Re: Help can't stop going OTT

Hi Dant,

I think the Pump Drill as shown in this video is a great drill to learn the correct downswing path:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCZYAPsj1IM

Re: Help can't stop going OTT

Hi Dant,

There have been many discussions about this topic.

Several years ago, I used to have the OTT so bad. I also had a somewhat reverse pivot, which also contributed to OTT and slices. I finally told myself I was going to beat it, but I also knew it was going to take dedication. I had to know and visualize what my body parts were doing. I had to approach it diagnostically. I was really fed up, that I was letting this beat me. I thought it can't be that bad.

I then brought my golf bag and set it along my toeline and back about 4 feet. I took the backswing with a club and it barely passed to the inside of the bag as it went back on plane. Well, that's OK, I thought. I then made my downswing and the club hit the bag. Well, that wakes you up. I tried again, and same thing. After a while, I figured out that I could ingrain an inside swing and eliminate the OTT if I intentionally took the club over the top of the bag to the top of the BS and dropped the club to miss the bag on the inside on the DW. I also could visualize and feel what the body parts have to do to ingrain the inside to out to inside on plane swing. I worked on this for days to get the feeling, and when you start to get the feeling, the rationale starts to register in your head. For this to happen, I have to do this. I did this in slow mo and stop action phases. Then, it becomes automatic, and I could make a full speed swing, without fear of hitting the bag.

You can even start to attempt to hit hooks, because you now have the mechanism (the inside to out swing), which you know along with a closing face will make the ball spin anticlockwise. You do this at the range for the sheer revelation that you can do something you had previously could not dream about, and you know you no longer will have the OTT problem. As they say, learn how to hook and you can teach yourself to hit any shot.

OK, the butt end pump drill is excellent. I found that certain things have to happen on the downswing to have the club come inside the bag First, you have to make a committed backswing, that is, your shoulders/ body have to turn in relation to your arms. If your arms do not turn back the same as your body, such as if you pick the club up with your arm lifting and the shoulder not turning, you will be more likely to come OTT. Your first move on the downswing has to be with the lower body, so the shoulders are held back from coming OTT. The lower body move also drops the right elbow to and in front of the hip and the arms stay on or below the plane as you swing down. Both upper arms tend to be connected to your body, which is not a bad thing in the swing. As I mentioned before, Harrington does the drill with headcovers under his armpits at every practice, even with a driver.

I think this will give you something to work with. I hope it makes sense and helps. I gotta go, doggie waits.

Ted

Re: Help can't stop going OTT

Ted's drill is very good. The attached video is another drill that works on the same principal as the other two drills and may help you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXjDft0IiEo

Re: Help can't stop going OTT

Hi dant,

The reason for the golf bag, or any other thing in the way, is it gives you just that, an obstacle. It gives you a visual and a tactile impression. I used to get so p****d, when I kept hitting the bag, even with a measured slow downswing. The mechanics were not right to make an inside downswing, until I made the proper moves described. After you ingrain the swing, you eliminate the bag, but in your mind's eye you sense you have to drop the club into the slot and not go OTT which would hit the bag.

Ted

Re: Help can't stop going OTT

You might try this. Pretend you are on a baseball diamond. At home plate, your stance, and body alignment are to left center field. Your target line is center field. On the back swing take the club inside your target line. On the down swing focus on swinging the club head to right field. When done correctly, the ball should fly towards center field. You might see some straight pushes, or even some hooks at first, but you won't have that OTT problem. Next, you start messing around with the release, and/or ball position to get the desired ball flight which should be a draw.

I have seen this work too many times for people with your swing issue(s).

GJS

Re: Help can't stop going OTT

IMO, Ted’s outside to inside backswing is your best chance in the time you have (before your trip). It works because of the moves it forces you to make to stay in balance with the club positions resulting from an outside to inside backswing.

That Pump Drill video is fine, but she is missing the crucial part which is dropping down on that plane from the top, which is likely where your problem lies. Notice at the end of the video when she hits the ball. She pumps several times and on the last pump she drops her hands quite a bit under the plane she was pumping on????. If she hadn’t, she actually would have hit the ball slightly OTT. The better Pump Drill is the one where they "pump" from the very top and down onto a lower plane.

Re: Help can't stop going OTT

A great thread - i'm onboard! The dreaded OTT has got to go!

Re: Help can't stop going OTT

Hi jamesh,

I sent the following in quotations as a PM to someone else. It may be of interest. I used the bag drill initially to pound it into my thick head how bad the OTT swing was and what motions cause it. I figured the best way to get rid of it was to do the extreme reverse, so I took the club back relatively upright, then dropped it to miss the bag to the inside. I did this in the driveway and backyard, and I suppose you can do this indoors with a short club. I took it to the range and eventually hit balls. It was something to see the divots not cutting in and being shallow. Anyways, I did scale back to a more "conventional" swing, but always staying with the fundaments that this drill taught me.


"You can adjust if you want the inside of the bag to be on your toeline or out a bit more. I say on the toeline, because if you move the bag too far in front of the toeline, it makes your backswing more vertical, and also you don't have to work as hard to drop the club inside of the bag on the downswing. It's not the BS (takeaway) you should be concerned about, anyways. You can make your BS as far outside the line, flat, or vertical as you like (as you see from the takeaways of different pros, such as Furyk). It's the drop to the inside and eliminating the dreaded OTT that matters. Look at this video of Ryan Moore, which you can imagine the golf bag on his toeline, and what swing the drill will require. Furyk is much the same. Note with a driver, you have to move adjust the distance of the bag accordingly. For the drill, use short irons to start.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WylpbuE1R4g

Yes, the idea is to take the club back to miss the top of the bag, and once at the top, make the motions that will bring the club to miss hitting the bag by dropping the arms and club to the inside.

This is a new drill and as I said start slow and "feel" your way to making the body react to stop going OTT on the DS, by holding off the shoulders and dropping the arms and club to the inside. Then, in short time you can make full speed swings, without hitting the bag. Don't forget, in order to do this, you will find you will have to shift your weight first, drop the arms and the club, right elbow falls to the side of your body and points to the front of the right hip, the right shoulder will drop down and under (whereas with OTT, the shoulder goes higher and forward).

I hope that you will see the value of this drill to ingrain the inside to out downswing."

Ted