Advice about chair drill

[michael feeney]

I was looking at some drills about how to stop my hips moving towards the target line in my downswing (early extension).I found a drill were you use a chair and try and keep your butt cheeks in contact with the chair through out the swing could any one explain more about this drill cause it sounds good but i cant figure it out it seems for me to maintain contact with the chair i have to stop all hip movement during my swing which i know is completely wrong if i move my hips at all during downswing i lose contact with the chair. Any one explain to me about this drill and what i should be doing and feeling during the downswing to enable my butt cheeks to maintain contact with the chair i guess at the minute im turing my hips wrong in downswing that why i cant keep contact

[AvidGolfer]

Re: Advice about chair drill

I was looking at some drills about how to stop my hips moving towards the target line in my downswing (early extension).I found a drill were you use a chair and try and keep your butt cheeks in contact with the chair through out the swing could any one explain more about this drill cause it sounds good but i cant figure it out it seems for me to maintain contact with the chair i have to stop all hip movement during my swing which i know is completely wrong if i move my hips at all during downswing i lose contact with the chair.

As you've discovered the butt against the chair drill doesn't fit the way the swing works. From watching the pros swing its very clear that the hips move during the swing. If you try to keep your rear end against the chair your hips will be likely to slide (away from the target on the backswing, and toward the target on the downswing) instead of making the rotational motion you see good players execute.

You're better off focusing on your balance and posture. At setup you'd want to feel like your posture is tall, bending from the hip sockets, and sticking your butt out. If you get in an incorrect sitting position (often caused by misconceptions that you should sit on a stool or in a chair) then your hips and legs will move incorrectly, and you will come out of your posture. It pretty universally accepted that in the backswing weight in the feet transfers toward the heel of the right foot, and in the through swing toward the heel of the left foot.

Players who tend to hit shots off the heel of the club, block shots, thin shots, and shanks will benefit the most from the tall butt out posture. Greg Norman, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els, Nick Faldo, Paula Creamer, and Annika Sorestam are just a few of the pros that have the tall looking posture desired, and if you look you'll find that many of them refer to that tall posture in their books (ex: Faldo), magazine articles (ex: Sorenstam), and website blogs (ex: Els). You will not find any of those pros looking like they are squatting or haunched over the ball (especially when they are playing well).


(http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/1...postureba6.jpg)

[BrianW]

Re: Advice about chair drill

This video should help explain.

[michael feeney]

Re: Advice about chair drill

Very good video brian helped me to understand the hip movements in the downswing so basically the left hip is what moves first in the downswing the right hip and butt cheek hold there position until left hip moves thats what gives the look and feel of the butt staying in contact with the chair

[JamieBaxter]

Re: Advice about chair drill

The idea of the chair drill is that at least 1 cheek is touching at a time.
On the way back you should feel as though contact with the chair is moving onto your right cheek (right handed swing), and your left cheek on the way down and into your follow through until it is resting against your left hip when in your finish position.

The problem with this drill is that although your pelvis is not moving closer to the ball, you may still be trapping yourself behind your right hip. This is because your hips are wider than they are deep, hence when your hips are opening into impact, your right hip moves nearer the ball even though your left cheek is in contcat with the chair.

To solve this problem, I prefer the 'over the wall' drill. Rather than trying to keep your cheeks against a chair, try to imagine that your right hip cannot move any closer to the ball than it is at address. Many people try to imagine reaching over a wall to hit the ball, while turning their hips behind it. Imagine you'd srape your right hip pretty severely if it gets any closer to the wall.