especially for women golfers

Since women don't have as powerful hands as men do, they can't get away with a poorly executed swing nearly as well. In order to develop adequate hitting power, a woman must master really good footwork and body action, and she must tie these together with rhythm and timing. The catch here is that comparatively few women apparently understand the difference between correct body action—based on pivoting—and incorrect body action—where the sway is ruinous.

Since the word pivot seems to confuse most women golfers rather than present them with a clear picture of what they should do, perhaps a better way to get the point across is to put it this way: on the backswing, you do not slide your body laterally from left to right, you coil your body away from the ball. The key to coiling correctly, the way I think of it, is to get the right hip out of the way. This movement, the rotation of the right hip to the rear, is actually started by the left side. If there ever was a short cut to proper body action, this is it: getting the right hip out of the way. If you do that, you won't sway and you won't be stuck off balance at the top of a faulty backswing with nothing but a feeble pair of hands to chop at the ball.

One thing more. Keep your head still. If you move your head off the ball, you'll probably move your body along with it.

from PATTY BERG, St. Andrews, Ill.

TWO PHOTOS

ILLUSTRATION

INCORRECT: the lateral sway

ILLUSTRATION

CORRECT: the right hip rotates

ILLUSTRATION

The strong coiled position at the top of the backswing

NEXT WEEK: JOHNNY PALMER ON THE SIMPLIFIED PUTT