Hey fellow golf nuts, Doc here with a short but sweet tip for you this week.
As you probably know a good pre-shot routine is crucial if you want to play great golf, all the golfers on the tour have a pre-shot routine and so should you. But I’ve noticed a lot of guys omit one very important part of the pre-shot routine, the waggle.
The waggle does some amazing things for your golf swing and skipping it is just plain madness. Once you realize all the good stuff the waggle does for your golf game you’ll never skip it again.
As Bill McKinney explains in the video the waggle does 5 important things for your golf swing. First, it rehearses you swing path. By moving the club along the proper path you are reminding yourself seconds before you swing where the right path is.
Next, it reminds your wrists how to cock at the top of the swing. A good waggle also reminds your wrists how to release into impact.
The waggle also helps you feel the right amount of tension in your arms and wrists, remember your arms and wrists should be loose and your grip just tight enough to hang onto the club. If you have too much tension you’ll quickly realize it when you waggle and be able to correct it before it ruins a shot.
Lastly, a good waggle gives you some rhythm, and keeps you from stiffening while standing over the ball. As Bill McKinney explains in the video, the rhythm aspect to the waggle is very similar to a baseball player rhythmically moving the bat before each swing. Starting a swing from a stagnant position nearly always results in a jerking motion, it’s just how our muscles work, but if we are already moving we can be incredibly precise and smooth.
How can something as simple as a waggle help so much? The simple answer is that it force feeds your brain very detailed information about where the ball is. That’s why it’s so important to waggle with precision. A sloppy waggle can be worse that no waggle at all.
How does the waggle force feed your brain information? Our brains have two ways of knowing where something is, sight and feel. Sight is pretty simple, look down at the ball. The feel however is a bit different. You can’t reach down and touch the ball with your hand in golf, instead you have to learn to use the club as an extension of your hand.
This is obviously a bit more difficult, that’s where the waggle comes in. Instead of putting the club head right behind the ball once (which tells the feeling part of your brain where that ball is), the waggle allows you to send that message to your brain two or three times in a row, really cementing the feeling of where the ball is into your mind. When you have both sight and feeling working properly you’re much more likely to hit the ball crisp and clean. That’s how something as simple and easy as a waggle can help eliminate fat and thin shots, without actually changing you natural swing.
I’ve got another great free golf video tip from Bill McKinney waiting for you, just Click Here.
For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP
“Good article! Ben writes that the bridge between the address and the actual start of the backswing is the waggle. He states that this is where instinct takes over. The classical definition of instinct is “a natural or inherent aptitude, impulse, or capacity to make a complex and specific response to environmental stimuli without involving reason.” Ben, winner of sixty-four PGA tournaments, nine major championships and the famous “Hogan Slam” of 1953, certainly possessed an instinct for correctly striking the golf ball. When his instinct took over, good things tended to happen. My experience with the game of golf may be like many other non-athletes — my natural instinct alone tends to yield less than admirable results. ”
Excerpt From: Mike Stair. “Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons.”