Here’s a re-cap of the best posts at ProGolferDigest this month:

1. Greg Norman can win the British Open this year!
2. Does Steve Elkington have the best Stack and Tilt swing?
3. go GREG NORMAN!
4. Nick Faldo tips on golf.
5. Sensoglove may help you play better tournament golf.
6. Swing Analysis of 2-time 2008 PGA Champion Anthony Kim.
7. Bob Tway’s chip shot at 1986 PGA Championship may not happen to Greg Norman tomorrow.
8. Ben Hogan’s swing secrets revealed.
9. KJ Choi might win the British Open too.
10. Ernie Els has a great swing even though he might be sucking it this week.
11. My 4-iron swing was lookin’ good, now it’s even better.
12. Davis Love III also has a very good swing.
13. Fred Funk is still one of the straightest drivers on the PGA Tour.
14. Matt Kuchar may have the flattest swing on the tour today.
15. Ben Hogan’s knockdowns are so pretty.
16. Moe Norman’s swing may have a lot in common with Tiger’s swing.
17. Adam Scott copied Tiger’s swing.
18. Ball flight is important in the wind.
19. Annika Sorenstam’s swing may be the best swing out of all male and female golfers.
20. Learn to hit that 30 yard pitch shot crisp.
21. How to practice like a scratch/pro golfer.
22. Ian Poulter has a good swing too.
23. We love Greg Norman, don’t you?

Okay, this does really happen to me every couple months.  That is that I find the secret to the golf swing.

You go to the golf course and return with this “amazing” feeling that you’ve finally mastered the game of golf, or at least just the golf swing in this case.

Let me tell you how it happend and the secret too.

I have been on a long-trail of hitting balls on the range and really not practicing my short game or putting.

Well, yesterday, I go to the range at Harding Park GC, and found that the range closes early on Mondays.  Of course, this was my first time going to the range after 6pm on a Monday.

So, I decided to practice my short game for 2 hours.  What happened after that was amazing.

For the first hour and a half or so, I was really struggling to hit these hard-pan lies.  After trying several things, I hit a goldmine, the secret to my golf swing.

You see, the secret is in the dirt just like Ben Hogan said.  Literally, I found it in the hardpan dirt, where it’s practically impossible to hit the shot good unless you strike the ball perfectly.

As such, I found the secret of the golf swing as the following:

Your full swing is an extended version of your short shots.  It’s never the other way around.

For example, you are hitting the 2-iron really well.  You miniturize that 2-iron swing on the short pitch shots.  It might work and it might not, simply because what’s working for the full swing isn’t guaranteed to work on the short shots.

However, if you are hitting your 30-yard pitch shots from a hardpan lie perfectly (as you do need to hit it perfectly on the ball in order to avoid chunking it or thinning it) and you extend that short swing into a 2-iron swing, you will find that 99% of the time, the swing works.

This is why tour pros practice their short game so much because the rhythm and the swing technique flows into other longer shots.

Now, that is how I found the secret, let me tell you the “technical” details of my findings:

You need to feel that on the downswing, you are rotating everything including your stomach, shoulders, arms, and hands to the left while your weight is centered over the left foot.  You also need to feel you are standing very tall.

Here’s the important part, you need to feel like your wrists are uncocking upwards toward the sky just after impact.

If you take a careful look at Hogan’s after-impact position, you will notice that his wrists are actually lifted toward the sky.  This really helps you to hit the ball perfectly while minimizing wrist action through impact.

Now how to achieve this feeling?

It’s pretty simple, try to imagine there’s a giant ball hanging from the sky sorta like the above picture.

Then, try to rotate your body to move that ball foward toward your target.  Also try to hit the big imaginary ball with your elbows, this will automatically uncock your wrists the correct way by letting your wrists lift upwards.

I tried this and boy, I am going to the PGA Tour Q-School next year baby!

Woody Austin is one of those players I like because of his personality, not his swing.  He cracks me up with some of the things he has achieved.

Let’s look at his swing.  His setup looks pretty good.

Takeaway looks good too.  Woody doesn’t transfer much weight to the right but that’s okay.   (I don’t either because I end up swaying)

At top of Woody’s swing, Woody looks very good.  Pay attention to his lower body action.

At half-way down, take a look at how well Woody has transferred his weight to the left.  This reminds me of Ben Hogan.

At impact, notice how far his hips have transferred and how straight his left arm and the club is.

After impact, Woody is still in really great shape.

Woody Austin might not win a lot of tournaments but heck, he’s always on the leaderboard.

His swing might be one of the best hidden swings on the PGA Tour.

Here’s Woody Austin’s swing in slow motion:

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

Okay, today, we will do a “real” swing analysis of Anthony Kim’s swing. (unlike my older post on Anthony Kim’s swing video only)

Now, this young man gas a great swing and might start taking over PGA Tour with multiple wins.

At takeaway, Anthony is a little too much inside. (This is what the “traditional” golf teachers teach you. But don’t be fooled, the follow-through will prove that Anothony “came back” to the right plane to hit the ball, which almost every pro tour golfer does)

At half-way, Anthony is still way too inside but that’s okay as it will get from here on.

At top os his swing, you can see how well his hands, and clubface are in-plane. (The four diagonal lines represent the true plane of the golf swing)

At downswing, Anthony is slightly inside the plane, which is perfectly acceptable.

At impact, notice how his left arms is straight and right arms slightly bent like at address.

Now what impresses me about Anthony Kim’s swing is not his takeaway or backswing but right after impact.

As you can see, his clubface is almost dead-on or slightly outside the plane. This movement is actually the best move. (Players like Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods do this)

After impact, it gets even better as Anthony’s club stays on-plane.

At finish, check out how controlled his right foot is, it’s barely coming up.

What can you learn from Anthony Kim’s swing?

There are many ways to swing the club. Try to focus on getting that club on-plane at the top of your swing and after impact.

Even most tour pros have completely different opinions on how to swing on-plane but their after impact positions will be the same.

Here’s Anthony Kim’s swing in slow-motion (SWING VISION):

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

Today, I was watching Ben Hogan’s swing on YouTube and found a secret, that is of Ben Hogan’s swing.

What is it?

The secret is when Ben Hogan finishes his swing.  Watch very carefully and you will notice that Ben Hogan never swings full out on his irons, woods, and etc…etc…

He seems to slow down shortly after impact and the finish looks more graceful while not wasting extra energy.

So how do I do it?

You gotta really think of a “balanced” finish, a swing that slows down near the very end.

You need to think feel that you are swinging a momentum ball.  If you go too fast, you will lose control of the momentum ball at your finish.  If you can control a heavy ball, that’d be how you want to finish in golf.