GaryH

I'm working on this: and this:

Agree with the scepticism/disbelief over the ensuing downswing naturally assuming the correct path and plane. Golf is never that easy! He advocates right foot drawn back at set up (knees, hips, shoulders square). Presumably that is to help promote the shallowing of the club and the more inside path on the downswing? But that can't be all it takes to make it happen automatically though!

I should also add, no, i don't think the swing shirt helps with extension/keeping the arms straight. That's what i'm using the 'keep right arm straight' swing key for - i need to do this consciously as the swing shirt won't promote this. I think the swing shirt helps with other things that might be useful, such as connection, not allowing the elbows to seperate. Just a new thing to try at the range in my attempts to improve!

I purchased it about a year ago, practised with it a lot, but it didn't work for me so i stopped using it. I just thought it might work in conjunction with this particular swing thought, so after not using it for a while i'm giving it another chance. I wouldn't recommend it on my experiences so far, but i guess if this combination works for me i will change my mind.

I tried this thought (keep the right arm straight in the backswing) whilst wearing the Golf Swing Shirt at the driving range today. Hit some good shots and some bad ones. I'll try it next time as the things it's supposed to help with are issues in my swing. I like that it's supposed to promote good, early turning of the shoulders (which i don't do), to stop the clubhead getting whipped inside early and under plane in the takeaway and twisted open (which i do), and to shorten the backswing (i tend to stand up and come out of my posture at the top of my backswing as opposed to compressing into the ground - i hope this helps with this). I'm marrying this thought with wearing the Golf Swing Shirt as i like the idea that this would in theory give me the best of both worlds - i will maintain a sufficiently connected swing whilst getting the extention promoted by the thought of keeping the right arm straight. Hopefully it will prove an effective combination.

Exactly. That's my point. Both player's swing repeats. The difference is, Furyk's swing dynamics are sensational (certainly in the downswing and through impact) whereas the "24-handicapper"'s swing is poor. The teacher was giving his student false information and false hope, which is a hindrince to any hope of improvement.

I once overheard an instructor say this to a pupil of his who looked, being generous, a 24 handicapper: "Your technique is better than Jim Furyk. The difference is, his swing repeats. That's the only difference." My heart sank and i was actually quite appalled. Why patronise someone? Why give them false information, false hope?

Would this drill utilising an aiming stick promote the same movements as iacas' tripod drill in the opening post? My upper body tends to lift up as i reach the top of my backswing and my right heel comes off the ground right at the start of my downswing! Farcical scenes.

Does shortening the shaft by 1/2 an inch really make a difference with accuracy and ability to find the sweet spot? 1/2 an inch is about a 1% decrese in shaft length. Seems like such a tiny change.

Thanks mvmac. I am aware of those top of backswing clubface positions and their relationship to the left wrist but my problem is i don't understand why the sky-facing clubface is considered closed and the toe hanging down clubface is considered open.

Just seen the bowed left wrist thread where there is a difference of opinion on this. Hogan is mentioned as a cupped left wrist player which of course is true. I hope this thread is not seen as a duplicate of the bowed left wrist one. I'd recently seen the Martin Chuck Tour Striker Educator video which brought this issue, which has always bugged me, back to my mind.

Completely agree with this.

Top teachers believe it does matter a great deal in that it influences your chances of achieving the desired impact position. Martin Chuck, for example, says that it is very difficult to play good golf from a cupped left wrist at top of backswing position. A few tour pros have a bowed left wrist at the top (Johnson, McDowell), but a cupped left wrist at the top is extremely rare. I'm keen to understand why, the cause and effects.

I'm sure it all makes sense, saevel, but i didn't understand this bit. I've been playing around with it in front of a mirror and have some new thoughts. It strikes me that cupping the wrist during the backswing changes the shaft plane. Specifically, it gets steeper, so that at the top of the backswing you are above the plane. So you come down over the top, approaching impact on an out-to-in path, and so you have to open the clubface relative to this path to square the face to target. Hence a fade/slice. Similarly, if you bow the wrist during the backswing, this flattens the shaft plane, so at the top of the backswing your bowed left wrist puts the shaft under the plane. From here you approach impact from the inside, on an in-to-out plane, and so you have to close the face relative to this path in order to square the face to the target. Hence a draw/hook. In summary, i'm wondering if it is the effect on the shaft plane more than the effect on the face of cupping/bowing during the backswing, that leads to compensatory adjustments to the face (opening or closing it) at impact.

Okay, so i understand that twisting/rolling the wrists/forearms (supination and pronation) opens and closes the clubface. This is easy to see by doing either move in the takeaway and observing what happens to the clubface. What i don't understand is how cupping the left wrist (dorsiflexion) during the backswing opens the face and why bowing the left wrist (palmar flexion) during the backswing closes the face. I can relate a bowed left wrist to a delofted impact position (a la Hogan) and a cupped left wrist to a flip impact condition which adds loft.....but i don't see these as closed and open face respectively, i only see these as delofted or lofted clubheads, independent of how square the clubface is. So, i'm hoping some of you wise students of the game can help me get my head around this issue! Help appreciated....