My lower body is out racing my upper body, that's what

[Mulligan Al]

the pro said when I took a lesson today. I'm a tennis player of some 30+ years so I have a very fast lower body. My question is how do I get my upper body timed to line up with my lower body at impact.

The pro said I should practice with an impact bag, but are there also other drills that will help the timing of my lower and upper body, (with the impact bag and without)?

[TeachingPro]

Re: My lower body is out racing my upper body, that's what

Yeah, there's an easy way to fix it - speed up your upper body! [Very funny!]

Well, it depends on how much your lower body is outracing your chest and shoulders. Take Tiger for example there's a huge timing difference on his 'bad' shots where the lower body has passed the ball already and his chest and right shoulder haven't got close to the golf ball.

Um, impact bag isn't going to help you that much for a number of reasons but most of all, it stops the golf club so you don't complete the action and your muscles expect the impact and start to brace for the impact way before it actually happens. In any event, your lower body will continue to out race the top half because the impact bag doesn't stop the body, it stops the club. It should actually be used for the other way around when the club outraces the body.

When you use an impact bag there's almost always a tendancy not use you your proper swing. Some swing analysists did testing on it 2003 and in almost all the cases there was a difference in the swing between the normal swing and impact bag swing. It's natural - your muscles know something is going to happen so they don't swing normally.

It's just going to take practice on the timing. Carry on using the audio CD and work on the timing. You just have to carry on working at it and it will fall into place.

Sometimes there is just no substitute for patience and hard work I'm afraid.

Post your swing and then I can see how 'bad' it is out and we'll see how I can help you. Maybe we can look at widening your stance to force your lower body to turn less? Maybe we can work with your feet and position them differently to force your 'flexor' muscles to become less active.

I'd rather work on those than waste time on an impact bag. Sorry, I don't mean to speak poorly of the pro you went to but it's my opinion.

[Mr_Change]

Re: My lower body is out racing my upper body, that's what

I did this for 5 months of play, and the longer the club the more lag behind I had, I would tee off the 1st hole and land in the 10th fairway. To correct this problem I use my left arm to start my downswing. I pull it down as hard as I can.

[Mizunoman]

Re: My lower body is out racing my upper body, that's what

Al, two suggestions the first follows on a bit from Mr Change. Use the left shoulder to time the swing. Make sure the shoulder gets all the way back before you bother coming down again. This will encourage a good full turn controlled by the upper body rather than the lower.


Secondly, get a friend to kneel behind you (well out of the clubpath of course) and put their right hand in your right pocket. The aim is that they stop your hips from releasing prematurely. After that its a matter of building muscle memory to groove the corrected motion.

All the best,

D.

ps also try and use less knee action in the swing to quieten your lower body. Make sure your feet dont lift too far off the ground at anytime during the swing or you lose your solid base and the body has no real anchor and can get away from itself....

[Mulligan Al]

Re: My lower body is out racing my upper body, that's what

Thanks guys, I'll be hitting the range today so I'll give these tips a try.

Also, in the down swing how active are your hips, or are they totally passive and the upper body just brings them around? I find myself firing with the left hip to start my move which is part of the reason the hips are so fast I think.

[TeachingPro]

Re: My lower body is out racing my upper body, that's what

The hips should be reasonably active. But, the left hip should push laterally for a few inches and then turn left.

Don't slow your hips or legs down. Work on getting your upper body to speed up. Seriously, that is the way to go.

[gord962]

Re: My lower body is out racing my upper body, that's what

Thanks guys, I'll be hitting the range today so I'll give these tips a try.

Also, in the down swing how active are your hips, or are they totally passive and the upper body just brings them around? I find myself firing with the left hip to start my move which is part of the reason the hips are so fast I think.

It is the hips that turn the upper body in the downswing.

This takes me back to one of your older threads. The reason I think your lower body is out racing your upper body is because you said you have a very quick backswing. If you do not get your club into the right position at the top of the backswing, you can end up starting your downswing with your lower body before your upper body is ready. I'm not saying your backswing should be so slow that a ground squirrel can sneak up and steal your ball, just slow enough that you can get properly set in the correct position at the top.

As for playing tennis, it really has nothing to do with golf. I played baseball for 15 years and hockey for the past 20 years - golf is a different sport with different movements. Yes, there are some similarities, but you have to disconnect the two. This is a mental block that you must clear. I took me a while, but no I can play all 3 sports in one day and do fine.

[Mulligan Al]

Re: My lower body is out racing my upper body, that's what

Yeah, there's an easy way to fix it - speed up your upper body! [Very funny!]

It's just going to take practice on the timing. Carry on using the audio CD and work on the timing. You just have to carry on working at it and it will fall into place.

Graham, I did what you suggested and I started to hit some really really good balls today. I finally realized that my club release was part of the problem also, so I started to release the club a little quicker and it eventually lined up with my hip speed for some really great shots. I also listened to the CD with headphones while hitting and it really started to click.

I only hope I can remember what I did right the next time I go out.

[pnearn]

Re: My lower body is out racing my upper body, that's what

This has been my bete noire for a long time too as well. I actually stopped playing for 2 weeks and then went back and worked it out and I think ive found my way of stopping it

Basically from the top of the downswing I was launching my lower body into the shot which meant my hips would slide violently, my right foot would raise off the floor, the club would get stuck behind me and I would hook/slice or on my worst days block and shank repeatedly

What Ive tried to work on is keeping the lower body still at the start of the downswing. To do this I imagine a line from my right foot, up through my sternum to my head. I tell myself that my right foot has to stay grounded and that whole part of my body must stay still as I use my arms to pull the club into a position where its parallel to the ground. From there I 'catch up' (i.e. apply some force) and I think its at that point that my arms reconnect to my body and the upper body turns through. Its really worked wonders for me IF i can get it right.

If you look at swing galleries of players you'll see most of the have their right foot still anchored at impact, if yours isnt thats a sign your lower body is too quick. So try keeping your right foot on the ground, your head and chest still and have a smooth accelaration into the back of the ball

Hope this helps

[Cliff]

Re: My lower body is out racing my upper body, that's what

Well Mulligan Al, you like most tennis players would I assume be very athletic through impact, tennis and golf alike have there similarities but in different proportions.

You know that positioning the body before you make a Tennis shot is about timing and the timing of the movements between upper and lower body must be in sync with each other, if not you miss hit the shot. Golf is no different.

Through practice and more practice you must retrain your body to work with what you have brought, you have in many ways an advantage over us. It is a know fact that a golfer must have an athletic stance in preparation for a good solid balanced swing. You have that already before you start to learn the great game of golf you lucky chap.

You also know that if you make a fast move at Tennis to volley a shot back over the net without the pure timing needed it will not happen.

Because the golf ball is stationary sitting on a nice tee peg folks think that it’s ready to be hit, and hit hard. I must admit even now I am tempted to do just that. But with practice and timing you will learn to make your golf swing as smooth as butter and still drive that ball a long way with accuracy to boot.

I had the pleasure of playing golf the other week with a pure novice of the game. On his first week out on the golf course.

I made it clear after the game, that a professional lessons is the only way to start the game of Golf, and recommended our Club pro to do the job, We talked for a short while, he asked me if I could explain a golf swing. I said how many hours have you got before you go to bed?

I said have you ever hit a nail into a piece of wood. He said sure. I then said, think about the wrist angle before you make contact. You would never release the head of the hammer past the hands before you hit the nail, no matter what angle you were hitting the nail at. Think of the club head the same way and release late not early.

Golf is about timing, the only trouble is we don’t give it time to happen!!

[Mr_Change]

Re: My lower body is out racing my upper body, that's what

Teach, when you say make the upper body speed up to catch the hips, isn't what I do by using my left arm to whip the club down doing this?

Or do you have other suggestions to fix this problems?

[Mulligan Al]

Re: My lower body is out racing my upper body, that's what

I said have you ever hit a nail into a piece of wood. He said sure. I then said, think about the wrist angle before you make contact. You would never release the head of the hammer past the hands before you hit the nail, no matter what angle you were hitting the nail at. Think of the club head the same way and release late not early.

Cliff, this is a great analogy, I can see where keeping this swing thought in mind could be very helpful.