Horrible advice: ''hit down on the ball''

[Leftygolfer]

I've really read nothing that seems to hold any wieght except what Erik said. The hip slide forward before the club passes the hands is what creates consistant contact. A good divot is a result of this foward movement before impact. Taking a good divot is a great thing for consistancy and power. I'm yet to see a great player not take a divot with his short clubs. Sure you can be good and pretty much sweep the ball, but to get to the be a plus golfer, taking a divot is a given.

[grantc79]

The hip slide forward before the club passes the hands is what creates consistant contact. A good divot is a result of this foward movement before impact. Taking a good divot is a great thing for consistancy and power.

You do not have to slide the hips. For the vast majority of people it is a very good thing, but it is not a must that has to happen for good contact to take place.

See Arnold Palmer: Now just because you don't consciously slide the hips doesn't mean they won't (and likely will) gradually slide forward while the hips turn, but there doesn't have to be a definite slide.

[Leftygolfer]

You do not have to slide the hips. For the vast majority of people it is a very good thing, but it is not a must that has to happen for good contact to take place.

Umm....You posted halfway through his downswing. He already moved his hips toward the target by then. Look at his knee in the first and second frame. Do you think that is where it was at the top of the swing??

[grantc79]

Look at the video of his swing here:



There is very, very, very little hip slide if any.

Now I'm not saying a hip slide won't help 99% of all golfers, but it isn't an imperative to playing good golf.

The only imperatives to playing good golf are a flat left wrist, club head lag pressure point, and a proper plane line.

[Zeph]

The only imperatives to playing good golf are a flat left wrist, club head lag pressure point, and a proper plane line.

How does that give you a forward swing bottom?

[Kieran123]

'm yet to see a great player not take a divot with his short clubs. Sure you can be good and pretty much sweep the ball, but to get to the be a plus golfer, taking a divot is a given.

Tom Watson was a sweeper. He acknowledges this....but he isn't any good right?

[Zeph]

Tom Watson was a sweeper. He acknowledges this....but he isn't any good right?

This Tom Watson?

[Kieran123]

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instr...g_gd0507watson

[iacas]

There is very, very, very little hip slide if any.

I wouldn't call six inches "very, very, very little if any."

The only imperatives to playing good golf are a flat left wrist, club head lag pressure point, and a proper plane line.

Yes, let's quote The Golfing Machine. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. It's a good book but there are ways to achieve those things... I could hit the ball a foot at a time with those three things.

You forget that pushing the hips forward is a big part of having a flat left wrist, maintaining the club head lag pressure point, and keeping a proper plane line. If you fail to push forward, most golfers (and by most I mean 90%+) you'll flip and/or come over the top and thus lose out on those three things.

[CalBoomer]

Irrespective of how good a swing one has, or how much hip movement there is, there are two essentials to optimal contact in iron play. 1. The hands are ahead of the clubhead at contact, the so-called hockey-stick position. 2. The clubhead contacts the ball slightly before the bottom of the swing when it then contacts the turf, the so-called "hit the little ball before the big ball." Optimal iron play is impossible if these two basics are not achieved. For any club, I know where the bottom of my swing will be (ie, just after the start of my divot) and I position the ball at set-up accordingly.Regarding "sweeping," the issue is consistency. Sweeping requires perfect vertical club position. Contacting the ball before taking a divot is lightly more forgiving and promotes greater consistency.

[bbedell]

A tip I got from my buddy who gives me lessons (used to be a club pro in NY) was when you're learning how to take a good divot and put backspin on the ball, imagine a picnic table right in front of you and imagine you are starting the ball out right under that table. The first time he gave me that tip the ball came out long, straight, with incredible spin on my first shot. Different tips work for different people I guess