This material is copyrighted by Ed Tischler and these paragraphs are excerpts from his book,
The Way Of The Golfer - Searching for New Horizons.
Copyright 1996 by Ed Tischler All rights reserved.
As I mentioned earlier, the swing is the motion that connects your set-up to your finish
position. The question is, where should we begin? Traditionally we begin the quest by
undertaking a sound grip and a fundamental address position.
I believe we should start with the finish.
Before you can build a sound address position, you must understand what that position is
preparing you to do. Of course we know we must play the shot to the target, and to do this
we must follow-through to our target and finish off our swing. So, the address position
prepares you to swing and finish in a target-oriented manner.
One of the best ways of ensuring your shots will be target-oriented is to make sure your finish
is targeted. If you understand how a target-oriented finish looks and feels, then you will find
a way to address the ball so that you can swing to the target-oriented finish. This is the
main reason I believe we should develop our full swing by beginning with the finish.
Let’s delve into this process a little more. The finish is the culmination of the swing, and the
sum total of the entire swing sequence. Since the finish is the product of the total swing
sequence, you can blend together all the fundamentals of the full swing by focusing your
attention on finishing properly. In this way the finish is the final destination
of the swing, and the beginning of your focal process.
By focusing on the finish, you give your swing purpose beyond merely contacting the ball.
As you remain committed to your newly acquired purpose, all the forces of your swing will
begin to work together. As these forces work together, the swing's activity will become
more synchronized. They will also feel more natural. As you focus on swinging to
a target-oriented finish, you will find your shots being targeted as well.
This becomes a powerful aiming tool. Because, as long as you swing to a well targeted finish,
you will be targeting your shots well. Once you know this process, you will be able to find your
address position more naturally. As a matter of fact, you will instinctively address the ball
in what ever way will allow you to finish in a target-oriented manner. This is much like a
baseball player does when they are getting ready to throw a ball. The baseball player
does not think about how to stand. He merely prepares himself so he can throw the
ball to his target. He prepares himself to follow-through to his target. Therefore,
the process of taking up your address position should be a reaction
of how you want to follow-through to your target.
Since the finish is the sum total of every moment of the swing, the quality of each individual
moment will be expressed in the quality of the finish. If tension exists in the swing, there
will be tension in the finish. If the swing is out of balance, the finish will be out of balance.
If timing is off, then the body will be misaligned in the finish. However, if the swing is
balanced, relaxed, effortless, and well timed, you will finish your swing properly.
Conversely, by focusing on finishing the swing properly you can perform the
proper fundamentals naturally. You can perform the fundamentals
without dissecting each one individually.
If we are going to have a fundamentally sound finish, then we must understand the
fundamentals we are trying to achieve in the finish. Remember earlier that I described the
finish as completing the body motions. Therefore, we should first understand what body
motions are fundamental to a good golf swing. So, by finishing off
the basic body motions, we will establish the basic finish.
There are two basic body motions in the golf swing. They are rotating the body, and shifting
the weight. The combined effort of these actions is called the pivot. So, the fundamental
concern with regard to completing the body motions is that of pivoting to the finish. If all
the forces of the pivot are directed to the target, then all parts of the body will finish
aligned toward the target. This means that once you reach your finish, your face,
chest, stomach, and knees should all be facing your target. Also, if you are
going to transfer all your weight through the ball and out to your target,
then all your weight must reach the forward
foot by the end of the finish.
Thus the basic finishing action is that of shifting your weight completely onto your
forward foot, while at the same time completing your body’s turn so
that you are facing your target squarely.
Now that we understand the basic finish position, let’s complete the process by understanding
what other qualities make a good golf swing. We all want our swings to be in balance, we
want them to be relaxed, and we want them to be as effortless as possible. I believe the
key feeling here is effortlessness, because if you want your swing to feel effortless,
then all parts of your body must be well balanced and relaxed.
Thus, the proper finish is well balanced, effortless, and relaxed. The body stands tall
and natural. All the weight is on your forward foot, and your
body is aligned directly toward the target.
You should spend considerable time learning how to produce the proper finish. Since the
finish is a static position, it can be worked on and developed quite easily. Again,
without this foundation, your swing will have no purpose beyond contacting
the ball. As a result you will fail to complete your swing, and will never
transfer your energy through the target.
So, finishing the swing is imperative. To the beginner it's the most important full swing
fundamental, and to the advanced player it's the foundation of his long game. Therefore,
you would be wise to practice your finish on a regular basis, no matter
what level of achievement you have reached.
The pictures aligned vertically on the right side of the page demonstrate
the varying positions of the full follow-thru and finish. The top picture
shows the full follow-thru. This position is often described as being
the full finish. However, we do not actually finish in this position.
From the full follow-thru the swing recoils in such a way the the arms and club
begin to return to a relaxed and balanced position in front of the body.
The picture that is second from the top was taken as my arms and
body began the recoil action toward my final finish position.
The third picture from the top shows my arms and body as
they complete the recoil action. At this point my
body is facing directly at my target.
The bottom picture was taken at a golf tournament as I finished off my drive.
It once again shows a fully recoiled finish position. Notice the
straight alignment through my body
and the relaxed balance.
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