Golf tip: Think baseball to help your golf swing

Spring is here, and this time of year brings hope of success for our Cubs and White Sox - and probably a little rust on our golf swing.

If you haven't played much over the winter, your body most likely has forgotten what a good swing feels like. Usually, I see players with a lack of turn or pivot in the backswing and an overuse of their arms. As a result, the downswing is too steep and cuts across the ball producing short, weak, slicing shots. This is most obvious in your driver.

Back to the pitcher

To fix this issue, try thinking about baseball. Imagine you are standing in the batter's box and the goal of your backswing is to get your spine or middle of your back facing the pitcher.

To achieve this, you need some rotation in your trail hip (right hip for a right handed golfer). Try turning your trail foot out a bit at setup. To start the backswing, turn your right hip back as much as you can.

If you do this correctly, you will also feel a straightening of the right knee - this will make it easier for your lead (left) shoulder to turn under your chin and produce a much bigger upper body rotation.

At this point the spine should be looking at the pitcher. The result of this action will have the club more behind you and deeper at the top of the backswing.

Move to second base

The downswing should start with a little lead (left) hip bump in the direction of the second baseman. You should also think about swinging your arms and the clubhead out to the second baseman.

These moves promote an inside-out swing path, which is a great way to beat the slice. The sequence and swing direction will also produce an increase in clubhead speed.

Belt buckle to shortstop

To finish off the swing think about a laser beam on your belt buckle and get the laser to point over the shortstop's head at the finish. This will have your pelvis pushed out and up a bit and your shoulders back slightly.

From here you can watch your ball fly down the middle of the fairway, just like a home run hitter watches his ball fly over the fence.

• Mike Carbray is the director of instruction at Butterfield Country Club on Oak Brook, and owner of Journey 2 Better Golf, an indoor golf training facility. He is the 2018 Illinois PGA Teacher of the Year. Contact him at mikecarbraygolf@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @mikecarbraygolf.