"The A Swing: The Alternative Approach to Great Golf" by David Leadbetter

[iacas]

Discuss "The A Swing: The Alternative Approach to Great Golf" by David Leadbetter here.

[mmoan2]

Thanks! When I find some time to look at it, I'll try to say something interesting.

[Rick Martin]

waiting for my library to get it - heard David and Dennis Paulson talking about it last weekend on Sirius.

[Mr. Desmond]

Ledbetter ... much maligned and respected. From the video on Golf Digest.

Didn't Butch just get Rickie out of doing this at the start of the backswing?

http://video.golfdigest.com/watch/david-leadbetter-the-a-swing-backswing

And then the downswing seems to be baseball swing to right field.

http://video.golfdigest.com/watch/david-leadbetter-the-a-swing-downswing

I know little about the details of even my own swing, so my comments are observations from experience.

I am working on a shorter backswing than i presently have, so I see something positive on most golfers feeling a shorter backswing. I don't know what to think -- I actually tried that backswing earlier in the year from looking at youtube (before the A swing) and my instructor said "What the hell are you doing?" I guess that says everything I need to know about the A Swing.

[iacas]

I bought the book and will share some thoughts when/if I get a chance to read it.

[newtogolf]

Just downloaded it on my iPad, I'll share some thoughts later in the week.

[Hoganwoods]

The title is strange.. " Alternative Approach".  What does this mean lol.  I'm curious to read people's thoughts on this.

[mmoan2]

The title is strange.. "Alternative Approach".  What does this mean lol.  I'm curious to read people's thoughts on this.

I know that the alternative approach refers to the backswing. It's a simpler backswing, supposedly, that puts the club in an odd position. Check out his website to see what I mean.

[Rick Martin]

[GolfLug]

The title is strange.. "Alternative Approach".  What does this mean lol.  I'm curious to read people's thoughts on this.

Alternative Approach to Great Golf? - Terrible golf.. duh.

Seriously though, I saw the A swing model in the latest Golf digest. All I can say is.. interesting. Cupping wrist like that in the BS is poison for my move.

[isukgolf]

Sounds like a marketing ploy to sell products ... starting to view David in the same light as I do Hank ...

[Rick Martin]

that "V" he's talking about appears to be a re-direct of the club in the same manner as Furyk.....and thats a swing I never will want to emulate no matter how good Jim has been on tour......

[Mr. Desmond]

Sounds like a marketing ploy to sell products ... starting to view David in the same light as I do Hank ...

Starting?

David was selling before Hank was a brand name... I place both in File 13.

[Ernest Jones]

Starting?

David was selling before Hank was a brand name... I place both in File 13.

Agreed. The first golf advice I ever got was to steer clear of David Leadpoison's schtick. I remember reading back to back articles from him that completely contradicted each other in the same magazine...

Plus, every time I see him I think it's Eric Idle doing a parody of him.

[Hoganwoods]

LOL @ the video in p ost 14. A-Swing approved training aids?  A boomerang?  The guy has like 4 training aids for this simple new swing.

[iacas]

Seriously though, I saw the A swing model in the latest Golf digest. All I can say is.. interesting. Cupping wrist like that in the BS is poison for my move.

I have the book coming, but basically I believe it is:

• A cupped left wrist with a steep, across-the-line shaft at 4.
• The idea is that you shallow it from there, but… most players won't IMO.

[nevets88]

Golf Digest has a little preview of the book:

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/2015-06/david-leadbetter-a-swing-starter-kit

[podunker]

Disclaimer: I am a tinkerer by nature when it comes to my golf swing. I am around a 7-8 hdcp, but would say my putting is very good and that carries me. I have tried many concepts over the years and learned something from them all. Yes, I call them concepts, SnT, Natural, Single Plane, etc. My biggest problem has always been consistency. For example, I shot a 73 last Sunday, and and 81 five days later. I hit a bunch of solid iron shots with the 73 and could not hit a solid shot with the 81. In my mind, nothing had changed with my swing between those few days. Contact changed, and when I couldn’t make good contact, I started changing my swing mid round to fix it! Guess how that worked out?

Here are my first impressions after skimming the book, watching the seminar, and taking a few swings in the yard without hitting any balls.  Trust me when I say this, I have never read anything from Leadbetter except the stuff he puts in the golf magazines a few years back. I don’t get any of those publication now, and haven’t a couple years. So I feel like I can be pretty fair when trying this concept out.

The first radical change for me was in the grip. Gripping the club more in the fingers is an unusual sensation for me. I always wear out my gloves first in the heel of the palm.  The new grip inherently seemed to make the club handle set lower and seemed to me to loosen up my forearm pressure. It also made it much more natural to keep the club head outside the hands on the backswing. Having the right hand in such a weak position was also a big change. When I watch the seminar, I also noticed when Dennis Watson was swinging the club early on while Leadbetter was talking, his wrist seemed to be very loose, and limber. I kind of like the feeling honestly.

I also liked in the seminar how David explained the shoulder or upper body turn. Sometimes an image is all it takes. The way he let his arms hang down in front of him and used them like pistons to show the turn. I always struggle with this feeling myself. It’s a lot like one particular other concept that has you turn your left shoulder down instead of around to turn.

I am very intrigued by the follow through they show in the seminar.  I have a BIG problem with rolling my hands, and even whole upper body sometimes on the follow through. So It is going to take some time to get used to just flipping my right hand up.

I am going to continue to read, and hope to hit some balls tomorrow……….so I will update.