My Tip Of The Day - 6

[chisag]

... This one is going to be painfully obvious for some, yet soooo many ignore this basic essential fundamental. I played with a high index player a few days ago that wanted to know "Exactly what are you swinging? Are you swinging your arms? Your hands? Your shoulders? Your hips? Your body?" He was a little perplexed when I asked him if he felt himself actually swinging the golf club itself. I am always amazed at how many players work so hard on their swings attempting to use a tip from a magazine, video, advice from a friend and even teaching Pro's that concentrate on body positions. "Be sure and turn your left shoulder under your chin" ... "Do not swing past parallel" ... "Do not flip your hands thru impact"... "Be sure and have some forward shaft lean with your irons"  and plenty more that are sound advice but amount to very little if you are not swinging the golf club. Not your fault as most instruction ignore this basic fundamental because it is so obvious. Swing the handle or swing the shaft or swing the club head all work equally well, as long as you can feel what you are swinging. 

... As trite as this sounds, if you are not sure or never even thought of actually swinging the club, this drill should help. At about half speed, hold the grip loose enough to swish the club back and forth in front of you like you are hitting a pitch. If you are feeling your body, arms or hands you are probably not feeling the club. For some this will be the first time you actually feel what you are trying to swing and additionally you will be swinging slower than you would have ever imagined. I have always felt too tight a grip is a major flaw because you can't feel the club swinging. Once you have the feel of actually feeling the weight and swinging the club,  hit some pitches with a ball and then gradually increase the speed of your swing until you begin to lose the feel of the club. Now you have a reference of how fast/hard is too fast/hard. Now try and keep this same feel with a full swing. Many move their body, arms or hands so fast or worse so hard, they never feel the club. Since you are hitting the ball with the club NOT your body, arms or hands it is paramount that you feel what you are swinging. Next time you go to the range or warm up before your round, feel the club ... not your body parts. I will add this will make chipping much easier as many that struggle are stabbing the ball with their hands or worse lifting with their body. I hope this helps  ...

[cnosil]

Thanks for the periodic tips. Great reminders even for accomplished players.

[chisag]

... Thanks. One of the things I miss about teaching is I usually learned from my students lessons. I would show a student something and notice I was a little off and the reminder was something that often helped me too. 

[StrokerAce]

Great tip!  Always nice to be able to "feel" the head of the club while your swinging it.

One thing that really helps me to get this feeling is turning the club upside down and grabbing the head and swinging the shaft a few times; once I do that and go back to swinging the club I can really feel the weight of it.

[russtopherb]

This is a great tip and reminder about not having a death grip on the club, and staying loose. When I feel the weight of the clubhead hinging my wrists I know I'm headed in the right direction. When I tense up and can't feel the clubhead, it's no good. 

[romeopapazulu]

I love these tips @chisag!!  How do we put in requests, or are these just spur of the moment?  I have a friend that wants to play well so bad, is taking lessons, but has one of the worst reverse pivots I have ever seen that doesn't seem to be getting better one bit with the lessons.  I want to help him so bad, but hate giving un-requested advice.  I have asked what drills his coach is giving him, and all he can tell me is a ball under the outside of his right foot.  

If I were to describe this swing, it would be close to no shoulder turn but a massive hip slide back on the backswing and forward on the downswing.  This results in a club sweeping across the ground for what seems like 3ft and a clubface that must be pointing at the right teebox marker by the time it gets to the ball.  I don't know how he even gets the clubface on the ball.

Tip of the day - 7???

[chisag]

... Yea, just spur of the moment usually brought on by someone I play with. I think it is very difficult to diagnose or even recommend drills without seeing the swing. There are quite a few reasons someone reverse pivots so there is not a one drill fixes all.

... That said, one of my favorites drills was to have my student attempt to move their head 3 get away from the target on their backswing. It is a very unnatural move in the golf swing but through trial and error I found many of those with a reverse pivot have no idea they are moving their head toward the target on their backswing. By attempting to move their head in the opposite direction a full 3 feet, most kept their heads relatively still for the first time but to them, it felt like their head was moving away from the target by at least a couple feet if not the full 3 feet. Obviously f they actually did move their head backwards a foot or two I would have them attempt to move to 2 feet, again feeling like they are but in reality just keeping their head still.

... For a variety of reasons this may or may not work with your friend. It was my job as an instructor to keep coming up with different ways or sometimes even the same way but explained differently until the student begins to find what works for both of us. For instance moving the head may not work so I might try moving their shoulders backwards or have them reach straight back with the club and never cock it just extend away from the target or attempt to reach their hands away from the target like a hitter trying to put their hands in a catchers mitt. All different ways of accomplishing the same thing. Everyone is different in their feel and how they process information. 

[perseveringgolfer]

16 hours ago, romeopapazulu said:

 I have a friend that wants to play well so bad, is taking lessons, but has one of the worst reverse pivots I have ever seen that doesn't seem to be getting better one bit with the lessons.

Maybe this Claude Harmon advice might help your friend, particularly Drill 3 on reverse pivots.

https://www.todaysgolfer.co.uk/features/instruction-features/january/april/driving-tips-with-claude-harmon/#drills