A sure fire way to improve your golf game without spending any money

Hey guys, this is one of the best possible ways of improving your game and it does not cost anything.  All you need is an internet connection (which obviously you have to read this).  I have never had a true lesson in my entire golf life which has only been about a year and a half.  I started out slicing my driver wildly and carrying it about 150 yards at best.  I now am hitting the ball straight with an average carry distance of about 260.  I plan on improving this greatly over this next summer but the first way that I started to teach myself was to watch the golf swings of professionals on youtube.  I know that it might seem like you can't relate to them and you might wonder how you are supposed to learn just from watching a short clip.  Well this is one thing that has greatly helpedd me.  I love to watch swings in slow motion and at full speed from all different angles.  Just take your favorite tour player for example and just search on youtube for his or her swing.  I have attached a video of Ernie Els because in my opinion, he has one of the smoothest best swings on the tour.  What I do when I watch clips of pros swings I break them down into smaller sections.  The first thing to watch for is the great extension that he gets at the start of his backswing.  He turns his arms and chest together which generates a tremendous shoulder turn.  Next check out what his full shoulder turn looks like as he is at the top of his backswing.  His back is completely square to his target and notice his left arm.  You could draw a straight line down his left arm and it would hit the center of the ball.  This means that he is on a great plane.  Finaly on the backswing, notice the wrist hinge that he gets.  I like many other amateur golfers had trouble with this.  I always had trouble getting the club flat at the top like Ernie does.

Now for the downswing, watch how his hips begin the swing.  They are the first things to move as he starts swinging down.  This also creates a huge amount of power and it creates what you here the pros talk about as being a "rubber band" effect.  Secondly, watch how on plane his swing is going down.  The end of the shaft points dirrectly at the ball as he starts down.  That means that he is on the proper path to hit a straight shot.  The last thing to really notice is his wrist action right before impact.  If you stop the video right on :19 it shows how his wrists have not fully released.  This was the main aspect of the swing that I had problems with.  Ernie is lagging the club which creates a tremendous amount of speed and power.  From :19, watch how he releases the club through the ball with a square clubface and then finishes on balance. 

If you can learn to analyze a swing like this of a pro on youtube, it is not only free but it is a great way of learning the game to help you improve.  In the winter months especially you can watch this and increase your IQ of your golf game to figure out what you need to improve on come spring and summer.