mnguy19

You're not kidding. I've always been good at every sport I've tried so when I tried golf I had a rude awakening. For me, im too stubborn to give up so the only option is to figure out how to improve. It's been a journey for sure, haha.

I have no doubt on that as well. I think relaxing/loosening the arms/wrists has a chain reaction of positive outcomes in the swing. I will say though, that if I came down in the slot on a good plane and proceeded forward with tense arms my swing still wouldn't be very good or at least I wouldn't get the distance I am getting now. For me, I have noticed that allowing the core muscles to direct my arms puts them on a better swing plane and creates lag without any conscious effort on my part. My main swing thought is to relax the arms/wrists and there is a domino effect of positive outcomes because of it. I think that when we "turn the arms off", we allow the arms to fall first instead of chopping our arms forward. As a result, we get both the lag we want and at the same time put our club on a more ideal swing plane. This is honestly why I am so in love with my newfound swing, I don't have to think as much about minute details. For me, it feels like timing and tempo are now more in focus than before, other than re-training my brain to stop trying to swipe at the ball when I get excited about distance. I've noticed just from reading a lot about PGA tour pros that many of them have different swing thoughts that can sound drastically different from one another. They also all have great distance and accuracy so in terms of what is actually going on in any given swing, if it works for you then do it. I intend to upload a swing on here too so that may help me get a better picture of what is actually happening. It may be helpful to understand that but until my swing stops producing great results I'm going to keep on.

I agree. I wouldn't be convinced to change my swing drastically at this point simply because my results doing it the way I've described have been that good. Regardless of what is actually going on vs what I feel is going on, when I relax and swing the way I've been trying, the ball goes dead straight and goes long. Sure, if a year from now it becomes inconsistent and unreliable I'll change it but as of now, whatever I'm doing seems to be getting me very real results. It sounds like it is for other people as well.

That makes sense, that's kind of what I thought you meant. I realize that the arms don't get totally turned off but you're right, that's what it feels like. I'm definitely looking to upload a new swing video on here, my old swing wouldn't really apply anymore.

Just to clarify, are you saying that if I swung with my core and shoulders but still tried to engage my arm muscles I would hit it further yet? I always go back to the throwing motion for some reference personally. The elbow and wrist are loose while the body creates the lag. I guess for me, I've had zero success when I "feel" like my arm muscles are the power source. Loosening up and using my core and shoulders has done wonders for me. I know we keep going back "feel ain't real" but wouldn't it be a true statement to say that the arms and wrists should be relaxed throughout the swing? I've never heard anyone suggest tensing up the arms during the swing is the secret to more distance. You just can't whip the club with tense arms, it just isn't possible.

That's part of what I'm describing, my arms swing faster because I'm not using the muscles in my arms to generate the speed. I let my arms/wrists stay loose so they whip faster through the ball, using my body turn as the source of my power. What I'm actually describing is not using my arm muscles to make my arms swing faster but using my body to make my arms swing faster. Is that what you're referring to? I have just never had any success trying to power my swing using my arm muscles, I'm just too tense. When I started loosening my arms and swinging with my body I started getting distance I've never seen before.

Marty, that is exactly what happens to me. I get a little distance and suddenly I'm swing for the fences. You're thought about enjoying the transition is helpful though, I think we need little mantras like that to remember during the swing. My thought goes back to powerless arms. Sometimes I will even hold the club out in front of me and let it fall by letting my arms loosen up as a reminder that my power comes from the body, not so much my arms.

I don't doubt it, I have started focusing on loosening my wrists and arms in the downswing while making sure to swing with my body. My results have convinced me to change my old, inconsistent swing and go for the more effortless looking swing. I know Paul Wilson talks a lot about this in his Youtube videos if you want some more info.

So recently I decided that I wanted to really focus in on why I was hitting the ball so short compared to all the guys at the range. I've noticed more and more that when I loosen up and relax (without trying to chop at the ball) I've been hitting it further and making better contact. I've started revamping my swing as now when I reach the top of my back swing, my main thought is loose arms and loose wrists. Once I let my wrists hinge I turn my arms off and cue my hips and lower body to start moving. When I have been able to swing with my body I've been hitting the ball further than I ever have by a mile. The problem that I've found is that it is ridiculously hard for me to keep my arms turned off because every time I crush one swinging the right way, I somehow start tensing up trying to hit the ball farther and then my good swing goes away. The nice thing about swinging the with the body is that now I understand all the talk about tempo and letting the club do the work. The problem however is getting my body to do what doesn't feel natural and get used to powering my swing from the ground up. I guess why I'm writing is because I was wondering what other people have done to make this transition easier. I'm sure a lot will come down to practice but I thought if anyone had any tricks or tips they've used to remind themselves to swing with the body it could be very helpful. For some reason at the range, at some point my brain stops believing that the easier, more effortless swing will won't work anymore and it becomes a struggle to loosen up and relax. Honestly, I'm not even as concerned about power, just some consistency with making good contact. Thanks guys.

One of the big things that I started working on is relaxing my arms and wrists and using my body to swing the club. Initially I can say that I've had mixed success primarily because I've swung the club incorrectly for awhile so resisting the urge to tense up and hit the ball has been tricky. I can say though that when I have made good contact the ball goes much further and feels much better. While my maintaining my height is still an issue, I have found that I usually dip only when I'm arm swinging. Thanks for the advice guys.

I recently recorded my golf swing and noticed a dramatic dip in height during my backswing. It usually doesn't end up well with the best case scenario being a ripping fade that more or less veers back towards the target line. I am a habitual chunker with lots of fat shots. I experimented recently while at the range with my 5 iron and when I actually managed to maintain my height and balance I ripped the purest shot I ever have with my 5 iron. For some reason though maintaining my height throughout the backswing feels so unnatural to me that I can't help but bend my left knee (I'm right handed) every time I bring the club back. This happens even more dramatically when I try to add power to my swing. Has anyone had this same problem with their swing? What has helped to eliminate that dip? For me, I've had to stand much more upright in my attempt to try to avoid dipping with minimal success. Other than the normal swing fundamentals (eye on ball, relaxed grip, swing not hit) this feels like my last bad habit to break before I can improve my consistency. If anyone has any advice for this it is very welcome. Watching a lot of youtube videos seems to confuse me more than anything so I thought I would try the community. No more fat shots!

This is great advice, especially the serving tray wrist motion. I would only add that you make sure you are fully releasing the club at impact and beyond, you may have to be deliberate in the release to feel like you are slapping or whipping the ball at impact. The serving tray is the set up and the release will give you the power and trajectory. Also, if you feel like you start your takeaway with your arms and not your torso, reverse it. Don't try to muscle it on the downswing and you'll be in good shape.

Two easy things worked well for me (I still slice from time to time but that's a lack of focus on my part) when I use them. One was my backswing or takeaway: while I am coming back with the club, once my right arm starts bending I allow my right wrist to also starting bending back; in one video I heard it described as "holding a platter of dishes). Now on the downswing make absolutely sure you are fully releasing the club. Sometimes before I swing I let the club swing back in forth in front of me to simulate the release. Initially you have to deliberately release the club which can feel weird but it works and it adds power too. The last thing that I have to remember every single time I swing the club is to swing a nice easy swing. Stop worrying about distance and what the guys at the range are hitting. Take a nice easy relaxed swing, (don't over rotate either) platter at the top and release at the bottom. And no peeking! You're swinging with your torso and hips remember, not the arms. I can tell you that getting the platter move down and then whipping through the release changed my trajectory almost immediately. I went to the range and this did it right there and then, slice gone. The above link is a good example of the wrist action I mentioned by Herman Williams. Remember to take a nice easy swing and stop trying to rip the cover off and you'll be fine.

So today I went to golfsmith because I was interested in getting my driver shortened for better control (I'm 5'8"). After swinging the club a few times for the golf pro we both noticed I was hitting the ball of the top outer edge of the driver consistently. He had me lower the tee and address the ball near the hosel and I hit it right on the screws. We decided against shortening the shaft at this point. After, I went to the driving range to try out my Cleveland Classic 270 (12 loft) and my Taylormade Burner (9.5 loft) and found interesting results. I did hit the club well with my Cleveland in terms of contact but was also lofting it pretty high when I teed it up too high. I also tend to lose a lot of distance because the ball just seems to peter out because of the trajectory being too high. When I took my nice easy swing and teed it up low (ball just above sweet spot on clubface) I hit it about 200 yards or so with carry. For me, this is pretty good. Now when I went back to my Burner 9.5 and teed it low, the ball came off the tee like a freaking rocket, straight. I was almost disappointed because while I hit it hard, I didn't put it up in the air very high. This made me think that if I teed it up just a bit higher I could really get a hold of it. I don't know if it's psychological or what but when I tee the ball up higher I usually slice it (either a little or a ton) and seem to come up on the ball and give it too much loft. Maybe teeing the ball up lower forces me to take a wider swing which hits the sweet spot but I don't know. Has anyone else experienced this before? Or maybe have any ideas as to what's going on? Either way, I need to slow down my swing for better consistency but still seem to hit my driver better with a lower tee.