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Looking at the back swing is useless if you haven't fixed your posture. Your back is rounded, which is dangerous for your golf swing and your back itself. It needs to be straight, just as it is when you walk down the fairway. Reasons (I always like to give a reason for everything): -The torso muscles must be "activated" as Hogan says. The back is activated by just being straight. The abs are activated by being slightly contracted. The chest is activated by pressing the upper part of your arms against them. Only when your muscles are activated can you create the correct tension between the upper and lower body. -Your lower back is made for stability, not mobility, meaning it needs to stay straight all the time. Rounding the back is bad, so is hyper extending it. Mobility is the job of the hips and upper back. Also don't forget my advice about opening up the stance slightly with the shorter clubs. Part of Ben Hogan's fundamentals is that the hips should be open slightly, not opened up. As the club gets longer, your back foot goes backwards (which closes the feet). Shorter clubs: back foot goes forwards. This is because with the shorter clubs, you have less time to get the hips out of the way. It's smart to get them out of the way at address. Check the pic in this thread: http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showpos...42&postcount;=5

heh the title caught my attention too! since you're a beginner... Get Hogan's 5 Lessons and if you work hard, in 6 months you'll be scoring 76 on a standard 18 holes par 72 coarse

"body line up" isn't true. Driver is best when the front foot is higher than the back foot. This is because the shaft is the longest of all the clubs, which give you the most time to get the hips out of the way in the downswing. It is the opposite with the shorter clubs, you should open up your stance. Also, hips should be pointed left as your right knee points in. My advice is that you should fix your posture. You are slouched over. Bad for your back and your golf swing.

Machines will hurt you in the long run. Treating results and symptoms instead of treating causes? Tips on back problems: -fix your swing, Ben Hogan never had back problems -Strengthen your back by lifting weights, not machines . Machines hurt you in the long run and even if they don't they are useless for golf . Lift barbells and dumbbells. -Keep good posture. Shoulder blades back and down, chest up. Head back. Feet flat on the floor while sitting. -Dynamic stretches for hips, hamstring, and glutes -Finally, most important... if you want a healthy back, STOP STRETCHING IT . Here's why: your lower back is made for stability, not mobility. It is meant to be kept straight at all points in your life, sleeping, running, jumping, and golfing. Bending it forward and rounding it hurts it. Hyper extending it hurts it. Stretching your lower back is as stupid as stretching your knees or elbows. These body parts are made for stability. General rule for treating pain in the "stable" parts of the body (knees, elbows, lower back): stretch the muscles above and below it. Stretch the hip and hamstrings, and the upper back. If your hips are tight, your lower back will compensate by becoming mobile, something it wasn't designed to do. This is why the people with bad backs are always sitting down all day... Sitting down shortens your hip flexors. Long and boring post... but very important for a good golf swing and healthy life. If you want more help I can give you some links for good strength workouts and dynamic stretches (is linking to other websites allowed?)

No simple advice of "fix your swing?" Your plan is way to complex. You need to develop a simple, powerful, and repeating golf swing . Sure, short game and mental stuff is helpful, but you need one swing that you can use on every shot. I broke 100, then 90, then 80 with no special attention to short game, in less than one year of starting golf. I don't claim to be superhuman, and I think I could have broke 80 much faster if I didn't slack around at the start. so... as I always suggest... Get Hogan's book 5 lessons and learn it back to front. By now I've read the book so many times that I've memorized most of the text word for word, and it works. Again, I reiterate, I can hit a straight shot, draw, fade, low shot, high shot, low fade, low draw, and bunker shots without changing my swing at all. Alter the ball with your waggle, ball position, and grip orientation. It's a lot simpler this way.

Sounds like you are getting very "handsy" at the bottom of your swing. You shouldn't have any conscious hand action in the swing at all. Does this sound like your problem? If it does, I suggest you check your grip. It sounds very simple and boring but a wrong grip will force you to make compensations at the last moment, and even the pros can't do this all the time. And I wouldn't say slowing your swing speed is a good idea. Ben Hogan tells the beginner to swing at the ball hard all the time. The body works together better and is more free to move when you don't hold back.

I'm just asking a question. What causes the elbow to be pointed to the left like in the picture? Is it due to grip?

I think I'm having a hard time understanding your post mikelz. By shoulder tilt, do you mean (for a right handed player) how at address the left shoulder is above the right shoulder, like in this pic: Also, I have a question for ya'll: The left elbow is pointed to the left. This is due to a "strong" left hand grip, correct?

I heard about Leadbetter's book; I also heard about how bad it is, like most of his other stuff... From The Secret of Hogan's Swing by Bertrand and Bowler: I'm not going to quote directly, but basically Hogan told John Schlee that it's true that his arms weren't that close together, but only in his early days and after his accident. Because of the pain in his shoulders after the accident, he couldn't keep them together at address, and had to train himself to bring them together once his swing started. He warned John not to mimic his swing, but to just learn the correct fundamentals: "I'm showing you the swing I would be using now if I were physically capable." Left elbow in at impact is one of the biggest "secrets" that Hogan only told a few.

"Keep your head down" is bad advice. Hogan explains it better than me: It's time to start thinking in terms of the cause and not the result for most golfers.

At 5 times a week, 60 balls at the driving range, if you take every shot seriously and apply yourself correctly and intelligently, I'd say you can break 80 in 3 months.

Breaking 100 is a simple process (not saying it's easy, but simple): you just need to work on your swing. I broke 100, 90, and 80 all the same way. By working on one simple swing that I can use for all shots... drives, irons, half shots. I payed no real attention to short game strategies or putting. The only thing I ever had to really "research" was getting out of the bunker, but I still generally use my same swing for that (I only open the club face and open my stance). All you need to do is develop a correct, powerful, repeating, and simple golf swing.

She tells you you can't be a good player? lol... at least she's being honest eh As always, I recommend Ben Hogan's book, 5 lessons... Many people miss the big text that Hogan repeats throughout the book: "THE AVERAGE GOLFER IS ENTIRELY CAPABLE OF BUILDING A REPEATING SWING AND BREAKING 80." Not only does he promise that, but he says if you apply yourself intelligently you will be able to break 80 in 6 months... A complete beginner who has never touched a golf club can break 80 in 6 months of practice. As Hogan says it's not that the average golfer doesn't have the physically abilities to break 80, is that he just doesn't know what to do... So I recommend you get the book and read nothing but the book until you get it right. If you so happen do get it, read the grip, and don't progress until you have mastered the grip. The read the stance, and don't progress until you master it. Then the same for the back swing, and the same for the downswing. The perfect downswing is useless without a proper back swing, which is useless without a proper stance and posture, which is useless without a proper grip, because everything is combined into a chain action. As Hogan says the golfer doesn't have to time anything in the swing, as the swing itself is a chain action of events. This swing times itself.

“Relax? How can anybody relax and play golf? You have to grip the club, don't you?” -Ben Hogan Hogan says you need to press the upper part of your arms hard against the sides of your chest. He says personally he presses them so hard that someone would need to produce "a terrific amount of force" to bring them apart. Also, he says the arms should as close together as possible, and as close to the body as possible. Left elbow points to left hip, right elbow points to right hip. The "pockets" of your arms should face the sky, not towards each other... then you know your arms are close enough together. Once you do all this, as a check, you'll find that your left arm is fully extended, while your right arm is slightly bent at the elbow.

I appreciate you showing proof about this Avid Golfer. I learn golf by this philosophy: Not only do you have to tell a player what they should be doing, but you must tell them why they should do it and how it helps. You covered those nicely with the quotes. That said, I still think a square right foot is fundamentally correct, and a turned right foot is merely an adjustment. To quote Hogan's book: "The truly fortunate golfer is the player who needs to make the smallest number of adjustments."

A complex question with a simple answer! To become a more consistent golfer, you need to develop a more consistent swing! Drills may superficially help, but in the end nothing will work better than analyzing each aspect and fundamental of your golf swing and improving it.

I suggest you get a copy of Hogan's 5 fundamentals for more info on waggle and hip turn (I'm not saying this in a bad or insulting way at all. I just think Hogan can explain it a lot better than I can). Hogan says the hips initiate the downswing. The hips turn back to where they started. As the turn back, they also need to move laterally, which makes the "arch" of the hips bigger on the downswing than on the back swing. This movement brings your weight more on the left foot. From here, the hands will be nearly at hip level. ^^^^ All this happens with no direct arm movement. The movement of the hips takes your hands all the way from above your head to next to your hips. As for being unbalanced due to hip movement, I suspect two reasons for this. One is an incorrect posture and/or back swing. Another is that they may be moving their head too much to the left on the downswing (I had this problem and was unbalanced). Hogan also explains how powerful a correct waggle is and how it isn't just to "loosen you up." He says the waggle is essentially a mini back swing. To quote directly: Imagine that, being able to shape the ball without thinking about how you're swinging. It works! Rules for waggle: -arms stay rooted firmly against the sides of the chest -left arm rotates and left hand passes ball with each waggle -right elbow hits right hip -don't groove it Also, I agree with your wrist watch analogy. Hogan mentions this in the book. He says the left wrist is not only facing the target, but bent towards the target at impact.

Hogan's book teaches a restricted hip turn. This creates tension between the upper and lower body on the back swing. The more tension, the harder you can hit the ball. Hogan mentions that "some people advocate a big hip turn," but he disagrees with it for the reason above.

(not sure if I already posted here..) My ball position is how it's explained in Hogan's book: one or two inches inside the left heel for every club. I can hit it high or low, draw or fade.. I do this by altering my waggle, not the position of the ball. This is ideal I think. Why make it complicated with 3-4 different ball positions?

In Hogan's 5 fundamentals, he mentions that on the downswing he thinks about two things: turning the hips back and then hitting the ball with his upper body. He mentions that there shouldn't be conscious manipulation of the hands. He doesn't worry about any of that because "everything is taken care of previously in the waggle." So try this: -once you reach the top of the downswing, start the downswing with the hips. Turn them back to the left (similar to where they are at address), and make sure you have enough lateral motion to transfer weight to the left foot. -Feel as if your left hand is constantly driving . You do this to ensure you are hitting through the ball in one cohesive movement from start to finish. -Think about two things, starting the hips back then swinging your hands and arms at the ball. Just swing at the ball. -learn to waggle. You need to learn to waggle but it should be natural. Do not groove the waggle. Visualize the shot you want to hit, and let the waggle happen naturally. Your right elbow should hit your right hip every time you waggle the club back. The waggle is simply a shorted version of your back swing. Remember that any conscious manipulation of the hands and arms will not help you in being consistent on a day to day basis. The golf swing should feel like you are swinging with the body.

Oops i meant to say left

Doesn't sound right to me. Different teachers teach different swings and different golfers learn different swings, but the way I know golf is that the arms should be as close to the body as possible on the backswing. The right elbow should be as close to your side as possible. Also, you need to be swinging inside out on the downswing. All good golfers swing on a steeper and inside out plane on their downswing than their back swing. Your shank problem has to do with your stance and posture most likely. What exactly is wrong with your stance and posture I don't know... so go to whoever/whatever taught you golf and let him/her or it help you. No offense but this is bad advice in my opinion. You shouldn't have any conscious hand action in the downswing. The only things you should think about are starting the hips back, getting the weight to your left foot, and swinging at the ball with your upper body.

I want to play consistent golf. If I'm hitting it way right, I will still aim down the middle. I don't look to fix the outcome, but the problem in my swing that is causing it. Telling a slicer to "aim right" is the worst advice you can give in golf. Sure it may ruin the round for me but in the long run I want to know that I have a swing that will be reliable day after day.

On all standard shots, I place the ball one or two inches from my left heel. Driver, 5 iron, wood, hybrid, wedges... all in the same spot. Are you swinging the same with it as your irons? I don't see why not too... If I can swing all the clubs the same, my setup can be the same. I just think it's a lot easier this way. Edit: What I'm mainly trying to say, is that if you are swinging the same and you can't hit the hybrids, that means something is wrong wrong with your swing. Changing the ball position may superficially fix the result (you may be able to hit it solidly now, straight even), but it does not fix the cause. You should be able to hit each club with the same standard swing.

Here's a trick to improve accuracy with shorter clubs: get the left hip out of the way before in your stance. You do this by moving your right foot closer to the ball. Distance may be reduced, but accuracy is the priority on these shots.