lolzzlolzz

I noticed in all the pictures of him I never saw a glove. Thanks for clearing that up.

I don't like these "drills" people do to fix problems in the golf swing. When analyzing your swing, you must think of the cause, and not the result. When you're back hurts, you can examine and treat the cause, or you can treat the symptoms (result) and take an Advil. First you must understand why the pros take such a big divot. In my opinion there are three major reasons for this: 1) All pros initiate the downswing with their lower body, transferring their weigh to their left leg and turning their hips back. Once you are in this position, your hands will be about hip level, and it will feel almost impossible to hit the ball without taking a divot. 2) Pros supinate their left hand before impact. Their wrist is bent towards the target, and their hands are well in front of the ball and club. 3) Their right arm is bent at impact. The left arm is straight while the right arm is still bent. They are hitting through the ball, and their arms don't straighten out until one or two feet past impact. The fastest part of the swing isn't at impact but when the arms are both fully extended. Honestly, I think you should check your grip, stance and posture, and back swing. A correct downswing is useless without having the previous fundamentals in place. If you're certain these are correct, look at your downswing. Make sure you have enough lateral motion to bring your weight onto your left foot. If you are hanging back, you will not hit the ball with a descending blow. Once you are in that position (with the hips starting to turn back, weight transferred to the left foot, and hands about hip level), and assuming your grip, stance and posture, and back swing are correct, it will be almost impossible to hit the ball without taking a divot, because your right arm will be bent at impact and still extending. It will have no place to go but through the ground.

Maybe you're right... I still think a flared right foot brings more problems than what it does to help the swing... which makes me wonder... what is the purpose of letting the foot angle out from 12 o clock? how does it help the swing at all?

If you're going to do the stuff from Ben Hogan's book, I suggest you do things exactly as he says. I have small hands as well and can still do the grip from his book. I also believe, as he does, that the overlapping grip is the only "correct" grip. Interlocking may be "okay" but it doesn't allow the correct distribution of power between both the left and right hand like the overlapping grip does. 10 finger grip is out of the question... Edit: I also suggest trying to play without gloves. Your left hand will hurt for the first week or so but you'll get used to it. Nowadays, I only put on my glove for shots when my hands are sweaty. Anyone know if Ben Hogan used a glove?

One correct stance... left foot turned out a quarter of a turn, and right foot straight forwards at 12' o clock. Turning the right foot to the right kills tension between the hips and your upper body, which you need for power.

Your right knee sticks out to the right on the back swing, which carries your body over with it. To fix, keep your right foot square (12 o' clock). I think you need to have a wider stance. Most people recommend a narrow stance, but it seems you are losing balance at the end of your swing. Wide stance gives you a firm base. Heels shoulder width apart on a 5 iron, wider for the longer clubs and more narrow for the shorter clubs. The upper part of your arms should be pressed hard against the sides of your chest, and your arms should be as close to your body as possible. Don't slouch your shoulders. The biggest thing I notice is the problem with your hip turn. First, your hips turn too early. At the start of the swing, your hands, arms, and shoulders should move together almost simultaneously. The movement of the hands, arms, and shoulders should pull the hips. This creates tension in the core, which unwinds and produces distance. Look at Ben Hogan. His swing starts at 1:06, and he's only moving his hands, arms, and shoulders. His hips don't start to turn until a second later, at 1:07, when his hands approach hip level. To add to the right knee problem... if the right foot is pointed out to the right and not at 12 o' clock, the hips will overturn and there will not be enough tension between the upper and lower body to create maximum club head speed. Anyway, there is no one swing correct. Check your grip, and if it's correct, check your stance and posture. When you have a good stance and posture work on the back swing, then work on the downswing. If you have a correct grip, stance and posture, and waggle correctly you can practically forget about what the hands and arms are doing... everything will fall together. Highly recommend you get Hogan's book (5 lessons).