Michael McTeigue - The Keys to the Effortless Golf Swing: Curing Your Hit Impulse in Seven Simple Lessons

TheKeys to the Effortless Golf Swing

1985 by MichaelMcTeigue

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved

No part of this bookmay be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever with the writtenpermission of the author.

Printed in the UnitedStates of America

ISBN: 9781465930361

Smashwords Edition,License Notes

This ebook is licensedfor your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold orgiven away to other people. If you would like to share this bookwith another person, please purchase an additional copy for eachrecipient. If youre reading this book and did not purchase it, orit was not purchased for your use only, then please return to yourfavorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you forrespecting the hard work of this author.

Also by MichaelMcTeigue

BulletproofPutting in Five Easy Lessons

Ebook edition

Copyright 1985, 2014 by Michael McTeigue

All rightsreserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted inany form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, includingphotocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrievalsystem, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McTeigue, Michael.

The keys to theeffortless golf swing.

Bibliography:p.

1. Swing (Golf)I. Title.

GV979.S9M341985 - 796.352'3 - 85-47661

WITH

LOVE AND AFFECTIONTO

JIM AND TERRI

AND

JIM AND TERRI

Foreword

Most golf instruction books are written by famousperformers about how they personally swing the club, and there's nodoubt the better ones can be helpfulespecially if you share theauthor's athleticism, ambition, appetite for work, andopportunities for practice and play.

This book was writtenby a very bright but at the time "unfamous" young teacher whosedaily bread depended on delivering permanently decent-to-good golfgames to averagely endowed people with no interest in becomingslaves to the sport. He became so successful at that in hisimmediate community that his pupils demanded he put the system onpaper for their constant reference and reminder. He called theresult The Keys to the Effortless Golf Swing, and sent it to anumber of star players, one of whom passed it on to me. After onequick reading I believed that the book would help so many otherexisting and would-be golfers to such an extent that it just had tobe made available nationally. Jim McQueen, one of the world's topgolf artists and a former professional, fully shared thosesentiments and agreed to do the illustrations, and the nation'sleading golf book publisher became an enthusiastic third party.

The key to MichaelMcTeigue's success with his thousands of pupils of all sizes,shapes, ages, and ability levels in California, and the beauty ofthis book, is the clarity and simplicity and the supremely logicalsequentiality of its approach to the golf swing.

Follow the easilymastered steps or "keys" in the recommended order and with areasonable degree of patience, and in a remarkably short time, youwill be experiencing entirely new sensations of both accuratestriking and effortless power. Encouraged by thoseand theaccompanying evaporation of confusionyou will persist with thesesimple and clear-cut moves until they become thoroughlymuscle-memorized. At that point, you will be swinging the golf clubeffectively and with total confidence on every shot entirely byfeel, which is the closest you or anyone else will ever come togolf's "secret" (ask any champion if you doubt that). Gone foreverat long last will be the Band-Aids and the gimmicks and all thatfrustrating stumbling from one fruitless theory to another.

If you love golf andwant to play better for a lot less effort, then forget MichaelMcTeigue's fame quotient and work with this little gem of a book.It could make you as big a fan of his as all those happy pupils forwhom he originally wrote it.

Ken Bowden

May, 1985

A formereditorial director of Golf Digest magazine, Ken Bowden hasco-authored more than a dozen golf instruction books, seven of themwith Jack Nicklaus.

Acknowledgments

Few of the ideaspresented here were born of my imagination; most of them were firstoffered in some similar vein by someone else. Thus the value ofthis manuscript, I believe, lies in its synthesis andsimplification of a host of useful ideas about the golf swing.

The great players,teachers, writers, and illustrators listed below represent atremendous range of opinion about the game and the swing. Eachperson's approach has broadened my view, stimulated my thinking,and contributed significantly to the success my students haveenjoyed. I am grateful for their willingness to share their viewsin their writings, and, in some cases, in person with me.

So, my thanks to TommyArmour, Dick Aultman, Jimmy Ballard, Percy Boomer, Ken Bowden, PatChartrand, Alastair Cochran and John Stobbs, Larry Dennis, JackDoss, Jim Flick, Al Geiberger, Ben Hogan, John Jacobs, Bobby Jones,Jim McQueen, Dale Mead, Johnny Miller, Michael Murphy, EddieMerrins, Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Joe Novak, Gary Player,Anthony Ravielli, Ron Rhoads, Paul Runyan, Sam Snead, Bob Toski,Lee Trevino, Ken Venturi, Gary Wiren ... and the other players andpros who have shared their ideas with me.

My deepestappreciation goes to Ken Bowden, my editor, whose interest,guidance, and editorial expertise made this little book a reality.It has been both a thrill and an education to work with Ken, hiswife Jean, and with our talented illustrator, Jim McQueen. Manythanks also to JoAnn Jonson for her timely assistance in processingthe text.

Before We Begin ...

My purpose in writing The Keys to the EffortlessGolf Swing is to enable you, the reader, to generate greaterswing power, and hit the golf ball farther and straighter than everbefore, with the feeling and look of great ease.

This we willaccomplish by building the ideal sequence of body motions duringthe swing. Our task will be much easier than you might imagine.

During my many hourson the lesson tee, students have often remarked: "My practice swingis so easy and smooth, yet the moment I put a ball there, I feellike I'm chopping wood. Why is that?" Well, let's consider ourintent in both cases. During practice swings, our intent is to feelrelaxed, to sense good rhythm, and to swing to a nice full finish.With a ball before us, our intent becomes to strike the ball, tohit it with great force. The swing is no longer "timed" to thefinish, but to the ball position. So, inevitably, the two swingsfeel completely different.

"Building the ideal sequence ofbody motions will be much easier than you mightimagine."

Thus it may be thatthe single greatest cause of poor golf shots is the player's mentalimage of the club head striking the ball. This image, coupled withour intent to hit the ball, forces us to attack the ball andthereby destroys the ideal sequence of body motion. Helping youovercome this hit instinct, and creating and maintaining the idealsequence of motion in your swing, is the major theme and objectiveof this book.

Before presenting thekeys to the effortless swing, I must introduce five basic conceptsabout the creation of golf shots. We utilize three of theseconcepts immediately as we begin building the effortless swing. Thefourth and fifth concepts become invaluable when you take your newswing to the golf course.

These five basicconcepts are: