Excess body movement

[AlanN]

I'm sure that many of you can relate to this.

You are playing well when, suddenly, your game goes to hell in a handcart. I may be wrong but, I'm convinced that, for most of us, it's old ingrained swing faults that reappear. We thought we'd cured them but.........

I know that many amateurs suffer from excess upper body movement. Lifting up on the backswing and lowering in the downswing. When I focus on retaining my spine angle, often, I hit a pull hook because my weight doesn't transfer to the front foot correctly. I, also, have a tendency to lift up at impact (coming out of the shot)

The question. Is excess upper body movement and coming out early due to the same swing fault? If any of you can suggest a drill(s) to get rid of these faults, I (and my handicap) would be most appreciative. I'm fed up with being able to play well in patches.

Thanks

AlanN

[Mizunoman]

Re: Excess body movement

It doesn't sound like excess upper body movement, Alan, it sounds more like excess lower body movement. If you are coming 'up' on the ball it may mean that your knees are straightening as you swing causing you to alter your height through the shot which will lead to topping, thinning etc. The pull hook probbaly does come from the incorrect weight transfer.

The two things I would suggest you to work on are shifting the weight onto the balls of your feet rather than the heels. This should prevent you from being able to stand up as you swing, stopping you coming out of the shot.

The other thing would be to concentrate on touching under your chin with both shoulders. On the backswing you want to feel the left shoulder brush your chin and on the follow through dont let your head move through the ball by letting your right shoulder brush your chin. This will keep the centre of your body at adress position for the longest possible time, whilst also keeping the head nice and steady. The effect you are looking for is to keep the right shoulder behind the ball at all times. When I feel I am getting ahead of the ball too much I practice this drill to 'quieten' my upper body movement it always does the trick.

Best Of Luck.

D.

[AlanN]

Re: Excess body movement

Hi D,

Thanks very much for your answer. By a strange coincidence, soon after I posted my message, my youngest son phoned me and suggested we meet up at the driving range, tonight, to hit a few balls. He is a single figure handicapper who hits the ball a country mile.

Between the two of you, I think my swing problems have been corrected (fingers crossed).

Firstly, the lifting in the backswing, according to him, was due to my picking the club up, instead of the correct low takeaway. I worked on this and, as you suggested, getting my shoulders under my chin on back and through
swings. Without realising it, my swing plane had become too upright and my swing arc had narrowed, which may have caused me to come off the ball. There was no room to swing the club down correctly.

The end result of these adjustments was very gratifying. I started to hit the ball well. When I got the driver out, I concentrated on loading the weight on my back foot and really coiling away from the ball. On the downswing, I made a conscious effort to shift the weight fowards as I started the club down. I haven't hit the ball this long and straight for quite a while.

Thanks once again, D, for your input.

Alan