Pre-Shot Swing Waggle Serves Several Purposes - Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles
Pre-Shot Swing Waggle Serves Several Purposes - Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles

So now you've started yourself off and you've got yourself in a really good setup posture position to the golf ball. We have to find a way of starting to make a good backswing and get the club to move away from the golf ball in the right way. One of the things you'll often see the better plays doing it when you watch on the television is they have a little sort of pre-shot waggle, a little bit of movement before they actually start their swing.

So, as I setup to the golf ball here, I'd take my time, get myself in a nice disciplined address position but I'm not really going to freeze over the golf ball and then start my swing all in one motion. I like to just stay relaxed and play the club through my hands a little bit, a little bit of lightness in the grip pressure, a little bit of softness in the hands just so I can feel the club moving on the exact path I want to take it away and back to the golf ball.

It also helps me reduce my pressure through my grips. I'm not getting tight and freezing here and it's keeping me sort of light and active, ready to take the club back, ready to start my swing properly. And if you look at a lot of other sports, you might actually see this action happening. For example, somebody throwing a dart, they have a couple of little pre-shot waggles before they throw and the same when someone is playing pool or snooker. They setup, a couple of little pre-shot movements and then they go. They very rarely freeze over the ball and then just hit it all in one motion. It involves a bit too much tension.

So, if I set up this ball, have my little pre-shot waggle and then hit it, you'll see how the pre-shots sort of previews the movement that I'm actually going to make during the swing. So, I align myself up to the golf ball, checking out my target line, keeping the club nice and lose feeling it through the fingers, letting the club move nicely away from the golf ball and the movement that I want to make and then set the club and hit.

And the club doesn't really stay still behind the golf ball for too long. So, it stops me from freezing and getting tense. It's moving and it just settles behind the ball and then it's gone. So, we get a nice opportunity to hold the club still for a second before I start the swing but before that, I'm not getting tense and frozen over the top of the golf ball. So, see if you can keep a little pre-shot waggle to keep the club moving, to stay relaxed and to ingrain the right movement in your takeaway position and I'm sure you'll feel that you'll hit the ball better with a pre-shot waggle.

 2012-05-30

So now you've started yourself off and you've got yourself in a really good setup posture position to the golf ball. We have to find a way of starting to make a good backswing and get the club to move away from the golf ball in the right way. One of the things you'll often see the better plays doing it when you watch on the television is they have a little sort of pre-shot waggle, a little bit of movement before they actually start their swing.

So, as I setup to the golf ball here, I'd take my time, get myself in a nice disciplined address position but I'm not really going to freeze over the golf ball and then start my swing all in one motion. I like to just stay relaxed and play the club through my hands a little bit, a little bit of lightness in the grip pressure, a little bit of softness in the hands just so I can feel the club moving on the exact path I want to take it away and back to the golf ball.

It also helps me reduce my pressure through my grips. I'm not getting tight and freezing here and it's keeping me sort of light and active, ready to take the club back, ready to start my swing properly. And if you look at a lot of other sports, you might actually see this action happening. For example, somebody throwing a dart, they have a couple of little pre-shot waggles before they throw and the same when someone is playing pool or snooker. They setup, a couple of little pre-shot movements and then they go. They very rarely freeze over the ball and then just hit it all in one motion. It involves a bit too much tension.

So, if I set up this ball, have my little pre-shot waggle and then hit it, you'll see how the pre-shots sort of previews the movement that I'm actually going to make during the swing. So, I align myself up to the golf ball, checking out my target line, keeping the club nice and lose feeling it through the fingers, letting the club move nicely away from the golf ball and the movement that I want to make and then set the club and hit.

And the club doesn't really stay still behind the golf ball for too long. So, it stops me from freezing and getting tense. It's moving and it just settles behind the ball and then it's gone. So, we get a nice opportunity to hold the club still for a second before I start the swing but before that, I'm not getting tense and frozen over the top of the golf ball. So, see if you can keep a little pre-shot waggle to keep the club moving, to stay relaxed and to ingrain the right movement in your takeaway position and I'm sure you'll feel that you'll hit the ball better with a pre-shot waggle.