What is the proper start a down swing?

[shotstop_10]

I was just wondering how everyone starts there down swing. Lately I have been hitting the ball bad and one of my friends said it was because my hands were ahead of my body and I should start and down swing with my hips. But I am just not sure if I start this I will start slicing the ball. What is the proper way to do it.

[Hoselrockets]

I try to focus on starting with the arms/hands. Then make sure my chest keeps facing the ball thru impact. If I don't keep the chest in the right spot shank o rama starts...and I hate that! good luck!

[MPS67]

I was just wondering how everyone starts there down swing. Lately I have been hitting the ball bad and one of my friends said it was because my hands were ahead of my body and I should start and down swing with my hips. But I am just not sure if I start this I will start slicing the ball. What is the proper way to do it.

Good question Shotstop, and there are different approaches golfers take.

What works for me is this. Use your legs and footwork to help lower down and pivot around your upper torso and connected arms/club into the release area while simultaneously transferring your lower torso and legs forward and around as well. It's important not to move your arms independently from a position in front of your sternum (or chest), thus you'll remain connected. You can accomplish this by correctly rotating the club back with the shoulders and shifting weight to specific areas of your feet during the process. This is true during the subsequent portions of the swing as well. Kevin Sheller, a PGA swing coach can better explain it than my words. CLICK HERE TO REVIEW THE VIDEO.

[Avid Golfer]

I was just wondering how everyone starts there down swing. Lately I have been hitting the ball bad and one of my friends said it was because my hands were ahead of my body and I should start and down swing with my hips. But I am just not sure if I start this I will start slicing the ball. What is the proper way to do it.

Its usually pretty difficult to see arms out racing the body with the naked eye (without a camera), so I'd be hesitent to buy what your friend is telling you. A lot of people I see tend to have the legs out racing the body, or the body out racing the arms. Its rare to see the arms and hands out running the body (unless the golfer is locking their body from moving and only slapping at it with the arms only).

My recommendation is that you try to feel like your arms are swinging in sync with your body motion. Thinking about clearing the hips can sometimes be a good idea, but you don't want to do it at the sacrifice of sound arm and body motion. As I made reference to in a past post ( http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showpos...08&postcount;=9 ). If you look at the pros (pictures included in the thread linked) they keep their arms and chest moving together. If you look at the swing of Annika Sorenstam , and a lot of other pros their hips don't appear to be moving faster then the rest of the body during the downswing. As EatMyBelona said there are many different ways to start the downswing. Greg Norman liked to feel like his left knee and left hip rotated behind him. Ernie Els and Nick Faldo liked the feel of seperating the left shoulder from the chin starting down. Steve Elkington liked to feel his weight center, and then turn his abs through the shot. Depending on the position your backswing gets you into one type of thought may work better than another. If you swing into a position with your hands high above you (like Sophie Gustafson below) then you may need to use a different dowswing thought (to keep the arms from getting left behind) then someone with a more compact swing where the arms and body are closer, and more likely to start down together (like Ernie Els below).

[GaijinGolfer]

I judge when to start my downswing by the coiling of my torso. My advice to you would be to take some golf lessons. They will teach in an afternoon what it would have taken you years to figure out on your own.

[amzzk]

Titleistw1 thats the best advice. spend a few bucks on one or two lessons.
they will assess and advise you better than anybody else could.

[lolzzlolzz]

Ben Hogan's 5 Lessons explained it to me better than anyone else could. It's really simple: turn your hips back to the left. If this doesn't work, then there is something else wrong with your back swing, stance and posture, or grip. There isn't anything else to it.

[tm22721]

It is better to initiate the downswing by pushing off the right instep before turning your hips.

Initiating the down swing with your hips frequently causes a spinout and an over the top swing.

[GaijinGolfer]

Ben Hogan's 5 Lessons explained it to me better than anyone else could. It's really simple: turn your hips back to the left. If this doesn't work, then there is something else wrong with your back swing, stance and posture, or grip. There isn't anything else to it.

Thats great if it works, but sometimes there is only so much you can learn by reading a book.

There may be some slight little thing you are doing or arent doing that can make a big difference in your swing and thats why its a good idea to take some lessons or have a golf pro evaluate your swing. I learned how to swing a golf club in much the same way you described, but Id bet that if I started taking some lessons that Id be a much better golfer.

[Avid Golfer]

I judge when to start my downswing by the coiling of my torso. My advice to you would be to take some golf lessons. They will teach in an afternoon what it would have taken you years to figure out on your own.

Titleistw1 thats the best advice. spend a few bucks on one or two lessons.

Its some what amusing seeing TitleistWI advocating personal lessons since in

another thread TitleistWI inferred that he doesn't take lessons. It should be noted that quality of instructors can vary greatly from one to another. Not all instructors (and every lesson) is going to lead to improvement.

[swingcoach]

I was just wondering how everyone starts there down swing. Lately I have been hitting the ball bad and one of my friends said it was because my hands were ahead of my body and I should start and down swing with my hips. But I am just not sure if I start this I will start slicing the ball. What is the proper way to do it.

Obviously, from all the posts so far, there are differing views of the downswing. Here's mine:

Shift from right heel to the left heel – as lateral a shift as you can BEFORE hip rotation. Rotation is lead by the LEFT side not the right. You have to move to the left side first, then use left leg and left hip muscles to rotate. Use the lower body to move the upper body . At the beginning of the down swing, feel your lower body pushing against the ground to twist. - taken from "13 Weeks to Single Digit HDCP" Take a pitcher for example. What would happen if he loaded up on the right side and twisted before he shifted? Same thing in golf. What is the first thing a pitcher moves and the last thing he moves? Lower body first, hands last. Watch any tour player and you will see the same thing. Don't watch the upper body on the downswing because it will look like he's moving his upper body via the upper body. Look at the lower body. Notice that the relationship between his hands and right shoulder remain the same for the first 3 to 5 frames of the downswing.

[iacas]

Its some what amusing seeing TitleistWI advocating personal lessons since in

I'm the same way. I'm a certain kind of masochist (not really) who has never taken a lesson. I enjoy the challenge of figuring things out for myself.

But I don't recommend it to other people, ESPECIALLY beginners. It took me a LONG time to get where I am now, and I likely still battle things that I wouldn't battle if I had taken a lesson early on. The one guy I'd take lessons from (or at least consider it) is currently unable to offer them. Whispering Woods doesn't have a range yet and won't until next year.