[airair]

I don't remember where this is taken, but here it comes:
...............

The general consensus is to master swinging before hitting. Swinging relies less on manual hand drive/manipulation and is the easier of the two, hitting can be more precise when done properly though. Hitting is the driving of the right arm, the basics of the motion are:

1) Club is taken back to right shoulder height (roughly, try to go no longer as you risk starting the downswing by pulling the club, which means you will be swinging)
2) When you take the club back, you will use an angled hinge (has the appearance of being a little shut)
3) From there it is a slow steady drive of the clubhead, using the right forearm towards the inside aft of the ball.

As good a teacher that Tommy Tomasello was, he got hitting all wrong. He talks about hitting being used for low wind punch type shots. This is incorrect, hitting or swinging do not control the height of the shot, rather the hinge action used and the angle of attack.

Finally to answer your number 3, I would recommend truely mastering one or the other (preferably swinging first) before trying to use both. It is quite common to find good TGM trained golfers who mostly use swinging, except from 130 in where they want the precision of hitting.



Swinging is what most people do, use centrifugal force to swing the club down through the ball. It produces a draw when used with the left wrist being allowed to roll closed throughout the shot.

Hitting is using the right arm to thurst hard through the ball. Hitting produces a controlled fade and is very accurate. But is not as powerful.

This is why some swing long clubs and hit shorter ones where power is not longer the most important factor.

If you are stronger than most, you can hit the whole way around, like a Trevino or Palmer.