ground essentials

[shootin4par]

My journey in learning about the golf swing has brought me to my feet. I am working hard on swinging on the insides of my feet. This is something nickalous has talked about. In checking it out to see for myself I now realize that if you let the weight get outside of the inside of your feet on the downswing then you have a good chance of lunging past the ball and that is always been one of my flaws, even when playing my best golf. if the weight stays inside of the left foot then that keeps the head back, helps to post the left leg, and the lead shoulder can go back, up, and in, while the hands go through the ball. This will give you the snap at the ball. when the left foot gets planted then the energy travels upward to left calf, thigh, hip, mid sction, shoulder.

The only issue I have with his is I feel the hip motion being really retarded/restricted keeping the weight on the inside, and have the issue as well with chips and pitches. The more I learn about the golf swing the more I realize the basics of it are the most important. SOmeone here who has looked into the feet wanna add some insight?
thanks
neil

[Matt10]

Re: ground essentials

shootin, the idea of keeping my weight on the inside of my left side seems pretty hard - especially since I begin my downsing with rotating the hips aggressively.

Btw, I'm starting from scratch on my swing again, the whole AJ idea was great, but distances suffered. And I suppose if I want to reach my full potential, I best not take any shortcuts, so shootin and GTO, I'm once again your student

I watched the 8-step swing by Jim Mclean and practiced as best as I could on the driving range. Sadly, it was cold and there were only mats to hit on, but I feel lag in my swing and crisp contact - but no penetrating ball flight, which is what I want more than anything.

[Matt10]

Re: ground essentials

Cmays, I practiced hard yesterday and just focusing on footwork and balance. I started my swing with a shift to the left than right, sort of an ignition to start the swing, then turned around my right leg post. My arms and hands were completely passive and on the downswing they remained passive, even at contact.

My question should there be some sort initiated arm action on the downswing or should they just 'go along for the ride'? I hit some pretty crisp shots this way with, like I wrote above, an aggressive hip turn.

[shootin4par]

Re: ground essentials

thanks G1,
One thing in particular I have been working on lately is removing the lock of the hips, yeah freeing up the body is a big thing

some more questions
I went out today and from the top my objective was to push the weight DOWN on the front foot, not shift it over to the left but and actual down type of feeling, this helped me to not have to worry about the weight going on the outside of my left foot, I even tried this with chips. It seemed to keep me staying inside of my left leg. before I would feel the weight shift latterally, but today it was more like latteral and down at the same time. ALso seemed to keep my head back. How does this sound?

how do I keep the weight on the inside of my right foot on the backswing without doing some of the locks and blocks you talk about, mainly keeping the hips turning free

[BrianW]

Re: ground essentials

thanks G1,
One thing in particular I have been working on lately is removing the lock of the hips, yeah freeing up the body is a big thing

some more questions
I went out today and from the top my objective was to push the weight DOWN on the front foot, not shift it over to the left but and actual down type of feeling, this helped me to not have to worry about the weight going on the outside of my left foot, I even tried this with chips. It seemed to keep me staying inside of my left leg. before I would feel the weight shift latterally, but today it was more like latteral and down at the same time. ALso seemed to keep my head back. How does this sound?

how do I keep the weight on the inside of my right foot on the backswing without doing some of the locks and blocks you talk about, mainly keeping the hips turning free

Hi Shootin,

Please Ignore this if I have misunderstood the subject matter.

Nick Bradley has a great drill "The Step In Drill" for creating the right feel and understanding for weight transfer :

Set up with a narrow stance and the ball just forward of the left foot. Make a smooth back swing and just as you are about to reach the top of the backswing take a step to the left with the left foot so that it moves forward of the ball, continue with the downswing allowing the right side to hit through to a balanced finish. It give the correct feel of the weight transferring to the left side then the right following through.

[jamesh]

Re: ground essentials

"I watched the 8-step swing by Jim Mclean and practiced as best as I could on the driving range. Sadly, it was cold and there were only mats to hit on, but I feel lag in my swing and crisp contact - but no penetrating ball flight, which is what I want more than anything.[/quote]

Matt what did you think of Jim Mclean's video.... I thought it was really good, althought towards the end it got pretty technical. Not that that is a bad thing, I just have to advance in that direction.

I hope I wasn't too harsh on the AJ video - if it worked for you - teriffic.

James

[Matt10]

Re: ground essentials

"I watched the 8-step swing by Jim Mclean and practiced as best as I could on the driving range. Sadly, it was cold and there were only mats to hit on, but I feel lag in my swing and crisp contact - but no penetrating ball flight, which is what I want more than anything.

Matt what did you think of Jim Mclean's video.... I thought it was really good, althought towards the end it got pretty technical. Not that that is a bad thing, I just have to advance in that direction.

I hope I wasn't too harsh on the AJ video - if it worked for you - teriffic.

James[/quote]

No, not harsh at all James - it was much appreciated, in addition to what you said, my distances were getting worse - losing 10 yards on some shots; so AJ's way is out the window for me.

I did like Jim McLean's 8-step swing was well done, but something that might've hurt me a bit was focusing on all 8 steps before I swung, and that killed me, just like what Shootin said in my other thread.

I think I'm going to use the video more of a guideline, like it's intended. For now,however, I'm going to work on a proper takeaway - combined with my shift to the left then right.

CMays, I checked out the pump drill and man, thanks alot for recommending it. I played a round today and finally hit down on the ball, taking a divot. It was by far the best feeling I've had in a long time. It was just what I neded today to beat the 15-20mph winds. My new routine incorporates using the pump drill, just so I remember where my swing starts. Now what starts the downsing? I'm still trying to figure that part out, I dont' remember what I did on the downswing today that lead to compression - but it felt like my hips bumped to the left then rotated.