The Classic Swing With Soren Hansen

Ryder Cup star Soren Hansen is widely thought to have one of the game’s smoothest wings. Here, he demonstrates how to maintain the same tempo through the swing’s key positions.

The Basics
What you need to be doing and feeling during the six crucial stages of the swing.

The Start

At address I am not thinking about my tempo. Before I get over the ball, I play the shot quickly over in my mind and off I go. My only swing thought is really ‘Hit a nice one’. I focus in on where my target is. Then, I try to get a good solid set-up and go from there. Remember, you’ve got to realise you’ve done so many repetitions on the range, that once you’re over the ball, the target is the most important thing.

Stretching

If I have a fault, it is that my swing tends to get a bit narrow, so I think about stretching it out a bit. Here, the wrists are just beginning to cock.

At The Top

As a youngster, my swing was a lot more laid off at the top, and I had an open clubface. Now, it’s a bit more square or even a little closed.

Transition
The most important thing in the golf swing is to be well balanced. One of the most common faults in amateurs is to turn too far or not quite finish off their backswings. They take it back a bit and then rush the transition from backswing to downswing. That transition needs to be really smooth. You need a nice, solid turn. It doesn’t have to be a Tiger Woods turn, going way beyond 90˚, just nice and solid and balanced.

At Impact

Notice how I have delivered everything together at impact – yet the motion is still smooth. The ball is merely getting in the way of the swinging clubface.

After The Hit

And then, everything comes up together in a well-balanced follow-through…

Complete

I swing into a traditional finishing position, still keeping my poise and balance