This is an oldie, but just as relevant as the first I spoke about this concept – I even based a swing video on this concept back in 2013, and it’s as simple as… well… swinging a stick.

Some people come to golf without having had much exposure to other sports such as baseball or cricket, where swinging a stick-like object is similar to golf.

But I’ll be that not many people have gone through life without ever swinging a stick – at least, I can’t fathom the notion, so perhaps it’s personal.

However, the whole industry of golf instruction has become so convoluted and counter-intuitive that one can get tied into knots trying to figure out how to even move once over the ball.

I try to break things down and make them as simple as possible, because in the world of motion, the mechanically-correct or sound motions are exactly that – simple.

So, can you swing a stick?

Here’s a drill you can perform just about anywhere you have space to do so, and you’ll sometimes see golfers doing it with a club that they hold by the head – you can use that too, say a wedge with a shorter shaft.

Just hold the club or stick in your hands and swing it:

First, don’t even pay any mind to the thought of a perfect grip or swing motion – just swing that stick, and see how relaxed you can make yourself as you swing it.

Once you get a nice flowing swing motion going, then you can pay more attention to the actual grip – make it your golf grip, then see how close you can get to a Classic Golf Swing pivot I am doing above.

I bet it will clear a lot of the noise out of how you’ve been told to swing.  Just swing a stick!

Now, did you spot the Kyle Berkshire move from the swing gif.?

Notice how I move into my leading foot before shifting back to my right foot and leg on the back swing pivot.

I didn’t even realize I was doing this 12 years ago when I shot the video, but I spotted it instantly when I went looking for these stick swinging clips from back in ’13.

You don’t have to make a motion like this in your golf swing, but it is the principle behind that “forward press” or “knee bump” to trigger the back swing pivot.

Athletic motion almost always has a trigger movement.

Try this drill and see what happens.