Golf is probably the most over-taught and over-analyzed sport in the world. If we were taught to walk, run, throw or even eat the way we are taught golf these activities would seem very difficult. It's no wonder most people look awkward swinging a golf club and scores haven't improved on average in more than sixty years even though equipment and course conditions have improved dramatically. What we will discuss now and in all future articles is how to make your golf both fun and simple while explaining how the golf equipment is designed to fit the way our body works naturally based on the laws of motion and balance. By understanding the relationship of how the hands control the weight of the golf club and how the body functions to support the carrying of the club from the hands you will realize how easy the swing really is and how what you have learned in the past has kept you from using the golf club properly according to its design. You'll want to quit focusing on all the effects in order to discover what lies behind a great golf swing. If you ever get a chance to watch Tiger Woods up close when he swings you will notice how effortless it looks. The reason it looks that way is because his hands have the weight of the golf club in complete control. By centering his control in the hands, he has minimum resistance from his body. This creates both power and direction. The reason I believe this to be true is from lessons I received from three-time Masters champion Jimmy Demaret while growing up at Champions Golf Club In Houston, Texas. Jimmy and Champions co-founder Jackie Burke, along with Ben Hogan, gave me great insight as to what the great players were feeling and thinking when playing their best. The one thing they talked about most was how important the hands were to the swing. The only thing they weren't able to tell me was a way I could effectively use the movement of the hands, the role of the body and how it should feel. Therefore, I never used my hands to their best ability as I played junior, collegiate and professional golf. It was only after severe back problems (created by a hereditary disease) made me realize I needed to find a way to enjoy the game with minimal stress on my body. Stress is a constant in today's golf swings because of the required angles in body positions. After much experimentation it became obvious to me that the body should not control the swing; but that its role should be passive so the hands can control the weight of the golf club. The amazing part of this is that when the hands control the club it allows the body to move with more freedom in response to the hands. It is my belief that we are built perfectly for a great golf swing if we control the weight of the golf club without manipulation. I know this sounds completely contradictory to everything you have heard or read. At first, all I wanted to do was find a way to play using as little body motion as possible so I could enjoy playing without much pain. It wasn't long before I realized that not only had I reduced my pain but also I was hitting the ball farther and straighter than I ever had before and my body was moving freely without much stress on it. After experimenting on players of all levels it was time to put my theories to the test with the best players in the world. At first, I worked with several of the PGA TOUR players solely on putting. After seeing improvement in most of their stats it was time to try it on someone who was desperate to get back to his old form. So in May of 2000, I started working with six-time major champion Nick Faldo. For an entire month and a half we worked together focusing only on what his hands were doing to control the golf club. At the end of that time he had finished 7th at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, finishing first in putting. Afterward he told me that was the first time in his career he had ever been first in putting. Faldo also told me he was glad to get back to feeling his swing instead of trying to work on mechanics. Since working with Nick, I have been spending time working with long drive champions Sean "The Beast" Fister, Brian Pavlet and Art Sellinger. Sean won the 2001 world long drive championship by two yards over Brian and then won again in 2005. The same focus with the hands that dramatically improved Nick's putting is what I use with Sean, Brian and Art to increase their distance and accuracy. Now that we have discussed how this theory took shape, let's discuss how to take control of the weight of the club before we ever start the swing. This is the setup or better yet the ready position (Left). This is your first opportunity to feel the weight of the club in your hands and start to assume control over it. The best way for your hands to control the weight of the club is to have them hold the weight equally, which should feel balanced in all ten fingers. When the weight is held properly in the hands it should make you feel athletically ready to move the weight backward and forward. Most people tend to set up as if they are about to swing a 30-pound sledge hammer which keeps the hands from controlling the club and tenses the body up. This doesn't allow the hands the freedom to move the body and creates compensations in order to complete the swing. Visualize that the hands are fully in control of the weight of the golf club while the body is ready to support the movement of the weight in the hands. Once you have mastered taking control of the weight of the club at the ready position you are halfway home to your best golf. In future articles we will discuss how to eliminate all the unneeded thoughts that you have developed and why they are detrimental to your best golf. We will also discuss how you have been focusing on to many effects instead of what causes all of the effects and how to eliminate your bad habits while replacing them with the proper routine. We will also cover how this applies to all shots from putter to driver and how you can control the weight of the golf club in different ways in order to create different types of shots. Eben Dennis is a nationally known golf instructor located in Plano, Texas. Ebens' teachings have been highlighted in T&L golf magazine, Golf Tips magazine on The Golf Channel and in the book How To Learn Golf by Harry Hurt III. Harry calls Eben one of the "up and coming stars" and the "Christopher Columbus" of golf instruction. Eben can be reached at 214-534-9601 or at eben_dennis@hotmail.com.