BACKSWING
Shoulders Turn
The backswing is initiated by a turn of the shoulders. The arms and hands stay passive and follow the turn of the shoulders. The triangle formed by both arms and shoulders stays intact.
Wrists Hinge
As the shoulders turn and perform the initial movement in the backswing sequence, the wrists begin to hinge or cock. There is no one place in the backswing that the wrists begin to hinge. The wrists start hinging following the turn of the shoulders.
Arms lift and rotate
The final movement in the sequence is the arms beginning to lift against gravity, followed by a rotation of the forearms. It is important to note that the arms separate from the body quite a bit and are never stuck to the body. The all-familiar towel drill is given to initiate the shoulder turn and not to keep the arms next to the body.
DOWNSWING
Hip Movement
The downswing sequence is initiated by the hips moving laterally and then beginning the turn back to their original position of address and onward towards the target. Most golfers do not move their hips to initiate the downswing, leading to an out-of-sequence downswing. The dreaded slice and top/duff are caused by the hips not initiating the downswing.
Chest and Arms
The movement of the hips is closely followed by the opening of the chest and then by the arms dropping down with gravity. The sequence of the hips, the chest and then the arms is of utmost importance in the downswing.
Club-head
The wrists stay passive and hinged for most of the downswing, giving rise to what most golfers call the “lag”. This is similar to throwing a ball, using a hammer or an axe. The wrists unhinge last, completing the downswing sequence to get the clubface square back to the ball.
(As told to Rakesh Rao)
