cypressperch
Well-Known Member
First, I know that I will come across as a know-it-all to some out there. I participated in the Golf Digest instruction forum for years, but for whatever reason, it was terminated. My computer has been stored for months while my wife and I moved back to Louisiana. I was told by a lot of people that I had helped their games, and I got a kick out of doing that and hearing that. It is just by accident that I have found this Shot Talk place, and I hope you guys do not mind if I attempt to help those who might be in need. I am trying to help. I have been at this game almost 50 years, and during that time I have developed almost every problem thinkable and worked out of them. I have read a lot on golf, and a lot of what I write is from having read about and researched different aspects of the game and then applied them. No, I never made the Tour, but at 60, my index is 4 and falling. But I am one of those who probably does teach better than I do. (Someone one said, "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." I was a teacher and a coach for thirty years, but I have to admit, that there is some truth in that saying.) And yes, I do ramble, and I need to get to a point. Got the ol' Mad Cow. Bad stuff.
My favorite expert on the swing is John Jacobs. One of the points he makes that I find very true is that in our attempt to hit the ball straight, many who take up golf try to get their clubface to square up on the target line very early and then keep in there too long. The result is an overly straight swing path. Actually, their goal is seldom achieved, and the real result is often a glancing blow often with an open clubface producing a slice. The slice is certainly the most common error with beginning golfers, and the attempt to produce an overly straight clubhead path is a major producer of slices.
Golf is full of contradictions. The most obvious is probably that if you want to hit the ball far and straight you should loosen up and swing more easily. Likewise, if you want to hit the ball straight, your club head will follow a rounded path. Indeed, there is a flattened area as the club face gets square to the line, impacts the ball, and continues on line through the ball. But that flattened area is not nearly as long as some would think. Though it has that flattened area, the path made by the clubhead is far more circular than straight.
Trying to produce a straight clubhead path is a very unnatural action physically. It usually ends up with the golfer having to manipulate the club so much that swinging freely and forcefully is impossible.
One should stay "connected" during the swing. Connection is having the arms synchronized to the trunk of the body during the swing. Vjay's "head covers in the armpits" drill insures connection. If the arms stray away from the body, the covers fall. Keeping the elbows close together, as Hogan advised, helps to accomplish connection.
If we maintain connection and then coil our shoulders on the back-swing until our back faces the target, the club face will automatically and naturally open up. The clubhead will move on the target line and then come inside the target line, as it should, and this will be automatic.
So, as we coil back, the arms move to the right and then up. Coming down, the arms will start to come down when the the back is still facing the target. (Let me say at this point, that the last statement I wrote is perhaps the most important idea in all of this. STARTING THE ARMS DOWN WHILE THE BACK IS STILL FACING THE TARGET ALLOWS YOU TO GET THE CLUB IN POSITION TO ATTACK THE BALL FROM THE INSIDE. IF YOU DO NOT DO THIS, YOU GO OVER THE TOP, COME OUTSIDE TO INSIDE AT TOO STEEP AN ATTACK ANGLE, AND HIT A SLICE. IF YOU MANAGE TO SQUARE THE CLUBFACE TO THE BALL, YOU HIT A SOLID PULL. So start the arms down with the back still facing the target. Do not be in a hurry to get back to the ball or you will not be bringing the arms down first. As the shoulders uncoil, if you stay connected, the club face will naturally close until it is square to the target line.
Thinking about swinging through the ball is enough to flatten out the bottom of your swing. But please remember this. It is a very small fraction of a second that the ball is on the clubface. It is gone almost as soon as it is hit. There is nothing you can do to change its course. So let the clubhead come inside the target line as a Natural response to the rotating shoulders. Accelerate through impact and come on up to a full finish in which your chest is facing the target. Remember, at the top of the back-swing your back faced the target. At the completion of the swing you are looking at the target.
I have left out the role of the hips. The purpose of this writing is to point out that if allowed to, the shoulder turn will produce the correct clubhead path. That path will be very rounded. But it will get the club face square to the target line and produce straight shots. Since this is a natural swing, you will be able to swing forcefully and with greater confidence. The results will be consistency, accuracy, and plenty of distance.
If any of this does not work for you, I will gladly give you a double your money back refund for any money that I have received. Hope this helps some of you with your game. Sincerely, Cypressperch
My favorite expert on the swing is John Jacobs. One of the points he makes that I find very true is that in our attempt to hit the ball straight, many who take up golf try to get their clubface to square up on the target line very early and then keep in there too long. The result is an overly straight swing path. Actually, their goal is seldom achieved, and the real result is often a glancing blow often with an open clubface producing a slice. The slice is certainly the most common error with beginning golfers, and the attempt to produce an overly straight clubhead path is a major producer of slices.
Golf is full of contradictions. The most obvious is probably that if you want to hit the ball far and straight you should loosen up and swing more easily. Likewise, if you want to hit the ball straight, your club head will follow a rounded path. Indeed, there is a flattened area as the club face gets square to the line, impacts the ball, and continues on line through the ball. But that flattened area is not nearly as long as some would think. Though it has that flattened area, the path made by the clubhead is far more circular than straight.
Trying to produce a straight clubhead path is a very unnatural action physically. It usually ends up with the golfer having to manipulate the club so much that swinging freely and forcefully is impossible.
One should stay "connected" during the swing. Connection is having the arms synchronized to the trunk of the body during the swing. Vjay's "head covers in the armpits" drill insures connection. If the arms stray away from the body, the covers fall. Keeping the elbows close together, as Hogan advised, helps to accomplish connection.
If we maintain connection and then coil our shoulders on the back-swing until our back faces the target, the club face will automatically and naturally open up. The clubhead will move on the target line and then come inside the target line, as it should, and this will be automatic.
So, as we coil back, the arms move to the right and then up. Coming down, the arms will start to come down when the the back is still facing the target. (Let me say at this point, that the last statement I wrote is perhaps the most important idea in all of this. STARTING THE ARMS DOWN WHILE THE BACK IS STILL FACING THE TARGET ALLOWS YOU TO GET THE CLUB IN POSITION TO ATTACK THE BALL FROM THE INSIDE. IF YOU DO NOT DO THIS, YOU GO OVER THE TOP, COME OUTSIDE TO INSIDE AT TOO STEEP AN ATTACK ANGLE, AND HIT A SLICE. IF YOU MANAGE TO SQUARE THE CLUBFACE TO THE BALL, YOU HIT A SOLID PULL. So start the arms down with the back still facing the target. Do not be in a hurry to get back to the ball or you will not be bringing the arms down first. As the shoulders uncoil, if you stay connected, the club face will naturally close until it is square to the target line.
Thinking about swinging through the ball is enough to flatten out the bottom of your swing. But please remember this. It is a very small fraction of a second that the ball is on the clubface. It is gone almost as soon as it is hit. There is nothing you can do to change its course. So let the clubhead come inside the target line as a Natural response to the rotating shoulders. Accelerate through impact and come on up to a full finish in which your chest is facing the target. Remember, at the top of the back-swing your back faced the target. At the completion of the swing you are looking at the target.
I have left out the role of the hips. The purpose of this writing is to point out that if allowed to, the shoulder turn will produce the correct clubhead path. That path will be very rounded. But it will get the club face square to the target line and produce straight shots. Since this is a natural swing, you will be able to swing forcefully and with greater confidence. The results will be consistency, accuracy, and plenty of distance.
If any of this does not work for you, I will gladly give you a double your money back refund for any money that I have received. Hope this helps some of you with your game. Sincerely, Cypressperch