Cal and radar

OK you two. Lots of things to talk about…

Radar you first.

Get your hands down! You live in CA now and not Phoenix 🙂
When you do – get your butt high. Your posture is not good my friend. No good for your swing and really bad for your back!!
See the pic below and Baddeley for low hands and good posture and also why…..

The golf club SHOULD NOT sit flat to the ground in the address position. It should sit where your hands and arms hang naturally. That will mean that the toe of the club might be a little bit off the ground – not the heel and not ever!

When we sit the club flat to the ground, the natural and normal bend of the shaft in the downswing will have the toe of the club hit the ground first. Never a good thing and most likely resulting in a slice – never a good thing!

The other thing that happens when the hands are high in the address position, is that the wrists will be in an almost locked position. When that happens, then the club will almost always get taken back too far inside going back. That in turn, will almost always make for an “out to in” path in the downswing. Combine that with an open club face and it is right, right and then right. If you get lucky and square the clubface… then you will most likely get a pull left.

Check out the photo below and copy Baddley. Get your hands down and your butt high!!! Your posture will be much more betterer and your back will thank me 🙂
So easy to fix 90 percent of your problems with a setup change.
You listening Cal? because you are next!!!

Cal

OK mate. You want to turn and not slide your hips.
No worries – change your setup and you are halfway there.
It’s so hard to turn with any sort of weight shift… actually, it’s impossible to shift your weight and turn without a big lateral movement – starting from where you are starting.
With that much lateral movement – you won’t turn so much, as sway. Sound familiar?

Your hands are way too far forward and as a result, your upper body is too.
You’ve played heaps of sport – go grab a ball to throw and tell me where you would start from. Pretty much where this guy is.
Get your hands in the centre of your body. The back of your left hand with every club… should be no further left than the inside of your left thigh. Look at the space between his head and the ball.  A good 6 or 8 inches? You are way too much on top of the ball with your upper body. Get behind it.
His weight distribution is still 50/50 because it his spine that is tilting – not his weight. The spine tilts because the right hand is lower on the grip than the left. As a result, the right shoulder is lower than the left. That makes a spine tilt of what –  6 or 7 degrees?
Get in front of a mirror, hands together and slide your right hand down like you would with a golf club. Your sine should tilt with that. When it does, you can now turn without sliding. Where you are now – you just flat out can’t!!!!

Check out the pic below. His hands are pretty much in the same spot with each club and so is his spine angle. The only thing that has really changed… is the ball position.

Michelle v Lydia.

Let’s start with the setup…
Michelle at 1.85 in height and Lydia is 1.65
Michelle has quite a bit more spine angle in her setup than Lyds and her feet are far wider apart.. Lydia has her hands a little further forward – left,  than Michelle – one of the reasons for less spine tilt from her.
If you are tall, very strong and athletic, then perhaps the Michelle set up will be your preferred choice.

One thing here though, no matter how strong you are, don’t get your feet as wide as Michelle. It’s going to be very difficult to make a good turn going back and in the downswing, you are going to find it even harder  to move back to your left side.

At the top
Both ladies turn their weight well, but I would give Lydia the advantage here purely because of the width of Michelle’s stance mentioned above.  Lyds can and does get back to her left side in the downswing early, easily and from the ground up (her feet)… Michelle not so much.  Lydia at the top of her backswing, has moved her left shoulder a little more over her right foot because her left knee has been allowed to move slightly across to just behind the ball. Michelle hasn’t and as a result doesn’t get quite as much turn.
Think of your shoulder turn as an “across” motion just as much as a rotational one. That way, you shift your weight better and help avoid getting the club and arms too far behind you – a very common mistake.

Half way down.
With the original setup spine angle increasing  around 4-6 degrees. Michelle’s Right knee is late coming through and the left leg is straightening far sooner than Lydia’s and therein lies a problem.
Michelle has been having some pretty major injuries of late to her left hip and ankle. When you look at the pic of impact below and the pressure being put on that left leg and hip because of the width of the stance and her late release of her right leg, perhaps we can see how and why those injuries have happened.
Ladies, the downswing must start from the ground up – feet, knees and hips. Not from your hands or shoulders!!

Impact
Not quite impact, but we still get a good picture of how everything should look. Both girls have their hands or the butt end of the golf club getting to the ball ahead of the club head – an absolute must for solid ball striking.. with every club. The left hip is higher – a good 4 or 5 inches than it was in the set up and it has turned around 45 degrees left of the setup position. The hips turn and then the top half of your body follows.
The downswing starts from the ground up and as such, there has to be a slight lateral movement towards the target from the left knee and hip. Here we see a great example of that.

Post impact.
Both ladies show us the correct arm rotation in the through swing. Notice how the body is continuing  its turn and with that, the rotation of the arms. Rotation creates extension and that is why their arms are so long post impact and why an awful lot of you ladies out there have “short arms” and as a consequence… you top the ball. If there is a secret to the golf swing, it is shown here. Turn… turn and then turn some more and that includes your arms. When you scoop at or try to get under the ball – your body stops and you come up. Not your head, but your whole body and that is the single biggest cause of topping the ball. Your arms get shorter and your body stops.
Lydia keeps her head down a long time and that is one thing I am not a fan of in her swing. Keeping your head down artificially stops the rotation of the body and puts far more pressure on your spine than you want to know about.
Forget about keeping your head down girls… it’s not necessary and it hurts your body.

Finish
Michelle still has a little bit weight on her right toe and her left foot has “spun” out a little. I believe this is purely due to her initial too wide stance and living proof as to how critical the static or setup positions are in our golf swing.
The finish is the reaction to the action. one thing you will notice when you watch the pros… they hold their finish for quite a few seconds and they are always in balance. Something you should always do. Just that alone will help your swing no end.

So – back to our Michelle v Lydia analysis.
Now here’s a funny thing….
Michelle equals Power. Lydia equals Finesse.
Yes? Or maybe not…
Michelle -Average driving distance 255.92 and accuracy at 59.89.
Lydia -Average driving distance – 252.56 and accuracy at 78.7%

Power is a fantastic thing, but only if it can be utilised to one’s benefit.
I will leave it up to you as to whose swing you would most like to emulate because they are both great actions from great players.

Cheers all and get better soon Michelle!!

______

Chevy – Swing Plane

I’ve chosen Adam Scott for a couple of reasons for you because you are both around the same height and build. He also has a very upright swing where yours in very inside. Polar opposites to make it easier to see what I’m talking about

Setup

Not sure where you were aiming but wherever it was, your feet are aiming way, way right of shoulders. They are also right of your knees and hips. Adam’s feet, knees, hips shoulders and eyes are all parallel left of hi target line. When your practice, put down two clubs – one for your body line and the other for your target.
If your shoulders are open (left), then you are going to get a “come over” move no matter what.

 

Takeaway

Here’s the big problem…. You are way inside in your first move away from the ball. If you could get even half way between where he is and you are right here, you will see a big difference right away. Check out Adam’s right elbow and how it is well in front of his body. You’re pulling the club inside with your right arm.

Halfway back

This second picture further into the backswing, shows your hands almost outside your chest, where Adam’s are in the centre of his. The good news is that you are turning, but taking the club too much with you.

Keeping your right elbow in front of your right hip is often a real easy fix for this and one that most people can feel and do reasonably easily.

The top

Adam’s right elbow is still inside his right hip and the club is parallel to his target line. Yours is across the line and all because of that initial move inside going back. Fix that, you’re halfway home.

Half way down.

Your club is outside the plane is went up on – mainly because it was too far inside to begin with. If you could get it down the way it went up… you would be hooking it and big time.

Impact

You’ve done a great job to get the club back into this position and it is allowing you to hit decent shots, but it could be way better. Notice how your right knee is going out where Adam’s is trailing and moving in towards the left? That’s the result of your shoulders “spinning out” and why you bad shot will be a big cut /slice.

Post Impact

Here we can see Adam’s shoulder plane is much steeper and the clubhead is still visible. The club has come from “in to in” or even a little “in to out” for a draw. No sign of the left elbow at all…

Through

Can’t see Adam’s left elbow – can see yours. That is a result, not an action and caused by the “out to in” path of your club. His club is down the target line for a lot longer and one reason why he hits it so far. He’s compressing the ball and big time.

Bruno…. It’s way better than it was when we first did this. It can get a whole lot better yet with a little practice and the right idea of what you need to do.

_____________________

Annika – keeping your head down is BS!!!

The flipper and scooper

If I had to pick the most common mistake I see in my day, it would be the classic scoop or for the betterer player, the flip. The result may be different due to ability, but both are ugly and guaranteed to mess up your golfing life. Both are caused by the clubhead getting to the ball well before it should and are caused predominantly by not turning the body or the desire to “get under the ball”.
Here is your classic scooper…

The scooper imagines he needs to get under the ball to get it up in the air when in fact, it is the total opposite.

The scooper will top the ball and mostly slice it when and if he/she makes decent contact – not often 🙂
The flipper, will flip the wrists over instead or rotating both arms and body. His result will mostly be a pull hook or a thin skanky cut.

Back spin creates height and the loft on your clubface determines trajectory….. see above pics.
To create backspin, we need a descending (shallow) clubhead at impact and not ascending, which is what we get when we scoop. The clubhead is making contact with the ground well past the impact position. For that to happen, you must go forward onto your front foot as you turn. There has to be a slight lateral move toward your target from your bottom half to start own.

Both players need to get the butt end of the golf club back to the ball before the clubhead. Same problem – and both are caused by the top half – shoulders arms and hands starting the downswing. The correct sequence in the downswing is feet, knees, hips, torso, shoulders, arms and last and certainly least – hands.

Check out both photos and see how the shaft and clubhead are past his hands at impact compared to mine. My hands and the butt of the club have got to the ball ever so slightly ahead of the clubhead. My body, especially the lower body has turned and my right foot is beginning to lift. Most of my weight is on my front foot at impact. So………. my impact position is NOT the same as the setup setup position, His is and therein lies his problem.

Now the fix and the video to show you.
I’ve put myself in the impact position. The hips have turned, The weight is mostly on my front foot and my hands are ahead (slightly) of the ball. From there, I want to drag the club along the mat as the arms rotate. Do that a few times and then hit one. You don;t want a full follow through – just a cut off one so you can see where you finish. Your body should have turned way left and your arms rotated to the point of crossing over. Pause the video at impact and see what I mean.

Wedge trajectory

The question has been asked about how to control the trajectory of the wedges.

“Easingwold6 Jan 8

8 can’t chip 🙂

He says he can’t so therefore…..
This is the video he sent me. It’s not that bad and with a few simple changes, he can make this work!

The first is chipping with a turn. We know the putting with loft and I think that is the best way and I may add to this tomorrow with a video just on that, but 8 is already half doing this, so better we stick with the devil we know:-)

First up 8 – you don’t have enough weight on your left foot or shaft lean. Second is that your backswing is way to short and follow through, too long. the other way around mate. This movement HAS TO COME FROM THE SHOULDERS. Stand there and rock your shoulders back and through. If you do, your backswing will be longer than the through. This is what you have to find.
One good thought is that the clubhead is coming from high to low.

Now the fix…..

I have stuck an alignment rod into the end of a sandwedge – sorry baby….
Watch the through swing. The shaft (both of them) stay with my left arm through the follow through. If you scoop or flip it, it will go behind you as demonstrated. The trick here, is to keep the left arm moving and connected. It stops and you are dead.
Watch below and see how my left arm does not stop and most important, nor does my chest!!!

Now this is what happens when you don’t 🙂

Pitching.

One thing that one must always, always do, is keep your chest turning. The other is to keep the left arm connected to the side of your chest. Allow – please! to let the left elbow fold so the arm can stay connected. Put an old glove under you left armpit and keep it there! Most of all turn!!!!!!

______________________________

Tugoo 14 October 2013

Ernie is a player and you only have to watch the video to see that, but he asked for some input – so …..
Ernie’s problem is an over the top move which produces a pulled shot. How much it goes left is determined by how clever he is with his hands. Good players have clever hands and that is why they nearly always pull it rather than slice it, as most high handicappers will. The result may be different but the cause is the same – a club that is moving from out to in, in the downswing rather than the correct path which is from in to in. If you look at the pic on the left below – the red lines are his backswing plane. The club is clearly outside the highest of those lines coming down. As a result of that, his body has stopped – see right pic below. Look at how still his legs are and how the hips have no rotation. At impact the left hip and knee should have moved at least 4 inches laterally toward the target and the hips should be around 45 degrees open to the target. None of that has happened and that’s why his hands are hitting the ball and not the body, as should be. If the clubface is square to the target line – he gets a pull – open and it will be a slice. Still with me so far Wendy? 🙂

Now I think that Ernie can fix a lot of this very simply.
He is setting up with the ball in the heel (irons too) of the driver and that is a huge no no with today’s drivers. If anything it should be a little toward the toe. What all that means that he is effectively way too close to the ball. He is also setting up with his weight more towards the heels which is a result of being too close and jammed up.  He also has the driver 6 inches behind the ball – which may well produce a lateral move in the takeaway.
Too close in the setup will mean that he will be either outside in or stuck in the downswing. Either way the left hip won’t clear and the hands will have to do the work. Loss of distance and inconsistent ball flight will always be the result. 

As far as the backswing is concerned – Ernie has a funky move with his left shoulder in the the takeaway in that it goes up an inch or two instead of level of even a little under in the first little bit of the move away. (Think Kenny Perry here). What this move does (coupled with the club being so far behind the ball)  is make him sway off the ball a little more than he would like. It also has him over rotating the hips a little going back as well.

The fix

Get your setup sorted E. That’s where most of your problems are. The shoulder rotation in the takeaway needs an easy drill where you put a club across your chest in your setup. Now turn till the shaft is over your right foot and pointed down. If you are maintaining the same spine angle while doing so – you are doing it right.
Check out the pick below. The lines are your setup angles. Look how much you have come out of them – that’s the funky shoulder take away causing that.
Read the bum against the wall drill I gave Easy and Chevy – that will help plenty.

_________________

You have all seen Easy’s very “easy” swing and a good one it is too.

He asked me to provide some input re his swing and also how his dodgy shoulder was affecting his swing. So here goes……

Right – set up from down the line first.

Easy, your shoulders are open to your stance. There a a couple of reasons why this happens, but the most common is that the right arm is too straight or it is above the left in the address position – it also creates a hump in your spine. See how high your right shoulder is compared to Woods? That’s a tell tale sign.

When you stand behind a Tour Player, you will see a little of the left forearm above the right and not the other way around. See how you can see a lot of your glove hand – you can’t see as much with Woods.

When that happens the right arm wants to stay above the left right right through your swing (flying elbow ring a bell? :-)) and there in lies your problem……….. from that backswing position, you will come over the top. You have great hands and you manage to save it a lot of the time, but from time to time, especially if you want to hit it hard, it will go left – more so with the short irons. The longer clubs, you will either pull it or hit a big pull slice.
And…. yes, you are too much on your toes in your setup. Feel like you are dripping the ground with all of your foot. Being on your toes in your setup is fatal for those who come over it.

From the front view, you can clearly see that your right arm is way higher than your left and as a result, your hands (and ball) are a long way left of centre. Again, check out Woods. He is very neutral. The triangle of his hands, arms, shoulders and chest are very much in the centre of his body.

Easy, you have to bend your right arm a little in towards your hip – NOT OUT, but in!

wp-att-6823″>

Three quarters of the way back and it becomes apparent that your right arm is way above your left. You can’t even see Woods right arm in this shot. This is restricting your shoulder turn and causing more of a slide of the right hip, rather than a turn.

Here is the result. The yellow lines are your backswing  planes – all good!

The downswing plane however, has changed – it’s in red. Woods is slightly under the backswing plane – you are outside it or…. over the top. This is a direct result of your right arm being too “high” in the setup and backswing.

From the front view, you can see the difference in the right arm positions. Woods has his elbow in his pocket. Your right arm has straightened too soon. From there, it’s all a matter of how good your hands are. You have good hands, but they can’t save you every time.

Luke Donald this time. Look at his right foot. It is rolling toward the target which means he is turning his left side out of the way and not sliding as you are when you are up on the toe. You can see both cheeks of Luke’s butt, but not one of yours. That’s the result of you sliding your right hip in your takeaway. When you do that, you will slide in the through swing.

Easy, most of this could be fixed up softening or bending your right arm in your set up and therefor, having the shoulders square to the target. If nothing else, you will be starting from a position that is doable.

C’mon Easy – show us your butt!!!!

______________

Start at the start shall we?

Chevy, your alignment is way out of wack. Your feet and knees are aiming way right while your shoulders are parallel to your clubhead and target line.
That puts you at odds straight off. Look at Ernie Els – everything is parallel to his target line. Build your setup around your club head – always, and everything needs to match.

3/4 back

Here you can see that the club has got way too far behind you. Ernie’s hands are still in the centre of his chest. Yours are outside your body. You need to feel like you are just turning to shake hands with someone in a direct line behind you. When you get the club so far behind, your shoulder plane becomes very flat, which can cause you to “raise up” in your backswing.

Keep your arms and club in front of you!

Over the top

Here is the result of you being inside going back. You can’t come back the way you went up, so you are forced to “come over it’. You do a damn good job  of saving it with your hands, but all those compensations will cost you power and control.

4th parallel 

Notice how Badds has full extension of both arms down the line, while your are pulling into your chest and going left fast. There is your pull. Your hands flip and the clubhead shuts down. If you don’t flip it, you will slice the ears of it. This is the result of the path coming from outside in. It’s all a chain reaction big fella!

Almost there

Ernie is still in the original posture he started with, you have come out of it. This has nothing to with “keeping your head down” but everything to do with the path of the club. It goes across your body so quick, it pulls you up and out of it and there isn’t much you can do about it.

Now here is what you need to do…….

1 Get yourself square to the target in your setup. When you practice – ALWAYS have something on the ground to check that.  Every good player on the planet has something down when they practice to make sure of their alignment.

2 Get the club more in front of you in the backswing. Shaking hands with someone is a good image. So is swinging a bucket of water back and through.

3. Practice that three quarter finish as a drill. You want the clubhead as far away from your right shoulder as you can get it in that finish position.

Wam. This is what I am talking about when making a “box” with the right arm and shaft. If you do that you will create the width you want and need. Forget about trying to make your left arm straight – make the box with the right and the left arm will be fully extended. It will also make your turn your shoulders more.
One thing though, you want the arms “in front of you” in the backswing.

See the photo above and take note of how the right elbow is in front of his right hip and not behind it.

_____________________________________________________

8 March….
Chevy update….. When I get some time, I will find the old and compare them. In the meantime….

 

Chevy, this is better. You are no where near as inside as your were three weeks ago. You still need to do what I said on the Cadillac thread though and get the left shoulder working more underneath you in the take away. Have a look at Cambo. the clubhead is way above the original plane line. That’s extreme, but what you need to feel

Check out Cambo’s shoulder plane – way steeper than yours. Look too at his hip turn. Half as much as yours. When the shoulders over rotate, so too do the hips. That takes the club and arms too far behind you. You can that that Cambo has half as much hip turn and you also can’t see as much of his chest as you can of yours.

Overall though – much more betterer!!!

_________________________

Late March update

Posture Chevy – posture! Stick your butt out mate and get all of your feet gripping the ground – not your toes. Being on your toes is a sure fire recipe for coming over the top. Sticking your butt should get you more in the centre of your feet and will also engage your core muscles more. Look at the definition in Ernie’s spine v yours. His butt is touching the bottom of the line – yours is not. This is incredibly important for the health of your back and the well being of your golf swing!!

Much better, especially so as this is driver and the plane is flatter than the irons. Well done Chevy. Still a little flat in the shoulder plane because your right shoulder is too far behind you still. You need to feel the right shoulder stay much more out in front in your takeaway, but all the same – better!

Now half way down. A little better, but still the shaft is too much in front of you and over the top. You can’t see E’s left leg here, but you can yours. You can also see his right butt cheek starting to appear.. In other words, his lower body is leading far more than yours. Have a look at his right elbow,,, it is under the left, whereas yours is above. Go Skip some stones! The bottom half has to initiate the downswing.

Impact and where it matters. E’s right shoulder is way lower than yours and we can see both cheeks of his butt. Your right shoulder is too far out in front still which means the shaft is coming across the target line and not going down it. Skip some stones!!!!!

This shows the difference. E has far more compression of the right side past impact where you have come out of it. See your right elbow? You shouldn’t 🙂  This is why you are struggling right now, When your body is in this position, you are flipping it with your hands. Slice, hook, top and all in between.

Now the good news is that your backswing is way better. You need to work hard at getting the transition working properly. You have to start down with weight going back to the heel of your left foot – hard to do if you are on your toes in the setup. The stone skipping thing is a serious drill.Do it and it will help – promise 🙂