For all golfers except low-70 players

Ideally, the head of the club in a good swing describes a nearly perfect circle around the body of the golfer, with the shoulders as the fulcrum. To come close to swinging in this circular path is hard work—the bane of the average golfer's existence. His difficulty starts at the very beginning of the swing when the club is brought back from address. If the golfer will concentrate on executing one simple fundamental, he can insure himself a good circular swing. It is this: at the top of the backswing, the hands must be brought back behind the line of the shoulders and the head.

If the hands are brought that far behind the player, the left arm will be straightened, the shoulders will rotate and the hips turn—more or less automatically—and the golfer's weight will shift naturally back to his right foot at the top of the backswing. All a golfer has to concentrate on is getting his hands behind him, and the other correct moves are set up.

Most faulty swings result from the player's taking his hands up without bringing them sufficiently behind his shoulders and his head or, to say it another way, keeping his hands too far out in front at the top of his backswing.

from DENNY LAVENDER, Cedar Crest Golf Club, Dallas

TWO PHOTOS

ILLUSTRATION

Correct

ILLUSTRATION

Incorrect

NEXT WEEK'S PRO: JIMMY D'ANGELO ON LOBBING THE PITCH