maintain no movement below the waist until you’re making contact with the ball. At this point you should make a twisting motion at the hips so that your trailing hip turns through the swing and once completed your belt buckle is pointing at your target.

So, these are the finer points we’ll say about helping to achieve a repeatable golf swing. You are not going to be swinging the club like Tiger anytime soon, but as this article has tried to get across do you really have to? As you improve your swing, you’ll enjoy the game more.

Before you change your golf swing, make sure you check an excellent website for the golf swing technique for you.