A question from a member

The statement below is from a gentleman after our first lesson. His goal for our lesson was to increase distance. After we discussed the factors that affect distance, we spent our time on improving his contact (I.e. key #3). His left wrist was bending while his right wrist was straightening. He was also very interested in being able to extend both arms after impact. This is an email he sent me today. I have already responded to him with my answer, but I thought this might make for a good thread discussion. I can provide video if necessary. Or please delete if not appropriate. I've been to the driving range every day since our lesson. It seems to me that my right arm is restricting the proper follow through. When I swing with my left arm only, the follow through looks great. However, when I put my right hand on the club, the follow through is restricted and my wrist breaks early in the downswing, etc. Therefore, what seems to work best is a conscious effort to drive my right hand to “right field” and to try and extend my left arm on the follow through, all the time trying to keep the right wrist bent back at least at impact as we discussed. Does this make sense?

First, thanks for the thoughts. I think he misinterpreted some of the things that we went over (I need to improve as a communicator). I'm not sure where he got the idea to hit one armed shots. While I do like those drills sometimes, really all I had him do was to hit punch shots. I asked him to hit punch shots when he is practicing and focus on hitting the ground on the target side of the ball. Anyways, enough justifying. I appreciate your comments. [VIDEO]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtdclC8iLoA[/VIDEO] [VIDEO]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lVkwMqsqNo[/VIDEO]

There is a good thread on here about the flying wedge. that seems to be an easier way to understand how the right hand should come into the ball.

http://thesandtrap.com/t/36669/maintaining-the-flying-wedge

and like erik said, the best players straighten their right arm after impact. like, righttttt after impact.

The straightening of the right arm for me reminds me of a Black Belt breaking boards with a punch. To deliver the ultimate power, he doesn't straighten his arm at or before he hits the board. His arm is still slightly bent as he hits the board, still powering through impact. That's how you deliver the hardest hit, by still extending the arm through impact. I hit my best/most powerful shots when I think about this: Don't power at the ball, power through it. But yeah, that guy moves his head around like one of the examples of how NOT to pivot IN THE S&T; book!!

I'm with iacas on this one. The rotational movement appears to be on an axis at (or maybe even a tad behind) the ball. Seems like incorporating a little lateral movement toward the target would a be good thing for this golfer to work on. In the FOV, you can see his left hip never moves toward the target. Fwiw - the opinion of an amateur...

Thanks for the advice guys. Obviously, there are a lot of things going on here. Right now, I just want him to hit the center of the face. We will improve #2.

This guy has the same faults I have :)

A lot of good info on this site.

Check these out: http://thesandtrap.com/t/61376/5sk-video-thread

I'm going to agree with Erik and actually take it one step further. Two things are going to prevent the alignments that you are looking for. One of those, as Erik pointed out, is weight/pressure (which might be hard to do with the stance). The second is that the clubface is WIDE open. He needs more palmar flexion in the lead wrist (Dustin Johnson) from top down to remove the necessity to flip it closed.

Personally, I'd start with a drill where he sets up with weight forward and feels the left wrist flex a bunch on the downstroke. You'd get the flat left wrist pretty quickly. Then, slowly, make it more dynamic from there.

Thanks cbrian.

Like this:

But focusing on more palmar flexion in the left wrist from the top?

Not sure if the video is working properly, but its the first one the thread Onephenom posted.

http://thesandtrap.com/t/36669/maintaining-the-flying-wedge

Yep! I'd prioritize it this way: Either making sure weight is forward at impact or making sure he can get into a good finish AND making sure he gets the lead wrist correct.

Progression with weight would be small swings with weight preset, and then move into bigger and bigger swings with less and less preset (still getting into finish). And for the clubface, accomplish palmer flexion and then move into start direction drills.

Awesome. Thanks cbrian and everyone for the comments.

This is what I had him doing:

But you guys are absolutely right. It is going to be much more effective to work on him getting his weight/pressure forward, rather than try and manufacture that position.

And really nice observation on the lead wrist.

I really appreciate all of your insights. I am so glad I found this site.

We worked on Key 2. It really helped. Not only does the picture look better, the shots were much better. Thanks again.

You guys have helped me tremendously as well on this thread! All I have been focusing on is weight on the lead leg at impact. I have been noticing a "stacked" feeling at impact. The result is straighter and a lower more penetrating ball flight. I'm hitting all my irons longer. You guys are good. I love this thread!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I'm taking divots the size of a dollar bill now. I have never taken divots before in my life!