Width at the top...please help!!!!

[golbourng]

I am after some tips or drills create width at the top of my swing.
I have been told that I need to keep my hands further away from my right shoulder at the top as currently I collapse and overswing a little.

I would be extremely grateful if anyone could advise me on a feeling I should notice when I in this position and a drill that helps me to create this. I play off 5 and want to work on this over the winter ready for next season.

Any advice would be appreciated, Mank thanks. GG

[Ian Hancock]

Re: Width at the top...please help!!!!

GG,
I may be able to help with a little tip that works for me.

Stand in your set up position you head being 12 o'clock and feet being 6 o'clock, now start your backswing and stop at 8 o'clock from this position simply cock your wrists and point your thumbs to the sky and then turn to the top. If you do this correct you should be at full width on perfect plane.

Hope this helps

Ian.

[LowPost42]

Re: Width at the top...please help!!!!

I can't envision how your hands would get close unless you were letting the lead elbow (left for a RH golfer) break down and bend.

[golbourng]

Re: Width at the top...please help!!!!

Understood, I think my left arm does breakdown slightly as well, but that is a knock on effect of my overall tempo being fairly quick, causing me to bend the left arm slightly and then overswing, I find I lose all timing when I slow it down though.

[Ian Hancock]

Re: Width at the top...please help!!!!

Lowpost,

It appears to me that he is already at full extention then by overswinging and collapsing the wrists this then narrows the swing. As GG is discovering overswinging is ok when your confident but not always the most consistant swing.


With the drill I have explained it should be very difficult to overswing because your shoulder should slot under your chin once on plane it is very difficult to overturn your shoulders and when you point your thumbs to the sky you then just turn the shoulders, hense no overswing.

Ian.

[golbourng]

Re: Width at the top...please help!!!!

Ian,


Thansk for the advice.

[gord962]

Re: Width at the top...please help!!!!

What works for me is very similar to what Ian has described.

Make your turn 3 distinct movements and stop after each movement. Bring your club back to parallel with the ground. While doing this, you want to have the feeling like you are pushing your club away from your body. Next, cock your wrists to 90* and last rotate your shoulders. As this movement becomes comfortable, take the stop out between each movement. As that becomes for fluent, speed the drill up until you have reached a nice relaxed speed for a backswing.

[LowPost42]

Re: Width at the top...please help!!!!

If it's a wrist breakdown, try this: Get a comb ( <$1 at any drugstore), and put it under your watch on your left hand (for a RH golfer). On your backswing, DON'T BEND THE COMB. This helps keep the wrist flat.

[Mizunoman]

Re: Width at the top...please help!!!!

To achieve maximum width at the top of your swing, as soon as you get to the point in the backswing where you have to start the wrist cock try and lift the club as high as you can away from your shoulders. Combine this with a good wrist cock and you should find it very hard to collapse from this position. Get a friend to make sure that your hands dont 'fall over the top' when you reach the top of the swing.

I assume you want more width for more distance (most golfers do). Although I would counsel caution, a far more efficient way of increasing distance without such a wholesale swing change is simply to improve your hip turn away from the ball. This will create greater leverage and clubhead speed as well as saving you the potentially soul crushing experience of your accuracy going all to pot, as can happen when you widen your swing. The beauty of this technique is that you can start throwing the hips through the ball and as long as you keep your hands behind the hips you shouldn't have too much trouble.

Another thing I would say is that, if you are a 5 handicapper I can't imagine distance to be a problem. Consider the following:

1.) Course management : take time to measure your club distances and invest in a course planner for every course you play. Now when you face a shot you know pretty accurately the distance the ball has to travel and the club needed to cover this distance (tip: aim to land the ball past the hole not at it).
2.) Putting : Practice putting intensely, drop balls 2 to 3 feet away from the hole at random spots around a hole. Now read each one and try and hole them in turn. Do this until you hole five in a row. Then move onto 6 footers then onto 10 footers. once you can do one of these regularly on the first try, move onto ten putts holed and so on and so on.
3.) Chipping : drop 5 balls around your practice green and go for a different hole with each ball. Practice your distance control until you can get the ball within 2 feet of the hole five out of five.

I accept that these measures aren't as much fun as watching a ball fizz away after giving it a good thump with the driver. They might seem to take more time than pounding 100 balls into the blue, but they are the fastest way to lower scores and I guarantee that you will shave a couple of shots off your scores if you practice these three points regularly (no refunds though).

I apologise if you are already the worlds greatest course manager, putter and chipper and if so go ahead and adjust your swing. But I'm betting you can improve these first and would urge you to give it a try. I speak from a position of strength here as a couple of seasons ago I tried exactly the same thing. It took me a year and a half to get the new swing right. I admit it shaved a couple of shots off but it took a long time and a lot of lost drives to get it right. At the start of this season a really low handicap (+1) friend told me about the three points above and within a few weeks(!!!) I had taken another shot off my handicap and by the end of the season I had made the last four of every competition and won three medals and a couple of lowest gross prizes.

Good luck whatever you decide,

D.