Watch out for these 5 golf fallacies that will absolutely destroy your golf swing!

These 5 golf swing falsehoods have ruined more golf swings than I care to imagine. I believe these 5 so called "golf swing tips" are the reason the average golfer's handicap has stayed the same for the past 20 years - Even with all the advancements in golf equipment technology.

I will be pulling the curtain back on some golf swing tips you may consider as gospel...so please keep an open mind.

Top 5 Golf Fallacies That Are Ruining Golfer's Game:

1. RELAX - Pure rubbish! How many times have you heard this golf swing tip from a golf pro or a playing partner? The golf swing is a violent action - is there any other violent action you take when you relax? - of course not - This is foolish advice.

2. Be Loose. This is the second cousin of "Relax". When you are "loose" in the golf swing your hips are NOT restricted therefore you will NOT have that important coil in your backswing robbing you of much power.

3. Take The Club Back Inside - More rubbish! I'm sure you've heard many times how the correct golf swing is from the inside. So some golfers yank the club way inside early in their backswing thinking this will allow them to hit from the inside. These golfers are shocked when they still hit the golf ball from the outside. Hitting the golf ball from the inside comes from proper hip and shoulder action at the start of the downswing. You can take the club back way outside and still hit the ball from the inside - look at Jim Furyk - he takes the club way back to the outside however his move from the top of the swing is pure and from the inside.

4. The Club Head Follows The Same Path Going Back As It Does Coming Down. Again, this golf swing tip has been misguiding golfers for generations. The path of the clubface is much more to the inside during the downswing than during the backswing in a sound golf swing. This is because a proper golf swing has a lateral shift of the hips which drops the club into the all important "slot" early in the downswing. This action of the left hip automatically puts the path of the clubface much more to the inside than the path going back.

5. Rotate The Hips To Start The Downswing. This one piece of golf swing snake oil has probably ruined more swings because the golfer spins out of the swing when starting down. Turning the hips to start the downswing forces you to throw the golf club to the outside causing terrible mis-hits. Again, the correct move is a lateral shift of the left hip to start the downswing and the hips will then turn automatically. It is possible to NOT have this lateral shift and still turn the hips from the top - however, it is IMPOSSIBLE to have the lateral shift of the left hip to start the downswing and the hips NOT turn.

Hit 'em Long and Straight!

John Lynch