Let's all try a little exercise (this is a drill you should do VERY often - it can be done almost anywhere at anytime)
I’d like to ask anyone reading this to stand up straight. Set your feet a comfortable distance apart, allow your knees to bend slightly and lean slightly forward from the hip joints. Turn your left foot about a quarter of a turn left while keeping your right foot square (perpendicular) to your imaginary target line. Feel as though the back of your head is ‘almost’ in line with your spine (don't allow your spine to curve - try to keep it fairly straight without inducing any unwanted tension) if your spine continued on a line straight upward (we aren’t soldiers here - we still need to comfortably see the imaginary ball in front of us but don't let your chin lower too close to your chest). If you are right-handed and with your hands dangling comfortably in front of you, put your right hand on the front of your left shoulder and your left hand on the front of your right shoulder - set your left shoulder slightly higher than the right. Take a moment to absorb this entire body feeling (it is a near perfect address position).
Now, for the swing motion itself - simultaneously pull your right shoulder back as your left shoulder comes around and ends up somewhere close to under your chin - keep your head in place but don’t allow tension to inhibit a slight head movement - feel as if you are turning your left shoulder to a point where it is almost "over" your right foot. Done correctly, your back should feel as if it is facing your imaginary target and your shoulders have turned quite a bit further than your hips (without you consciously trying to restrict your hip turn). Try to absorb this ‘near-perfect’ top of swing position. Feel your right leg (knee) acting as a brace (Hogan said that the stability of his right knee was the key to his great repetetive swing - and was responsible for the building up and releasing of power in his swing - Jack Nicklaus, in his superb book "The Greatest Game of All" said, when describing his fine play in the 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills, "The main thing was the feeling I had at address: I felt that my right knee was directly under me, setting up my pivot nicely, setting it up easily. The sensation I had was that I was getting into the proper position on my backswing with a very restricted turn, and that, when I came down into the ball, I was in a great hitting position - there was no way I could go left*.....").
Feel the engagement of the muscles along your left side - from the inside of your left foot all the way up to your left side lats. Your right side should feel "loaded" - almost like a catapault, locked and loaded and ready to fire... it can only feel correct if we keep all of that stored energy 'inside' the right leg - never let the right knee slip outward or the right foot roll onto the outside of the foot. In short, you should feel a lot of 'stored energy' "on the inside edge" of the right foot - this is the very point in your swing that signals the end of the backswing and the triggering of the downswing. Now, make a slight forward movement of the left hip and allow the stored up energy in your body (from the aforementioned inside of right leg and right foot) to begin to release naturally toward your imaginary target - hold this "first forward move (the left hip bump)" for a few seconds - let it be totally absorbed into your overall body-mind-awareness - then continue moving your body while simultaneously "releasing" your right side toward your imaginary target - if done correctly to completion, you will be facing your imaginary target, shoulders level, right foot up on the right toe, most of your body's weight now on the outside of your left foot - but maintaing balance all the way through. Hold the finish and let it seep deeply into your mind - hold it for a long time and make it second nature.
You have just completed YOUR perfect golf swing - all you need to do now is add a club and a ball and repeat these movements and - LOOK OUT PRO TOUR - provided, of course, that you possess a set of tools that fit you well, that you can repeat this "perfect swing" in all types of conditions - uphill lies, downhill lies, sidehill lies, the lie of the ball itself - in wind, rain - blazing sun or numbing cold. Additionally, you need to master dozens of shorter versions of this swing for all types of "short game" shots, trouble shots, bunker shots, punch shots etc... and finally, become proficient enough with the "money tool" (the putter) that you will almost never take more than 30 putts in 18 holes or that you can average somewhere around 1.750 putts per greens in regulation... if you stick to a plan of quality and not quantity practice, keep a journal of all that you are working on (develop the discipline to work on only ONE piece at a time) - learn to identify areas of concern... and turn your weaknesses into strengths, your enjoyment of the game will improve a hundred-fold and your scores will plummet - I guarantee it! Let's delve a little deeper.......... More of the Right Stuff
* Nicklaus always played his best when he moved the ball left-to-right. When he didn't have his power-fade under control, he proclaimed himself to be just an "ordinary" golfer (his words).
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The Right Stuff
