please help!!!

[BrianW]

Re: please help!!!

Thanks again BrianW and Keiko;
It's funny how everyone in golf seems to refer back to Hogan's "Five lessons" book so often. Guess it's time to get a copy and reread it.


Interestly, I've never 'zeroed in' on that "long narrow" part before-now it's starting to make more sense! Without really thinking about it I was imagining a triangle with 3 equal sides-HUGE DIFFERENCE, especially with those elbows tucked in-the arc should get bigger and the arms should hinge better.
BUT doesn't keeping the arms between the shoulders shorten the swing and then, can you actually generate more power by doing this?


Great stuff, terrific site!!!!
...Wil

If your arms move away from your chest it means you are bowing or chicken winging them, this is a major power leak and creates hooks or slices depending which arm pushes out.

No! it does not shorten the swing. Try this backswing drill:

First take your normal set up position using say a 7 iron, with both hands gripping the club hinge your wrists lifting the club head up and laying it on your right shoulder. With the shaft resting on your right shoulder turn or rotate your hips and shoulders away until the grip end of the shaft is pointing almost directly opposite from your target. Now extend both arms lifting the club out of your shoulders until your left arm is almost straight.

You will now be in a full backswing position with your arms in the centre of your chest

[msklar92]

Re: please help!!!

I was also struggling with my driver. all i can tell you is what has helped me. 1st, to make sure my shoulders were turned i think more about pulling back my right shoulder (i'm righty) 2cd i was taking back my club face too shut. the club head should rotate to a square position going back. the final thought is that if you are topping the ball your left wrist is bent at impact (trying to lift the ball ) rather than flat. to get the feel of this, try a hinge and hold approach, much like a wedge. Ie, hinge the driver back off the getgo then make an abbreviated swing foward so that the club and the left arm form a straight line past the ball. youll be surprised at the distance you get with this abbreviated swing. make sure you keep your hands moving through the ball like a wedge shot. the kiss of death is if you stop the hands and the club passes them at impact. the left wrist bends, the club head goes up and result is a top. as you get comfortable with this you can move to release the club with a fuller swing. you may want to try this first with a wedge and the work up to longer clubs. If your unsure what I'm talking about, check out Phil Mickelsons secrets of the short game. he goes into the hinge and hold methold in detail. although he focuses on 50 yards in, much of the approach also applies to the long game.

[canadian_man_44]

Re: please help!!!

Great Video Brian. This guy gives a perfect video description of the 3/4 backswing.

Wil,
If you're getting a lot of pain doing a 90 degree shoulder turn then the 3/4 limited turn golf swing should be perfect for you. I turned(no pun intended) to it because I pulled a back muscle while working years ago and no matter how much I work out it still comes back to haunt me if I use a regular golf swing. Anyway, one of the keys to taking pain out of the golf swing is to limit some of the variables like the full shoulder turn and the torsion it puts on your back. You can accomplish this by using Don Trahan's Peak Performance Golf Swing. Take a look at his site. Look at the free videos he provides. If you're a person that suffers from back pain like I do, you won't regret at least testing it out. As simple as this swing looks, I never lost any distance from the regular golf swing....in fact, I actually gained some yardage. My seven iron used to be dead on at 150 yards and I'm now hitting it 165. It does take a little getting used to, and you're going to hit some bad shots for sure in the beginning, but, after a few buckets of balls you'll be hitting them pure and accurate....without the back pain.

[Ringer]

Re: please help!!!

Without seeing your swing, I am afraid I have to just give you some general advice.

The best way to get your mind back to being able to handle this club is to pick shorter targets. Grab your driver and see if you can just knock it to the shortest flag on the range. Once you get it on line with the first flag and it doesn't go more than 20 yards past the flag, pick the shortest flag. Do the same thing over and over again until you get to the longest flag with some reasonable control.

This is a very good way of establishing in your mind that you CAN hit the ball in the center of the clubface.

[Wil]

Re: please help!!!

Keiko: Thanks for that "Inside Approach" suggestion. It's easy to find on the internet and it looks like a great tool for Mike and many of us who are struggling to simplify our golf swings.....Wil

[keiko]

Re: please help!!!

Wil, I have used this device with many students and friends over the years and they are amazed how something so simple can produce such great results. I of course have no other agendas here with regard to the inside approach except to say they sold millions of them and it really works. Even as a low handicapper, I still take it to the range sometimes when I want to work on tempo and swing path. I have seen folks who never did anything but hit weak slices or big bananas, start hitting draws and straight drives.
The key here is to stay "in the shot" and allow the club and body to do the work without forcing anything.
When someone doesn't have confidence with a particular shot or club, they will typically pull up and out before impact which only adds to the lack of confidence when they see more bad shots.
Thanks for giving me your feedback.

Keiko: Thanks for that "Inside Approach" suggestion. It's easy to find on the internet and it looks like a great tool for Mike and many of us who are struggling to simplify our golf swings.....Wil

[Wil]

Re: please help!!!

Just noticed Page #2 with more replies-man, that 7 iron/right shoulder demo 'nails it' for me. I'll meld that with a 3/4 swing then, look out!
Thanks all...Wil

[rogue]

Re: please help!!!

Brian, sometimes a full shoulder turn is a big power leak for a lot of people, unless they are very flexible. They can over coil the muscles.

This does depend how its done obviously, but for some people if there is too big a separation between hips and shoulder turn it can lead to loss of power. Sometimes a player is more powerful with a 70 dgree shoulder turn and retains their control.

[BrianW]

Re: please help!!!

Brian, sometimes a full shoulder turn is a big power leak for a lot of people, unless they are very flexible. They can over coil the muscles.

This does depend how its done obviously, but for some people if there is too big a separation between hips and shoulder turn it can lead to loss of power. Sometimes a player is more powerful with a 70 dgree shoulder turn and retains their control.

My comments were answering a question about keeping the arms connected and in-front of the chest, I did not suggest that you must make a large shoulder turn.

[rogue]

Re: please help!!!

Brian,
I apologise, i misinterpreted your 'full and committed shoulder turn'. Just wanted to clear it up as lots of amateurs think that they MUST get to 90 degrees or more with their shoulders, and MUST get the club to parallel without any logical reason for it.

Its just that after Jim Mclean, everyone is trying to do this swing and get as much separation as possible, and ruining their chances of creating power and consistency. I agree with your views on keeping arms in front of body, although this is a much more advanced thing for players to work on. Hogan 'felt' like he did this, but in actuality his arms showed some degree of separation, adding to the power. There has to be a balance between connectedness and separation, again its usually a trade off of conistency and power, but we must take into account build of players also.