Hello, I'm Matt Baker, a Malaska Golf Certified Coach based here in the UK. This is my at-home studio, and I want to address a great question from Ryan Bart. Apologies for the delay in getting to this, as it relates to something he noticed while watching Wimbledon, which was some time ago now.

While watching the players at Wimbledon, Ryan noticed something very insightful, which ties directly into what Mike and our coaching philosophy at Malaska Golf emphasize—natural athleticism. What he observed was that no tennis player ever moves forward into the ball when they hit it.

For example, if a ball is coming toward them, they don't move forward to play the shot. Instead, they instinctively move away from it to give themselves time, space, and room to execute the stroke. Whether they're playing a forehand or backhand, they never crowd the ball. If anything, they naturally create distance. This is an instinctive movement found in almost any sport.

Take baseball as another example: if you’re swinging a bat, you don’t move up into the ball. You naturally create space and time by moving away slightly to make the swing more efficient. This concept is key in golf as well.

The trick to understanding this is to start by mimicking a forehand stroke. You can use a racket or even something simple like a bottle—though my dog, Ted, might not be too happy with me using this as a prop! The point is to get a feel for how your body naturally moves. As with tennis, the racket goes up and then comes under to hit the ball. Pay attention to how your body works during this motion, particularly the pressure in your feet.

When practicing this, notice how your left hip moves naturally. In the Malaska Method, we emphasize the importance of this "push-away" motion with the left hip during the swing. Golfers often say they struggle with turning their left hip, but when you give them a tennis racket, they do it instinctively without even realizing it.

So, the drill here is simple: make some forehand tennis strokes. Practice this as much as possible to build a sense of how your body moves. Once you've got the feeling, pick up a golf club and try to replicate that same motion. Don’t overthink what the club is doing on the backswing or follow-through—just focus on swinging through the ball.

Here’s how it looks: take a few swings, feeling that same "up and under" motion. Start slow, and you don’t need to hit the ball hard. If you’re using a tee, focus on pushing away as you swing through. You’ll notice that the motion becomes more fluid and natural with practice.

This is the essence of athletic motion—creating space and letting the body move instinctively. Golf isn’t as hard as people make it out to be. The movements are already familiar; we just need to transfer those skills from other sports, like tennis or baseball, into golf.

And that’s the beauty of the M-System at Malaska Golf—it simplifies the game by building on movements and patterns you already know.