Swing Drills?

[Sandpiper3]

Hey, i have a question for a drill that might help me.

THE PROBLEM--> my backswing all the way to the top is about perfect (thats y its taken so long to notice wats wrong, my playing partners only watch up until the top of my swing apparently..), then once i start my downswing, my hips just rip way ahead of my arms, so at impact my hips are already past pointing at the target (yea... pretty extreme). I try to just hold my hips during my swing, but that just screws it up more (other parts have to move instead). then if i try to get my arms around faster, that just makes it worst. (btw this is resulting in BIG slices, i played corey pavin golf at my tourney a few weeks ago because of this slice, a couple holes i aimed down the hole besides me, it was kinda embarrassing to have to hit those shots over the kids in the next fw).

Anyone have any ideas what i could try to get my hands/arms keep up to my hips, OR slow down my hips to let the rest of my body keep up?

Thx, Stooj

[Eracer]

I suspect that the real problem is not that your hips move too fast, but that your arms are disconnected from your torso. Practice at the range with a glove tucked under your left armpit. Keep it there throughout the swing, until the follow-through. When it falls out it should be well left of the target line.

Another good drill would be to hit balls with your feet together.

Yet another would be to hit 30-yard wedge shots using your left hand only. Choke up a bit and practice a rhythmic swing. Do this drill fairly early in your session, as it's really hard to do with tired muscles.

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

Yeah, actually the hips do get out in front, and will be left of the target. If you're slicing, the problem is more likely what Eracer has suggested, your arms are coming loose from your body, and your clubhead is coming into much too far from the outside, thus cutting across the back of the ball, and putting slice spin on the shot.

Trying to hold your hips as a remedy is the worst possible thing you could do here.

I'm not too sure of drills to suggest, the issue here for you may be better addressed by finding a good instructor, or if you've got the aptitude to think hard and have a decent feel for your body's positioning, reading a book like Hogan's 5 Lessons and developing an understanding of those. A video camera could be helpful too, because sometimes it can help us see things that are bodies aren't aware of. But that can be a slow path of improvement, and I don't recommend being an auto-didact to everyone.

Another thing you might want to do just reassure your own mind about this is find some video of swings by professional golfers, especially video where you can see how their hips get out in front and left of the target by impact.

[Sandpiper3]

Thx alot for the ideas. As you were saying RBB, i do in fact have a swing coach fyi, and am very knowledgable about the golf swing in general, and even moreso on my swing, so wat i said is exactly wat is going wrong with it. Also have seen my swing, wat you guys are saying makes more sense, that my arms are disconnected from my swing. I knew that the hips are suppost to go through creating power, but it just felt a little extreme as the rest of my body seemed to be way behind. I also watch pros swings on video regularly, my coach and i have looked at diff pros swings, and there are certain parts i take out of each and "incorporate" (i use ".." because its not exact the same) them into my swing.

Trying to hold your hips as a remedy is the worst possible thing you could do here.

I found that quite funny. Making bad things worst i guess Also, wat does auto-didact mean?

[Sandpiper3]

Thx for the suggested drills eracer, will keep them in mind when i get a chance to practise (hopefully this weekend, b4 my new job starts tues.).

[papperlapub]

Hi sandpiper,

I had exactly the same problem in the beginning of this season. Came very early with my hips (especially on my drives , which i still work on) and snap the ball like a wip! I got help from one of the best pros i have ever met! And the (really easy) solution was, that it was in my mind!

Like you i have watched many golf swings and have a very good feeling for my body positioning. The arms were a little loose of the corso, too, but that was not my big problem.

My release was totaly F.U. Because I was not sure of my swing I did not release my wrists. So as a training exercise I had to swing with a utterly big release. Just to get the feeling for it. First you play some draws or maybe hookes, but very soon (second day on the driving range) My ballflight improved tremendiously, and also my hips were not fast anylonger.

It was very weird in the beginning, but hitting balls with a "overrelease" helped me a lot.

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

An auto-didact is someone who is self-taught in an area of learning or study.

[Sandpiper3]

How exactly did you do this "over-releasing"? Is it just speeding the wrists up to the point of that your snaphooking everything?

[ThatCanadianGuy]

Sandpiper, I have come across this problem a few times.

Something I do when my tempo goes wacko is I do the drill eraser suggested with the feet together but I also do another one.

Take your normal stance, Swing the club like you normally would but don’t let your heels come off the ground. Ever. Your feet should stay perfectly on the ground and not be wiggling around either. You have to swing slow, and keep your chest over the ball to hit a solid shot.

It seems to help me a little bit, might want to give it a try.


-ThatCanadianGuy