These (Swing) Truths I Hold To Be Self-Evident

First, I must grip the club firmly with my hands in the new hybrid "double-overlap, single interlock" grip that I stole from Jim Furyk (sort of). The left hand must remain weak for this to work. I will take a few practice swings over the ball and try and concentrate on hearing the "whoosh" as the clubface passes over the ball and into the sky. I will then position myself over the ball with my left foot slightly open and visualize the shot I want to hit. Next, my waggle will emphasize taking the club back with my SHOULDERS FIRST during which I want to feel my weight anchored in my right knee. I will check the clubface position (toe up?) as the shaft reaches parallel to the ground and then return to the ball to start the swing (slowly!) for real. At the top of the backswing I will begin the transition by rotating my hips to the left and pushing off the ground with the inside of my right foot. The feeling that I will focus on, however, will be DROPPING my right shoulder and PUSHING the club with my right index finger (aka the #3 pressure point, for those of you keeping score at home). This should accelerate me smoothly through the ball and ONTO MY LEFT LEG, posing in a nice, high finish. The pleasure of knowing and feeling that I've just hit a quality golf shot will then consume me for the entire time it takes for the ball to reach it's intended target. Sounds easy, right? Well it should be...but it isn't always. The more I practice, though, the easier it will get. As an aside, should the dreaded shank rear it's ugly head, I now know two of it's causes: 1) If my downswing motion involves my shoulders rotating on the same plane as my hips (instead of on a more upright plane like Woody Austin taught me) then I'm reaching for the ball and El Hosel is going to get in the way. 2) If I try to manipulate the squaring of the clubface through impact I'm also likely to "reach" for it and smack the darn thing off to the right like a rocket.