Drills for closing...

[vp27519]

Any drills, excluding the feel of holding a tray of drinks, for closing the club face at the top of the back swing.

Cheers in advance.

[GoNavy]

Re: Drills for closing...

That is a tuff call, it all depends on how you grip, weak or strong, whether you swing upright or flat, how your posture and the list goes on.

Here is how I was taught. Get into your address position, now keeping your left arm fairly straight, not locked, lift the club up over your right shoulder by allowing the right arm to bend(don't let it go beyond a 90 degree bend at the elbow). Make sure the club stayed fairly straight, don't go out the shoulder or toward your neck. Your hands will be roughly in front of your face. Now with out moving anything else turn the upper body until your back is pointing at the target, that is where you need to be at the top of your swing, and the club will have a square face and also point roughly at the target.

[bruin]

Re: Drills for closing...

vp
never understood the tray holding thing anyway, but to try and answer your question , i may have to ask a question.
one of the 3sk's is attacking the ball with an open club face , squaring at impact, so why would you want to close the clubface at the top of the backswing?
sorry if i am missing the point , just coming to the end of a night shift and feeling tired

[Started2k3]

Re: Drills for closing...

Nicole, I think I have mentioned this before but please read and try my "Pyramid Routine" written up in my blog.
http://www.golf-tuition-online.com/blog.php?b=29

I have found that going through a consistent "set" of swings which build on the previous has really helped me understand my swing.

Like GoNavy said, "...it all depend on how you ...". It may be that another aspect of your swing is making it hard for you to "hold the tray" ... it may be that (like myself) that ignoring the right hand and working only on the left is the answer (what do I have to do to achieve a FLW), because the thing to remember that your body parts are all connected. So what you do with your left hand will affect your right through the grip and how you grip the club ... the flexibility of your right wrist will affect how tight you can get your right elbow to your side .... etc ... etc. I am starting to get very preachy, here.

Go through the routine described in the link, with your ONLY desire to have a square clubface and square clubhead path. This will force you to think about what you have to do to achieve the desired straight shot (I realize that this is the hardest shot but I think it teaches the most and provides understanding about what to do for other shots).

I hope that you will give it a try a couple of times, but it is up to you.
Charles

[Ian Hancock]

Re: Drills for closing...

Hiya Snickers,

Don't quite understand why you would want a closed clubface at the top?

But hey-ho

Have you thought of bowing the left hand and holding it on the downswing??

Ian ..!

[Neil18]

Re: Drills for closing...

Any drills, excluding the feel of holding a tray of drinks, for closing the club face at the top of the back swing.

Cheers in advance.

No drills. Only type of grip and how we take the club away and set the wrists.

If I read your question right, you're looking at not having the clubface open at the top, rather than closing it. To those of us (including me) who suffer from perpetual slicing, having the clubface very slightly closed of square (i.e. not pointing at the sky but above the plane your left arm has created) produces super powerful ball flight and controllable draws.

Cock your right wrist back and not up and you're halfway there.

Yeeeeehaw!

[vp27519]

Re: Drills for closing...

Thanks guys,

My problem is that at the top of my back swing the club face is open. I have a bow in the left hand/wrist.

If the club face is open at the top I struggle at impact and the ball flight is high, to the right and with a fade.

I have been given a drill to do to help me get the feel of where the hands should be at the top of the back swing. This is hard to explain. So I won't.

Visualisation is very helpful for me. I imagine holding a tray of drinks with my right hand at the top - this helps close the club face.

I'm just struggling at the moment getting this feel.

My grip is fine, the 'V' on both hands are between my right shoulder and neck.

x

[GregJWillis]

Re: Drills for closing...

Try this:

* Address normally, ready to swing.
* Without turning, just lift the club up using both arms and wrists so the club is now over your trailing shoulder. Your leading arm should be straight and with some tension (to maintain the extension you need away from your body)

Ok, what do you see now? Your leading wrist has only done one thing...helped lift the club UP. It did not try to roll, or move the club backwords around your body at all, right? All it did was lift up.

* Next, rotate 90 degrees back with your shoulders. Keep everything else in it's same position.

Ok, what do you see now? Nothing changed in what you see/feel in your arms and hands, right?

* Now hit the ball.

[Neil18]

Re: Drills for closing...

Sounds like you're on the right track Nickers.

Although if the clubface is open at the top you'll more than likely have your left wrist cupped. The feeling of bowing it slightly is what you want.

It's just a habit you need to get out of. Exaggerate it. Feel like you're trying to make the back of your right hand touch the back of your right forearm. Don't cock your wrists up (if you see what I mean! ), cock them back. A word of warning. There's a fine line between cocking and rolling ones wrists.

[golfndawg]

Re: Drills for closing...

No drills. Only type of grip and how we take the club away and set the wrists.

If I read your question right, you're looking at not having the clubface open at the top, rather than closing it. To those of us (including me) who suffer from perpetual slicing, having the clubface very slightly closed of square (i.e. not pointing at the sky but above the plane your left arm has created) produces super powerful ball flight and controllable draws.

Cock your right wrist back and not up and you're halfway there.

Yeeeeehaw!

That is very much how I swing, strong grip, closed more at the top and with the lesson I had 2 weeks ago, He saw that I did that, but did not change anything, which was a good thing for me.......I just stood a bit taller which brought the hands up more(in my other thread)and let the body rotate back and through........To be honest it's not a real bad thing if the club head is facing the sky, it just means that you have to rotate to keep it square and not get handsy.....Pretty simple swing as it took me way to long to understand this....

Anyway, not trying to jack the thread but that swing works for me

My cents worth

[vp27519]

Re: Drills for closing...

Good discussion,

Greg - that is the drill I have been given. Well described.

Neil - will give it a try. Different way of looking at it.

Thanks to everyone.

x

[vp27519]

Re: Drills for closing...

Oh and another thing Neil, I was rolling my wrists on the way back. This made me come on the inside. So I am also focusing on the club head being forward of the hands on the takeaway and the hands being taken straight back along the toe line.

I like the key - back of the right hand being pulled to the right forearm at the top. (Just like my tray of drinks)

x

[GoNavy]

Re: Drills for closing...

Good discussion,

Greg - that is the drill I have been given. Well described.

Neil - will give it a try. Different way of looking at it.

Thanks to everyone.

x

Wasn't what Greg said the same thing I said..lol...where is my thanks

[vp27519]

Re: Drills for closing...

Sorry go navy - big kiss your way.....

[GoNavy]

Re: Drills for closing...

Sorry go navy - big kiss your way.....

LOL...Thank you, oooohweee had to check out your profile real quick, sure was glad to see female, you scared me for a second. I was just goofin around, that drill has been around forever. Actually Greg probably explained it better, but it is a good one.

As to your take away, place another club on the ground parallel to the target line (or toe line if you like, if your setup square) off the right toe. Now halfway back in the back swing, your club should be directly over the one on the ground, parallel to the ground, with the toe straight up or very slightly facing the ground. This will also get you in a good plane.