With the holidays near and some of you setting up your train sets, let’s compare an electric train traveling on a circular track to the golf swing through several experiments. I personally had a train set that could either be pulled by the engine or pushed by the caboose, and the passenger cars were linked together by metal clasps.

1	When the engine pulls the train, the links holding the cars together are pulled taut. / When your legs power the body and left side in the golf swing, your body automatically unwinds and your golf swing remains taut and controlled. The feeling is that of effortless power!
2	When the caboose pushes the train, the links holding the cars together get jammed together and pile up as in a train wreck. When your right shoulder pushes your golf club into the ball, your swing becomes jammed up as well, resulting in an uneasy, forced swing motion or powerless effort.
3	When the engine pulls the train around the curve, the cars have a tendency to lean outward with the last car wanting to whip. When your legs, body, and left side unwind, the golf club has freedom to accelerate and to pull outward with the trailing club head smashing through the ball (automatically).
4	If the train hits an obstacle in the track, regardless if it is being pushed by the caboose or pulled by the engine, the cars will pile up in a train wreck. / If you stop your body from unwinding to hit at the golf ball, your golf swing will also result in a train wreck.

My swing thought through the holidays and forever will be to keep my swing pulled taut by the engine / legs and left side leading the swing, and not pushed together by the caboose or right side in an effort to overpower the swing.

Watch Rick demonstrate this move as he drives the ball 300 yards with just his left arm and hand holding the golf club. This drill proves that anyone can strike the golf ball with effortless power.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Rick Bradshaw Award-Winning PGA Teaching Professional G/M, Director of Instruction Dent/Bradshaw Golf School Heritage Isles Golf & Country Club www.tourexperience.com phone: 813-220-8099

I teach thousands of golfers annually, and have noticed that many of them segment their swing as if they were driving a stick shift manual transmission in a car. Some unfortunately forget to use the clutch and slam the gears together grinding them as they proceed through the swing motion. The secret to a smooth and blending together of movements can be compared to a smooth shifting of gears in a cars automatic transmission.

The key ingredients are as follows to install an automatic swing transmission:

1	Do not try to force positions of the club head with independent movements of your hands and arms, and shoulders. This will grind your swing gears worse than ever resulting in powerless effort.
2	As you prepare to swing at a golf ball, do some practice swings sensing the weight and momentum of the club head swinging and swooshing through the area of impact. This pulling sensation will stop you trying to aim and force the club at the golf ball. The key is to allow the club head to swing through the ball and trust that its momentum will swing automatically into and through it with unforced velocity and precision.
3	Once you feel the weight of the club head swinging please notice that the tension in your fingers and hands gripping the club should lighten. If you were a boxer you want to play golf like Muhammad Ali throwing light and quick jabs, not George Foreman.
4	The body should blend its rotating movement with the swinging momentum of the club head. Remember the golf swing is a momentous occasion and memorable experience! This will teach you to allow your shoulders to turn with the swinging club heads momentum and allow them to automatically work in sequence. The placing of a towel under both arms is a drill to teach your arms not to erroneously lift, and work correctly with the club heads swinging motion. The drill practically forces your body to pivot or rotate as the towel does not allow your arms to lift.

My golf swing is definitely powered by an automatic swing transmission, and as I set up over the ball I think and imagine; that my arms are webbed together forming a triangle with my upper triceps resting on, relaxed and somewhat secure on my chest. I then feel my feet, legs and knees settling into the ground to secure my power source, the ground, so I can pivot and rotate my shoulders chest, core and hips back, all the time sensing the outward momentum of the club head swinging.

My right leg loads energy and limits excessive movement of the lower body as my upper body turns and stretches into the right leg and right foot resistance. My club and arms reactively swing up on the back swing and reverses direction and whips back down automatically into and through the ball with ease as effortless power.

Rick Bradshaw PGA Golf Professional/ G.M. Heritage Isles Golf Club (813 220 8099) 2004 and 2006 PGA Teacher of the Year (North Florida Section)