A big (and obvious) tip

I'm a 19 handicapper whose card normally consisted of 3-4 pars and 4-5 horror holes. I shouldn't be a 19 handicapper but there's been something fundamentally wrong in my swing which I couldn't put my finger on since I've started to play golf seriously about 18 months ago.

Last week, whilst on a golf tour, I found the missing link. My hands have been too far away from my body. My hands are now tighter to my body and I'm like a different golfer. Since this 'Eureka' moment, I have shot +16, +16, +18 and, last night, +14. I still had a double and a treble last night, but that was just down to one poor shot on each hole. To have 16 of my holes no worse than a bogey is a big improvement to the card.

As I see it, with the hands closer to the body, there is a lot less to go wrong and it's a lot easier to get a consistent feeling. With the tighter hand position, I feel the angle of the back swing makes you less able to wrap the club around your body and produce a hook (which was my common area of failure). I genuinely feel like a half-decent golfer now.

The main reason I'm sharing this is that there may be someone out there who, like me, believe that they are only missing one fundamental aspect of consistent ball striking. Two months ago, a Pro told me that if someone told him I was a 3-handicapper after seeing my swing, he wouldn't doubt it, so I knew I wasn't far away from having a good swing. I really believe that the answer to a lot of 19-24 handicappers problems is the position of the hands.

I suspect this is obvious to a lot of people but, sometimes, the obvious still needs stating. If this helps only one person, I'll be delighted.