Getting driver parallel at top of backswing

[kleraudio]

I cant seem to do it, I ALWAYS go past parallel, If I try to shorten my swing it ends up short of parallel,

any tips on how to finish my backswing where my club stops at parallel right before I transition down?

Thanks!

Jim

[wedge player]

I cant seem to do it, I ALWAYS go past parallel, If I try to shorten my swing it ends up short of parallel,

my advice would be to work on impact not parallel i find when i swing best its past parallel

[TN94z]

I cant seem to do it, I ALWAYS go past parallel, If I try to shorten my swing it ends up short of parallel,

Does your arm break down to get to parallel? How do you know where it is....are you watching it on camera? The reason I ask is because I was told to stop the club in slow mo at the position I "felt" like it was at the top of my back swing. It was past parallel. Then I was told to take what I "felt" like was about a 75% swing. When I did this, the club was getting to parallel and no further. My point is, watch it on tape if you haven't because what you feel may not be what is really happening.

[kleraudio]

Thats how I know because of tape, I get way past parallel, and even sometimes I can see it in my peripheral vision, just wanna know how to stop it at parallel, Like I said, I tried that 75% stuff, and it ruins my rhythm cuz thats all I think about..

I guess I should go to the range with someone and have em tell me when Im parallel and just practice the backswing till I dont think about it anymore...

[TN94z]

Is your arm breaking down or are you just that flexible?

[kleraudio]

Im really flexible man, 6'2 190 pounds, hit the gym 4 times a week and am pretty lean....

This is why I cant stop at parallel and I go way beyond!! I have a vid of myswing some time ago in the playing tips section, you can check it out...

Ive fixed a lot of things cuz of that vid, but I still cant get my club to stop at parallel...

Jim

[deronsizemore]

Im really flexible man, 6'2 190 pounds, hit the gym 4 times a week and am pretty lean....

Like most people, it comes down to allowing your arms to continue to swing after your shoulders have stopped turning. You're probably breaking your wrists at the top too. Just a guess though without seeing your swing. You do it because it feels powerful, but it really isn't. I used to go way past parallel too for the same reasons I mentioned above.

Once I finally learned the correct way to pivot and transfer my weight in the backswing as well as learning how to turn my shoulders instead of just swinging my arms, the going past parallel stopped. Post a link to your vid if you want.

[Zeph]

If you have problem controlling when swinging past parallell, why not settle on short of parallell? Many long hitters don't get it past parallell. Those few inches doesn't make much of a difference, especially if you don't get the timing and impact right anyways.

Every golfer should be taught to take shorter backswing in the beginning. Once they are coordinated and able to hit the ball solidly, you can increase the backswing if needed. A solid impact is way more important than gaining a bit more leverage.

[TN94z]

Every golfer should be taught to take shorter backswing in the beginning. Once they are coordinated and able to hit the ball solidly, you can increase the backswing if needed. A solid impact is way more important than gaining a bit more leverage.

Arnold Palmer would disagree with that (I think it was Arnold). He says that kids should be encouraged to swing away when they are young. He said that it would be easier for them to back off a swing than add more to a swing later on.

[iacas]

Arnold Palmer would disagree with that (I think it was Arnold). He says that kids should be encouraged to swing away when they are young. He said that it would be easier for them to back off a swing than add more to a swing later on.

Arnold (I think it was Jack, truthfully, and probably someone else before him) said they should swing hard. He didn't necessarily say "limit the backswing" or anything - you can still swing hard with a shorter backswing.

[TN94z]

Arnold (I think it was Jack, truthfully, and probably someone else before him) said they should swing hard. He didn't necessarily say "limit the backswing" or anything - you can still swing hard with a shorter backswing.

May have been Jack...it has been a while since I saw it, but I thought I read it to say let the kids swing away meaning don't have them stop as a point, just let them swing what's natural. And every kid that I have seen swing, goes past parallel. Anyway, it was a LONG time ago when I read this.

[Zeph]

Then why would you teach them to swing past parallell? It doesn't exactly make it easier to get down to the ball in all the right places. John Daly may have mastered it, but I don't suggest anyone else should. Golf is not natural, the movement is not natural. It is natural to use the arms a lot and swing the club as far as you can, but that's kinda the oposite of what everyone is teaching. Overswinging is a big problem for a lot of players. It is very easy to get into a bad position in the downswing where you got the arms way behind the body.

[TN94z]

Then why would you teach them to swing past parallell? It doesn't exactly make it easier to get down to the ball in all the right places. John Daly may have mastered it, but I don't suggest anyone else should. Golf is not natural, the movement is not natural. It is natural to use the arms a lot and swing the club as far as you can, but that's kinda the oposite of what everyone is teaching. Overswinging is a big problem for a lot of players. It is very easy to get into a bad position in the downswing where you got the arms way behind the body.

The whole point is not teaching them, just let them swing the way they swing. My step son is 7 and swings way past parallel and gets back to where you need to be. Most kids, that I have seen, used more hips than most average high handicappers trying to master the swing. A kid's swing is naturally good...unless we just have a ton of prodigy kids running around in my area. I am in no way saying that you should take the club past parallel...I simply made a comment. I think this is swaying away from the OP's topic and I didn't mean to do that with my comment...so, I'll just end it at that.

[Where's the Cart Girl?]

Find something that stands the right height, i.e. something that stands just shorter than what would be your parallel position at the top, and position yourself relative to it such that if you swing past parallel you'll contact it with the club.

Or have one of your buddies stand behind you (facing your back) and extend another club or a long stick out just lower than the parallel height next to your left shoulder. Its hard to "feel" what is exactly parallel, but if there's something there that you're hitting when you go too far it'll be much easier, and that's what I'm getting at here. Do whatever and use whatever/whoever you have to to get something in the way of what would be a passed parallel club position at the top.

IMO the convention that parallel is the ideal position at the top is just a general case. I'm onboard with the other posters in the spirit of - do whatever you want, so long as you hit the ball. An if you have the flexibility and the ability to control your swing then just swing away. But what I wrote above is something to try.

[TN94z]

You say that when you try to shorten your swing, you don't hit it as well. Do you hit it bad because you are going past parallel, or is this just something you want to change? How is your impact position..because that is really all that matters. If you swing past parallel and have no issues getting to the correct impact position consistently, then why change?

If anything is breaking down at all allowing you to get to parallel, then the swing extender may help