Drill to stop Rushing Downswing

[Mr. Desmond]

13 hours ago, Mr. Desmond said:

^^^

Let me correct some of the above.

Okay, got the club out of the bag and did inside work. If you're connected and hinge correctly when taking the club back, then when the club is just above parallel (with hinge) going back with the clubhead outside your hands, the bearings fall, and you can finish the backswing any way you want.

And then begin the downswing with the lower body.

1. Let me add to the above - swinging in slow motion and swinging on the range are 2 different things. Swing slowly inside, these bearings will slide down the shaft sooner, as shown above. With a slow, but more normal swing motion to the top, the bearings will slide down near the top. It does not take much upward motion of the bearings to slide.

Since it is a real golf club in which you hit real golf balls, you're not going to like everything you see if you are looking at the ball. Don't take results into account. The result is whether you keep the club at the top and start your downswing from the ground up.

2. Other things to do - watch pros who keep it at the top. I'd watch some Japanese pros at the Nelson on the range, and they'd leave the club there and the lower body would go first.

3. Another drill I do without a clubs is to put my right arm under my left elbow (just above the elbow and provide resistance as you practice a swing - the resistance should keep your back to the ball so you are not lunging, and you want to feel the weight on the front foot and hips strongly clearing, belt buckle to the sky.

Good luck. It's hard work.

[iacas]

16 hours ago, Mr. Desmond said:

If you are taking the club inside and/or too flat, you've got issues if the marbles don't roll down the shaft.. If the bearings are not moving down, take the club back slightly more upright. Remember, it is a swing aid. The bearings don't lie.

Pretty sure he meant the shaft is horizontal at the top, in which case the bearings wouldn't move down the shaft while you "wait" at the top of the backswing.

[Mr. Desmond]

6 hours ago, iacas said:

Pretty sure he meant the shaft is horizontal at the top, in which case the bearings wouldn't move down the shaft while you "wait" at the top of the backswing.

You are correct. No movement when truly horizontal.  As you know, it is tough to explain training aids, techniques, etc, unless you do this on a daily basis. I don't.

It's tough to explain, but when I am at the top, the bearings slide - I don't go completely horizontal. 

Still, it's one of the better training aids I've found for that issue.  An easier  drill is right arm holding back the left elbow and then planting that front foot with pressure and then hips. I use them in tandem.

[span3636]

I like the idea of starting the club slow from the top and then gradually accelerating it. I phyisically swing slow to about shoulder height and then swoosh through. I do this several times and then go back to what I call a normal swing. Hope this helps.

[Buckeyebowman]

I've seen the drill in the OP before, and couldn't actually hit a ball worth a lick when doing it! I can see it being useful in practice swings. Harvey Penick advocated a variation of this with a drill that had you initiate the downswing by bringing the right elbow (RH swing) back to your side and getting the weight into your left foot. He taught this as one move, not 2 separate moves, He said to practice this by repeating the "downswing initiation move" three times per swing. Elbow into side, weight into left foot, back to top. Elbow into side, weight into left foot, back to top. Elbow into side, weight into left foot, and complete the swing.

And I'm kind of in Jack Lawson's camp here. I can't be lollygagging around on the backswing. That only seems to accentuate my tendency to jump from the top. A lot of us grew up with the "slow, smooth backswing" advice. Nothing wrong with smooth, but look at the Tour pros. The vast majority of them don't waste any time getting the club back. Their entire swing lasts barely a second.

[freshmanUTA]

On 4/21/2017 at 9:54 PM, gregsandiego said:

What do you guys think of this?

Because this is a constant issue for me I'm always looking for a fix.  This drill seems good because it forces the backswing. The only problem is it is hard to make a clean hit after posing for 3 seconds. Surprisingly bad shots result.

 

He mentions this in the video. He says if you make contact that's a positive, because his first and second shots were not good with this drill. It's not about the strike but enforcing the feel.

[vjgidda]

Yes, the drill at the top of the post is a great drill.  I would even try to hit balls with a full back swing, slow down at the top, and swing down even slower than your normal backswing.

Hit the ball only 10-15 yards.  

If you're not making solid contact the you need to slow your downswing even more while only hitting balls 10-15 yards.  

Do this over and over patiently.  This is the HARD work part of getting better.

Edited May 17, 2017 by vjgidda

[gregsandiego]

On 5/17/2017 at 8:23 AM, vjgidda said:

Yes, the drill at the top of the post is a great drill.  I would even try to hit balls with a full back swing, slow down at the top, and swing down even slower than your normal backswing.

Hit the ball only 10-15 yards.  

If you're not making solid contact the you need to slow your downswing even more while only hitting balls 10-15 yards.  

Do this over and over patiently.  This is the HARD work part of getting better.

Thanks for the encouragement.

[gregsandiego]

Postscript.

I find this really old post on a UK forum. The guys symptoms are identical to mine. It looks like he ended up doing something like the pause drill.

 

http://www.golfshake.com/forums/view/3777/Unable_to_complete_back_swing_when_ball_is_there.html