Balance and Posture

[kfowler]

I started taking my winter set of lessons last weekend. The one positive side of living up north is it gives you a good time to make swing changes. One of my major goals was to improve my consistency with my irons.

During my last set of lessons in the spring, we identified that I have too much weight toward to my toes and was literally falling toward the ball during the downswing. This caused some bad shanks every now and then. So I really worked on moving more of my weight toward the center of my feet. I had a good summer dropping my HCP by almost 8 points.

During my first lesson with a new instructor on Saturday, he identified that I had gone to the extreme and was putting too much weight toward my heels. At the top of my back swing, you could see where my spine angle was lifting a little. I thought this was attributed to a lack of flexibility but he thought it was actually caused by my weight being toward my heels and the momentum of my back swing lifting me "up". Obviously if you raise your spine, you've got to get back to the exact same spot to hit a quality shot. Hence the consistency issues. This setup was also causing my shoulders to open slightly causing the occasional pull.

So we really worked on getting my weight more on the balls of my feet and my body centered. Maintaining balance was going to be the focus. We tried a couple of drills. First was too put my feet about six inches apart and the right foot about halfway back. From here make 10-12 swings concentrating only on balance. Next was to hit full swings using normal stance. Change clubs and repeat process. The difference was very noticeable. Much more crisper contact.

Another drill was to take normal stance and to split your hands slightly so they don't overlap. Almost like a hockey grip. This was also effective but I tend to prefer the first drill.

One final aspect was building your stance for every swing. He recommended I start with my feet together and then bend at the hips until the club touches the ground. He said it's much easier to feet with your out of balance with your feet together. From this point, widen your stance and swing away.

So far the results have been really positive. I'm trying to get back out to the range to practice actually hitting a ball. Most of my daily practice has been confined to my living room.

BTW, I posted a question a couple of weeks ago about taking 30 min lessons vs a fill hour. The one I took was 30 min and it worked out great. I feel like I got all the info I could handle, I was never rushed, and I could hit balls from the bay as long as I wanted afterwords.

[RIduffer]

Sounds like you're working hard. What does the split-grip drill teach?

[kfowler]

Sounds like you're working hard. What does the split-grip drill teach?

Same basic balance. Hard to explain. I'm guessing it somewhat restricts your swing so that you stay centered and don't over swing. I found it useful but not as much as the split stance.

[flatom]

The split grip teaches your hands how to work, ie. makes it easier to hinge and also allows one to drop into the slot easier.

Once the feeling is obtained, then put the hands back together and do it like that.

Same basic balance. Hard to explain. I'm guessing it somewhat restricts your swing so that you stay centered and don't over swing. I found it useful but not as much as the split stance.

[danieldrieberg]

Split hands for me teaches the coordination between the hands as you are working the club. The closer your hands are the easier for one hand to dominate and for the hands to be non parallel. This has implications for the swing plane with either an OTT move or a "pull" swing plane if right ahnd dominates.

The most important part of the post is balance and posture. Unless you are stable throughout the swing the faults will not be predictable. Pull, push, shank, slice, hook, fat, and thin, and a perfect shot are all very real possibilities. HEY, I've got all those swings in my bag. To a lesser extent as I have really concentrated on a consistent balance and posture this year.