WATCHING a top pro tournament, the one thing that strikes most spectators is that there are as many different swings as there are players.

Some swings emanate the simplicity of a poetic nature, whilst others are less of a visual pleasure – and some appear decidedly awkward.

All, however, are extremely effective.

How can it be that all the swings, though different, can produce identical shot characteristics?

If you had a technically near-perfect swinger like Frank Nobilo or Steve Elkington and put him alongside Jim Furyk, Ray Floyd or Mark James say, and asked them to play a repertoire of shots from a high draw to a low fade, you would never be able to tell by watching the ball if the technical swinger or the eccentric swinger was hitting the stated shot.

By looking at the player swing, you can identify who it is but by looking at the ball, a low fade hit by Furyk would look the same as a low fade hit by Elkington. So if two vastly differing swings can produce identical shots when asked, it means that there must be a common denominator that is at the centre of things because there is only one set of physics that apply to flying a golf ball.

What is it that they all do that makes things work and enables the Furyk's Floyd's and James's of this world to compete at a world level alongside their more cosmetically

correct counterparts.

The common denominator between all good golfers is quite simply their

use of the skill in their hands. The skill is exhibited in their ability to shape the clubface into and through the ball in whatever position is required to bring about the desired shape of shot. The good players shot starts in his/her head and is created by the response of the hands working the club face. This imparts the

necessary spin that gives the ball the flight the player wants.

There are several Technically correct text book swings on the worlds tours which are constantly used as a benchmark of requirements for the would be golfer. These players have as a natural tendency a ball flight shape that is called a draw which is a right to left flight assuming you are a right handed player ( left handers would hit it left to right).

There are also a fair amount of good looking swings that adorn every course around the country at club level and quite often, these players enjoy the benefits of having a right to left ball flight as well. It comes as no surprise to learn that the majority, though

not all, tend to be the lower handicap single figure players

The likes of Furyk, Floyd, Darcy, James etc should not really be on the golf course if the swing purists had their way. These eccentric swingers should, they would argue be playing in club winter medals struggling to play to a 24 handicap. Strange as it may seem, there are actually better "cosmetically" looking swings doing just that all over the country every cold Winters Sunday morning whilst their inferior counter parts are playing the World tours in glorious weather earning their owners big rewards.

I suppose you could say "Beauty is in the eye of the bigger bank balance".

Visit Nigel's web site at www.101-golf-tips.co.uk