The Natural Golf Swing: The Backswing

This is the third in a series of articles on the Natural Swing. The previous articles provided golf tips on the swing's fundamental principles and its starting form. Here, we examine the backswing, providing a brief golf lesson on what proponents of the Natural Swing call the "loading motion."The Natural Swing emphasizes that the most basic of all principals is that golf involves a swinging motion directed toward a target. Unlike the traditional swing taught by today's pros, the Natural Swing is a whole body motion. It emphasizes swinging through the ball. not swinging at it to hit it. Instead, we swing a unit-our hands, arms, shoulders, and club-through the ball toward our target. If the ball is in the right place, we'll hit it because it is in the swing's natural path.The Natural Swing's starting form, the subject of our second golf lesson, gives you a chance to execute the swing properly. Since the golf swing is one motion, the starting form is a sort of lead-in. It sets a tone of harmony and ease. And it focuses on two key ideas: balance and proportion. Balance is the key to the Natural Swing. Everything you do should be done with an eye toward maintaining and promoting balance during the swing.Proponents of the Natural Swing call the backswing "loading." The subject of our third golf lesson, this concept represents a key point of differentiation from the traditional swing. Unlike that, which divides the activity into discrete parts, the Natural Swing sees the swing as one motion-a loading and an unloading of energy, a seamless moving from one phase to another. The term loading, according to the Naturalists, implies energy and commitment, as well as something vigorous and energizing.Gathering and Storing EnergyLoading gathers and stores energy, which is done by transferring your weight to your back foot while rotating the body around your trunk. While you seem to complete these motions in unison, you actually start them by shifting your weight to your back foot. The upper body and shoulders follow, without a sense of urgency. The motion should feel relaxed and comfortable. And the "picking up" of the club, which often ruins balance and compromises arc and plane, should be eliminated.The loading motion is less of a rotation than an unloading, so some 25 percent of your weight remains on the front foot. In other words, while loading you rotate about 90 degrees, while unloading you rotate almost a full 180 degrees. After a while, you will sense when you've loaded your swing completely, thanks to your sense of balance and your awareness of your target-the two triggers to the unloading phases.The successful transfer of weight, while staying in balance, accumulates energy.