HELP: Waist Rotation, Spine/Head Straight and "L"

[rgrchico]

As with Randomhero1090 today, I have simliar problems. However, I've been trying to correct them but I seem to be getting worse at my swing. I'm looking for confirmation that the following is actually what I should be working on.

What I'm doing to correct my swing is to:
1. I'm trying to keep my head in line with my spine. I read in Golf Mag. that I should be able to make a 90 degree angle with my thumb and first finger and place in under my chin and against my chest. This should be the correct angle of my head to spine. With this I'm suppose to be able to rotate under my
head without my chin interferring with my follow through.

2. I'm working on my rotation of my waist. I'm brining the club straight back about 2 feet and then starting my waist rotation. I'm having trouble rotating my waist during the downswing which is causing me to pull the ball absolutely left. I end up with my arms moving before my waist. I broke a window about 2 weeks ago by doing just that. I know that my waist should rotate before my my club, but if anyone can help with some exercises for this it would be apprciated.

3. During one of my outings a partner was telling me that my backswing "L" was too far back behind my head. I think he may have been looking at the "L" after I rotated my waist and it looked further back then it really was. I try to bring my left arm straight back to a horizontal postion making an "L" with the club pointing at the sky. Is what I'm doing wrong or is my partner correct? If you look at the Golf Online article:
Start your swing like a pro with these drills
you can see that his backswing puts the club way behind his head. I'm a bit confused about this. Am I correct in how I'm approaching the backswing?

Thanks for your help.

[RandomHero1090]

Re: HELP: Waist Rotation, Spine/Head Straight and "L"

As with Randomhero1090 today, I have simliar problems.

Really? I thought I was the only one who couldn't pat my head and rub my stomach at the same time

What I'm doing to correct my swing is to:
1.I'm suppose to be able to rotate under my
head without my chin interferring with my follow through.

I cut that part down. Your right shoulder should work under your chin, not across it. If your shoulder is pushing your chin towards the target, your shoulder rotation is OUT instead of DOWN.

2. I'm working on my rotation of my waist. I'm brining the club straight back about 2 feet and then starting my waist rotation. I'm having trouble rotating my waist during the downswing which is causing me to pull the ball absolutely left. I end up with my arms moving before my waist.

Your trouble might not be rotation, it may be stopping the rotation on the downswing. You probably get your hips rotating and then stop at some point in the downswing, causing your hands to flip through the ball, shutting the face, causing nasty pulls and hooks. When making practice swings, focus on rotating your left hip fully. Let the left hip pull you through the swing. It will help you transfer weight, get on plane and hit powerful shots.

I broke a window about 2 weeks ago

Use plastic balls.

3. During one of my outings a partner was telling me that my backswing "L" was too far back behind my head. I think he may have been looking at the "L" after I rotated my waist and it looked further back then it really was. I try to bring my left arm straight back to a horizontal postion making an "L" with the club pointing at the sky. Is what I'm doing wrong or is my partner correct? If you look at the Golf Online article:
Start your swing like a pro with these drills
you can see that his backswing puts the club way behind his head. I'm a bit confused about this. Am I correct in how I'm approaching the backswing?

Make a backswing without a club. Your shoulders should have some forward tilt. If you then draw a line from the top of your left shoulder through your right shoulder, the club shaft should intersect that line, or be pretty close to it.

If you are far above the line, you are brining the club back too steep. If you are far below the line, you are brining the club back too far to the inside. Too inside will cause pulls and hooks, too high or upright will cause pushes and fades.

If you look at some pro swings, like Tiger's, he takes that "L" so far back that his left arm ALMOST points to 12 o'clock. He has the flex in his body to do so. I wouldn't concern yourself with the article pictures so much. You turn as much as your body allows. However, that club shaft should be very close to the line I discussed above. From there, MOST pros will "drop" the shaft UNDER that line slightly, some more than most. Check out Tiger's slow motion swing on nike.com.

In my understanding, that's called the slot Maybe someone else can help me clarify.

The "behind your head" comment could mean you are overswinging or too upright. But you are pulling and hooking...so its a bit of a puzzle for me.

Hope I could be of some help and I hope the fellow GTO'ers will help me along in aiding you!