Tweet
Can you swing your arms?
Can you shift your weight from side to side?
Then you can hit a golf ball. Straight, even.
I played a round at a new course with my stepdad this past weekend, and we were joined by a couple of young guys who work as assistant pros at a different course. Their swing was remarkable - their lower bodies were remarkably quiet during their takeaway, then they'd swing, and launch the ball a mile. Well, ok, not a mile, but 300 yard drives were the norm for these two. The other thing I noticed was how upright they were. In fact, the one young man barely flexed his knees at address (if it wasn't for shorts, I might have assumed that he was standing straight up).
I stood in awe of these guys, who's swing looked effortless, resulting in a huge distance, with a slight right to left movement (a gentle fade for these LH golfers).
It started me thinking, (as a student of the swing as it applies to my ability to hit the ball), what if I started taking aspects of their swing. The first thing I adapted was a more upright stance. Knees over toes, and shoulders just over knees and toes. How I figured out what this posture felt like was I would place my foot, knee and shoulder against a doorframe, and was amazed at how upright I was. My shoulders needed to be a touch more forward to make room for my arms to hold the club. The next step was to make a good shoulder turn - as close to 90 degrees as I could get. The nice thing was that without even thinking, my hips turned to 45 degrees. From the top of my backswing (my limited flexibility can only get my left arm to 9:00) I swung the club. I just swung the club at the ball - no thinking about elbows in pockets or wrist uncocking or turning hips. In fact, the I only kept two 'swing thoughts' in mind - good shoulder turn, and a concious effort to keep my hips on plane (to avoid standing up). Time after time, an upright position, a good shoulder turn (no thought as to where the lower body is), and a swing at the ball with hips on plane launched ball after ball at the target. (I hit balls in a field, and started pelting a tree 150 yards away.) When I didn't hit the tree exactly, I only missed by a few feet. Very exciting!
Well, the results came in after a half round at my local course: My first game under 100. (It's a nine hole course, and I shot 49). The only thing that I couldn't do was hit a good tee shot - 7 of 9 were skyed (but straight), one was pulled, and the other was topped. I found that peeking (lifting my head before impact) resulted immediately in a topped ball, while keeping my head down through impact resulted in clean contact. The other thing I noticed was that if I was too low (too much knee bend or too bent at the hips/waist) I hit it fat. But the accuracy was still amazing, and any time my alignment was out (including a closed or open clubface), the shot would bend. Occasionally, I'd get 'lucky', and have a closed clubface and be too bent over at the same time (creating an out to in swing path, and a great pull).
Just an observation (lengthy in detail), and some sharing of my success!
What makes this swing simple is that the only thing you have to worry about is standing tall, and making a good shoulder turn. Everything else seems to happen naturally, and automatically.
Can you shift your weight from side to side?
Then you can hit a golf ball. Straight, even.
I played a round at a new course with my stepdad this past weekend, and we were joined by a couple of young guys who work as assistant pros at a different course. Their swing was remarkable - their lower bodies were remarkably quiet during their takeaway, then they'd swing, and launch the ball a mile. Well, ok, not a mile, but 300 yard drives were the norm for these two. The other thing I noticed was how upright they were. In fact, the one young man barely flexed his knees at address (if it wasn't for shorts, I might have assumed that he was standing straight up).
I stood in awe of these guys, who's swing looked effortless, resulting in a huge distance, with a slight right to left movement (a gentle fade for these LH golfers).
It started me thinking, (as a student of the swing as it applies to my ability to hit the ball), what if I started taking aspects of their swing. The first thing I adapted was a more upright stance. Knees over toes, and shoulders just over knees and toes. How I figured out what this posture felt like was I would place my foot, knee and shoulder against a doorframe, and was amazed at how upright I was. My shoulders needed to be a touch more forward to make room for my arms to hold the club. The next step was to make a good shoulder turn - as close to 90 degrees as I could get. The nice thing was that without even thinking, my hips turned to 45 degrees. From the top of my backswing (my limited flexibility can only get my left arm to 9:00) I swung the club. I just swung the club at the ball - no thinking about elbows in pockets or wrist uncocking or turning hips. In fact, the I only kept two 'swing thoughts' in mind - good shoulder turn, and a concious effort to keep my hips on plane (to avoid standing up). Time after time, an upright position, a good shoulder turn (no thought as to where the lower body is), and a swing at the ball with hips on plane launched ball after ball at the target. (I hit balls in a field, and started pelting a tree 150 yards away.) When I didn't hit the tree exactly, I only missed by a few feet. Very exciting!
Well, the results came in after a half round at my local course: My first game under 100. (It's a nine hole course, and I shot 49). The only thing that I couldn't do was hit a good tee shot - 7 of 9 were skyed (but straight), one was pulled, and the other was topped. I found that peeking (lifting my head before impact) resulted immediately in a topped ball, while keeping my head down through impact resulted in clean contact. The other thing I noticed was that if I was too low (too much knee bend or too bent at the hips/waist) I hit it fat. But the accuracy was still amazing, and any time my alignment was out (including a closed or open clubface), the shot would bend. Occasionally, I'd get 'lucky', and have a closed clubface and be too bent over at the same time (creating an out to in swing path, and a great pull).
Just an observation (lengthy in detail), and some sharing of my success!
What makes this swing simple is that the only thing you have to worry about is standing tall, and making a good shoulder turn. Everything else seems to happen naturally, and automatically.
Comment