Bobby Jones explains the simple secret to his smooth swing
Golf instruction is always changing, but the best advice is timeless. In Timeless Tips, we highlight the greatest advice from teachers and players in the pages of GOLF Magazine. Today we have an article originally published in the September 1980 issue of Bobby Jones’s teachings.
It’s impossible to build the Mount Rushmore of golf without including Bobby Jones. During his playing career, Jones again impressed the most that was collected at that time, winning four US Opens and winning three Open Championships, five US Amateur titles and a British Amateur title. Even a hundred years on, few have come close to matching his CV.
Simply put: when Bobby Jones talks about golf, you’d be wise to listen.
Back in the September 1980 issue of GOLF Magazineour readers had the opportunity to do just that when Jones’ quote “Bobby Jones on Golf” was published in its pages, which you can read below.
Bobby Jones’s skating advice
Two prominent golf instructors, Macdonald Smith and Ernest Jones, built their entire teaching on one concept, “Swing the clubhead.” There are other details to consider, of course, in developing anything like swing audio, but in the end it will be found that this is the main requirement. Those who are able to hear what it means to “swing the peninsula” will find that in this way they can hide a multitude of sins, and those who do not see it will find that there is no striving for perfection in the establishment that will take its place.
To facilitate the acquisition of this swing feeling, the club must swing back far enough so that there is no need to rush or a quick effort is dropped. This is one point I have tried to emphasize more than anything else – the need to go back far enough if one wants to swing the clubhead. A person who allows himself only a short backswing will never be a swinger, because his shortened length does not allow room for smooth acceleration to make him faster when the club reaches the ball.
Rhythm and timing should all be there, but no one knows how to teach them. The closest way to appreciate what they are in this swing view. A person who hits the ball, rather than passes it, has no sense of rhythm; likewise, the man who, after stepping back for a moment, tries to make up for lost ground with a jerky effort that begins the downstroke has no sense of rhythm.
The only thing that has a chance of getting a rhythmic, well-timed stroke is the man who, in spite of everything else, swings the clubhead, and the important point is where the swing changes direction at the top. If the backswing can be made to come back comfortably, and have enough length, from which the start to the bottom can be made without feeling that there may not be enough time left, the chances of success are high. But a quick pullback creates a quick start to the downside, and a short pullback makes some sort of rescue action necessary. A good golfer will not like to be guilty anyway.
Two important points in swing machines are the wrists and hips; if the wrists do not bend easily, or if the trunk does not turn easily, a true swing cannot be achieved. Stiff or wooden wrists shorten the backswing and otherwise destroy clubhead feel. Without the soft contact of free and functional wrist joints, and a soft, sensitive grip, the golf club may be a hollow broom handle at the end. The clubhead cannot be swung unless it can be felt at the end of the shaft.
So swing, swing, swing, if you want to play better golf; reject any mockery wherever it may be seen; strive for relaxed muscles throughout, and encourage a sense of laziness in the back and bottom. Step back far enough, trust your swing, and – swing the clubhead.
