Shift Secret to Straighter Shots (Article)

[EverythingGolf]

[saevel25]

Well if you have an over the top move, that much lateral movement will probably cause the person to hitting a big pull.

Note, you never want that much lateral shift away from the target in the backswing.

[EverythingGolf]

When you make a backswing your hip will naturally move away from the chair and it looks like he is shifting away from it but I dont think he is trying to get you to shift away from the chair.

[billchao]

When you make a backswing your hip will naturally move away from the chair and it looks like he is shifting away from it but I dont think he is trying to get you to shift away from the chair.

It looks to me like he does want you to shift away from the chair. He mentions getting the left hip significantly away from the back of the chair to "shift your weight on your right side." Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you draw a line at the left hip at address, a centered pivot will have the rear end touching that line at the top. I get the downswing advice, but it seems to me like that kind of backswing advice is just going to result in swaying.

[saevel25]

When you make a backswing your hip will naturally move away from the chair and it looks like he is shifting away from it but I dont think he is trying to get you to shift away from the chair.

Your left hip doesn't move to the right, it moves back around you and up. The front knee should not be caving in to the ball that much.

[MS256]

I wondered about the hip sway in the back swing from that pic myself but it may just appear that way from the gap between the chair and the left hip widening from the turn of the hips. I can't tell for sure. Just my opinion but I don't think any of the forward movement in the forward swing would cause a pull. If anything in my swing it causes a block right if there's too much of that.

[jclark]

@saevel25 didn't Jack nicklaus and arnold Palmer, 2 of the greatest golfers to ever play, have a very pronounced caving of their lead knee in the backswing? What's so bad about it?

[saevel25]

@saevel25 didn't Jack nicklaus and arnold Palmer, 2 of the greatest golfers to ever play, have a very pronounced caving of their lead knee in the backswing? What's so bad about it?

Yes Jack did, but we are not Jack and Arnie. We are not Hogan and Snead. Nick Price tried to copy Jack's swing, and played horrible. Then he realized that Jack swing isn't his swing. Nick price is one of the greatest ball strikers of all time, especially with his irons. Totally underrated due to the presence of Faldo, Norman and Couples.

Jack was able to maintain a lot of the good things that must be done in a golf swing for it to be great. If a person can keep there head steady, and get weight forward at impact, then go ahead and cave that knee in if it work. Usually that knee caves in due to excessive lateral shift. Jack was able to keep his head steady in the golf swing. Most of the time this isn't true with amateurs. If you see a left knee cave in, that means your upper center has usually moved to the right a significant amount, and your left leg is shifting to brace the force put on a different angle. When you flare your feat and keep your pivot more centered then the front knee wont cave because it isn't required.

The swing has evolved over time to were the lead leg is better suited to stay still in the backswing. This produces a much more stable swing. Jacks swing always had a ton of moving parts, but he was able to own that swing. For most people, that is not desirable.

[jclark]

Understood. Less moving parts is always better!