Jackie Burke Jr. on Swing Energy (Video)

Yes, this advice from legend Jackie Burke Jr. sounds a bit strange but it's all about the feel of your golf swing, particularly at the change of direction.



I want to focus on one particular thing he says here because until you understand that one thing, the rest probably won't make much sense to you.

In some of my posts I have written about feeling as if you fall from the top of your swing. That's how you give the momentum of your swing time to change direction at the top without you jerking the club to start the downswing.

That's also what Jackie Burke is talking about here:

The swing comes down and then it gets fast.

His image is one of pushing a little girl in a swing. (You moms and dads out there should follow this one easily.) The little girl in the swing is moving toward you and you don't push her until she has reached the point where the swing is ready to change direction. If you push too soon, rather than pushing her and the swing, you push her out of the swing.

It's very much about feeling the rhythm of the back and forth movement of the girl's swing. You just develop a feel for when the time is right to give her a little push. She has actually already started forward when you add your push to her motion. And you push her gently, just fast enough to give her a little boost so she goes higher at the other extreme of her swing.

That's how Jackie is feeling a swing with a club. The club swings to the top and gently changes direction -- what I call 'falling from the top' -- and that's when you add your own power to the downswing.

Spend some time thinking about that. Make some swings and pretend the head of the club is that little girl sitting on the swing. Then see how smoothly you can add your effort to the downswing without breaking that rhythm.

Once you finally get that, it will teach you more about 'feel' than all the lectures in the world.