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(instead of keep your head down). This gives the student the ideal that the ball is "in the way" of this arc that is gaining momentum to go through the hitting area up to a high finish. The concept of the body swinging the arms and the hands swinging the club seems to make sense and eventually we feel that we can have secure hands but relaxed arms, even in our set up position. Many times small things like a forward press or some breathing exercises as part of your pre-shot routine seem to help the transition from set up to a tension free swing.

Try a motion drill (like my favorite finish to finish drill where you start at address, walk yourself smoothly up to a finish position, then swing back to the top, swing/fall through with a clip of the grass, continuing on to a good high finish position) where you keep yourself in good tempo (3 seconds for this drill) and see if your club starts to in fact "bottom out" in the same position as your are swinging back and forth. This will help you believe that the ball will in fact "get in the way" and the tools you are using in combination with motion and gravity, contribute to some "effortless shots". What feels like less effort will actually give you more clubhead speed.

Remember: speed equals distance, motion creates speed, and less tension creates more motion. Motion is athletic and rhythmical!

-Deb Vangellow is the Director of Instruction at Sweetwater Country Club here in Houston. She is the 2002 LPGA Central Section Teacher of the Year and is a Golf Digest/GOLF Magazine "Top Teacher" and a Golf For Women Magazine "Top 50" teacher. An educator/coach who offers wellness based developmental programming integrated into her "Balanced Golf" philosophy, Deb can be reached at 281-980-4653 or online at http://home.earthlink.net/~deb bievang/

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