Re: 4 Magic Moves and fat shots

So I recently purchased/tried the 4 Magic Moves book by Dante. The initial results were awesome. I was hitting crisp, pure irons shots with a swing feel that I've never felt before. It just felt 'right'. Everything was good. I was happy.

Fast forward 2 weeks. Every shot I hit now is either fat (75% of the time) or squirts sharply straight right off the tee. Sprinkle in a nice looking/feeling shot every 20 balls.

So I'm obviously crestfallen. I've gone back and reread parts of the book and I just can't recapture my initial success.

Has anyone had a similar experience or have any ideas what my problem could be?

Thanks! Love this site, BTW.

Sometimes its best to just forget everything, take a deep breath, and swing. Trying to get your initial results is hard because you keep trying to correct something and you end up doing more bad than good. Try to just swing without thinking and see what happens. The other day I played a game with a driving range buddy where we try to get as close to our targets as possible. I swung without thinking after aiming up and lining up, and it felt crisp and good.

Its great that you have experience what a good golf shot is, watch this video for the perfect golf swing.

I've got an interesting Dante 4 Magic Moves story. I was using his 'pull the right wrist back" drill on the range. It seemed to get me to a better position at the top. While the resulting swing didn't seem "better" it did seem more manageable.

But no matter what I did I just couldn't find that position with a "normal" backswing. One day I was having an absolutely horrible day on the course (7 over after 6 holes). I decided to simply start using that Dante drill swing on the course. I played in the next 12 holes in 2 over par.

So I played that way for several months (even shot the best round of my life swinging like this - shot the course rating of a course despite a mediocre 33 putts).

However the advantage to me was not so much better golf, but a swing that just required less maintenance. I ultimately abandoned it because I just didn't like having the strangest swing this side of Jim Furyk. But I am seriously considering going back to it.

dave

ps. And I don't have a clue about your fat shots - sorry

I'm also trying out the 4 magic moves and I'm a beginner. I had a few questions about the problem you described: 1) You indicate the shots are fat, but off the tee? I thought fat shots occur with an iron when one hits the ground in front of the ball? Perhaps you are hitting a thin shot off the tee instead? Here's a link to what I'm basing my definitions on (those more experienced feel free to correct me). http://www.lifeintherough.com/2007/1...shots-edition/ If so then perhaps incorrect ball placement is the problem. If you think ball placement is correct then perhaps you are not doing the weight transfer properly to trigger the downswing, by the lateral shift of the weight on the hips. If weight-transfer doesn't occur properly then you lose a lot of power that can be directed at the ball. 2) Shots going straight right: Either you are coming outside in with the downswing or your club face is not closing when striking the ball. I have a similar problem slicing the ball with my driver and 3 wood, even when using the magic moves. I traced the problem to the angle of my backswing not being high enough. I was lurching my shoulders and arms right-wards instead of upwards, but did not realize it since I was trying to focus on my wrist position and weight transfer during the swing. I had the tendency to lurch right my arms and shoulders even before using the magic moves, so it's an old habit I still have to unlearn. As a result of the lurch I had an open club-face during the downswing and the slice would result. Once I focused on turning the shoulders properly in the backswing to where I could feel the coil, then I hit the ball pretty straight on the downswing.

Sorry, I used 'tee' figuratively and I can see why it caused confusion. I should've said 'straight right from the original ball placement'.

So yeah, I'm hitting it fat with my iron. And I agree with you I think it may have something to do with my lower body not being involved.

Is there a mental trigger you use to get the lower body starting the downswing? I've tried to envision planting my left heel to the ground or throwing my hips sideways.

Also, can you elaborate on your focus on bringing your arms up instead of to the right? I may be suffering from this as well.

Thanks!

I had tremendous success with the wrist hinge at first . During my second session at the driving range, the magic was gone. I have subsequently found a better way to correct my cupped wrist at the top of my backswing.

And, I have put into use the tenets from Clampett's book, "The Impact Zone". Much more consistent. Simpler and therefore, easier to repeat.

Sometimes when you first learn the four magic moves you focus so much on the early backward wrist break (first magic move) and forget about the other 3.

Without seeing your swing my guess is you are not starting down from the top of the swing correctly. The first move from the top should be a lateral shift of the hips which puts you into that all powerful "slot" and creates a tremendous amount of lag. This allows you to come into the back of the ball much more crisply thereby eliminating those fat shots you are experiencing.

On the mental trigger, I just think about shifting my weight from the coiled-up right side to my left side, while near the top of the backswing. This thought of a weight shift causes my lateral hip move left, which then causes my hips to rotate and the club to come down. The weight shift it's a subtle movement, so you don't want to be swaying. If I am coiled up properly in the backswing then the weight-shift happens more easily and very quickly without having to think about it. On bringing my arms up, I meant that after doing the wrist break, I then try to turn my shoulders rightwards, while maintaining the straight left arm and allowing my right arm to bend. This feels like my arms are raising up, when in reality they should be turning right on plane along with the shoulders. It's tough for me to describe getting to the top of the backswing properly, with the arms in the right position and being coiled properly. It might be best to get a golf instructor to help you with that. On hitting fat, here's a website that describes some tips on what could cause fat shots: http://golf.about.com/od/golftips/ss/mishit_tips.htm For me I haven't had the fat-shot problem with the 4 magic moves so far. If anything I've been hitting down on the ball better with the irons and with more power.

The formula for success in any endeavor can be summed up by the following formula; Faith + Burning Desire = Success

"If ye have the faith of a mustard seed ye can move mountains"

So you must have Faith a certain golf instruction system will work for you or you're simply wasting your time. Faith combined with a burning desire to make it happen. The degree you take each one of these 2 factors is directly proportional to your success.

For those of you golfers looking for a quick fix, Four Magic Moves may not be the right system for you - there are plenty of quick fixes for you on the internet, golf publications, and the golf channel.

For those who really wanna take a quantum leap in your golf improvement, you must first believe Four Magic Moves can work for you, then put in the time along with your burning desire and give it time for your golf swing to blossum.

Four Magic Moves has already helped hundreds of average golfers make astonishing improvements in their golf games (including myself!)

I would rather work with a below average golfer with a burning desire to improve, than an excellent golfer with only a hint of desire to improve.

So take a hard look at yourself and decide whether you wanna put in the time to fix your golf swing, or do you wanna continue chasing the siren song of instant gratification in the quick fix?

Play well.

I tried this swing years ago. I did hit some pure shots but I gave up on it because my left wrist hurt and it felt awkward with that severe, backward break being done so early in the swing.

I have since learned that it is possible to be in a good, square position at the top by other means. Some of the magic moves are universal to a good swing. Study those.

Four Magic Moves is one of the more intuitive swing systems. After studying them all I have concluded that their common imperatives are 1) a flat left wrist at impact 2) lag pressure and 3) a straight plane line. Very simple concepts. The devil is in setting up the correct angles at address and maintaining them throughout the swing.