Every circular motion has a centre around which an object rotates. Thus the golfswing too, has a centre. This page is about feeling the centre of the Swing.

I like to divide the golfer into three components.

1) Head

2) Navel

3) Hands (and the clubhead)

The navel is the centre (i.e. inside) of the golf swing. It is the golfer’s centre of gravity (COG), so it makes sense that it forms the centre of the swinging motion.

The hands and the clubhead are the satellites (i.e. outside) orbiting around the centre. It is the hands (and the clubhead) that Swing. This is where most of the motion lies.

The golfer’s head is a "spectator". It should feel sort of "separate" from the rest of the body, and also separate from the motion of the Swing. The head MOVES, but only due to the momentum of the swing. As the backswing progresses, the head moves back away from the target (and also turns slightly away from the target) due to the momentum of the swing. As you swing down towards impact, the head is the last to move towards the target, again only through the momentum of the swing. The head should make no effort to stay still, but it should also make no effort to power the swing. The neck muscles should stay as relaxed as possible, allowing the Swing to happen underneath, and free from, the golfer’s head. This is all I’ll say about the head movement. Keep your neck muscles relaxed, and don’t worry about your head. It’s just a spectator, watching a good Swing happening underneath it.

The other two components however (i.e. the navel and the hands), which form the inside and the outside of the Swing, should be felt throughout the swing. Everything between the navel and the hands form the string of the rope pendulum, if you like. Focus on feeling the inside and the outside, and everything in between will take care of themselves.

Just as an aside, many golfers regard the shoulders as being part of the torso. Thus "making a large shoulder turn" is analogous to "making a large body rotation". I don’t agree. If you have studied anatomy, you’d know that the shoulder girdle is part of the upper limb (i.e. the arms) rather than the torso. The shoulder girdle, which comprises of the shoulder blade, the collar bone, and the humerus, is relatively "free" from the rib cage, and is thus a poor indicator of the state of the torso. If you are not convinced, try this. Stand up straight, facing the front. Stretch your left hand out IN FRONT of you at shoulder height, and stretch out your right hand BEHIND you also at shoulder height. Notice the relative positions of your left and right shoulders. The left shoulder is in front of your body while the right shoulder is behind your body. This gives the illusion that you have turned your shoulders to your right, even though your torso has not turned at all. Thus it is best to regard the shoulders as part of the arms, and the shoulder movement as part of the arm movement.

Now ... let’s move onto feeling the centre of your golf swing. Remember the observations we made with the rope pendulum? The string close to the centre moved slowly and covered only a short distance. The string close to the weight moved faster and covered a greater distance. Thus, when we translate this to the golf swing, we can see how the centre of the swing (i.e. navel) moves both slowly and only a short distance. Get rid of any idea that the torso has to power the whole swing. If you TRY to power the swing with your torso, you are likely to hurt your back. That’s not what I’m talking about when I say that you should "feel the centre of the swing". I just want you to FEEL your navel. Just be aware of it. Don’t try to power the swing with it.

Here’s a drill for you. Put both hands on your navel. Feel your navel. Imagine you are setting up for a shot. Relaxed, legs flexed, bent from the hips, standing relatively tall, right shoulder slightly lower than the left shoulder. With the hands still on your navel, make a small turn to your right, and then to your left. This should only be about 20 degrees in each direction. Feel the small turning movement of your navel. Do this a few times, gradually turning a little more each time until you work up to 45 degrees in each direction. The feet should remain pretty much flat on the ground. Do this SLOWLY and GENTLY. This feeling of turning the navel 45 degrees to the right (away from the target) is about as much as I want you to feel that your body has to rotate during the backswing. Forget about making a 90+ degree turn, or achieving the X factor between the shoulders and the hips, etc. Our muscles are NOT like elastic bands. Stretching the muscles excessively will only add tension to your swing which, by this stage, I hope you have realised is the number one enemy of the Swing. With your navel turning 45 degrees, and your arms swinging, the shoulders will LOOK like they are turning 90 degrees or more. This is because the shoulders are really part of the arms, not the body. Don’t get stressed over making a big body turn. Just feel a gentle, relatively slow turning motion of the navel. 45 degrees each way. No more required. Remember, the centre only has to move a small distance. Repeat this drill. Feel your centre of gravity (navel). Feel the centre of motion (again navel). Feel it moving slowly and gently. Around this slow, steady centre, we will build our Swing.