Alfie

Ha yes how silly of me! I meant 10% MORE i.e. 60% on the left and 40% on the right as appose to the 50/50 at set up.

It is difficult to say whether any backswing is viable because it depends on how well you strike the ball and how well you can repeat it consistently. Although someone like Sergio Garcia is a great golfer there are many golfers who, if they had a swing like his, will always struggle to hit the ball and would benefit from a more orthodox swing. Try practicing hard at looping back over to see if it works for you consistently. A great drill for this is to swing to the top with your normal backswing then slowly bring your club onto the correct plane and down to that perfect position I described when the club is parallel to the floor and pointing along the line of your feet. Swing back to the top and again repeat this. On the third attempt swing back to the top and just hit the ball. If you do this enough it will eventually train your body to bring your club back on plane. I would also have a good go at trying the more orthodox backswing as you may find this works really well. You need to stick at it though to see if it will work. I know when I first started playing I would do that drill in the mirror I described in my earlier post 30 times every day. To see if a more orthodox backswing works you really need to work at it hard for a while. Good luck!

Hi, The reason you have these shots is because your backswing is flat. With a flat backswing your club will get caught behind you and from there the only thing you can do is block it straight right or hook it (or a shank if you come far enough inside). There are two ways to fix this: either your back swing need to be on plane or you need to compensate for your flat backswing on your downswing. The latter is less often coached however some of the best ball strikers on the planet have a flat backswing but they compensate for it by looping back across to come down on plane. Sergio Garcia has a very flat backswing: If you look at 51-54secs however, he loops his club back over so that it is on plane. If a downswing is on plane when the club is parallel to the floor it will be pointing at the target and in line with the feet. Again, look at 54s, you can clearly see his club is in line with his feet and pointing at his target. If you strike the ball really well you may want to try this because a backswing is not a fundamental in golf at all. What is fundamental is what happens in that video from 54s until impact where every top player in the world has the same swing at this particular point. As I say most coaches will try to 'fix' your backswing but it depends how well you strike the ball normally. You may want to try filming your downswing and try to get it going down that plane I just described. This is a useful video about getting the club on plane in the downswing. This is by Jim McLean who, in my opinion, is the best golf coach on the planet and has coached many of the world's best players. Trying to swing back on plane may be the most beneficial but it does take patience and lots of practice. I had a few friends with this problem who I helped. I would recommend getting a mirror and placing it down your target line (i.e. the mirror will be facing where your ball would go if it went straight (you can do this indoors). Swing half way back then look at your club in the mirror. The following check points tell you if your club is on the correct plane: 1) Your shaft should bisect (cut in half) your right shoulder. 2) Your left arm should be straight 3) Your left arm should be parallel to the floor 4) Your left should be above the line of your feet (i.e. your left arm should not go across your body). 5) If you imagine a straight white line going along where your club is aiming that also extends behind your club, the butt of your grip should be pointing at this line. Keep repeating this many many times, making corrections as you see fit when looking in the mirror. You can also try this on the practice ground where you swing half way back to this position 3 times then on the fourth time just swing and hit a ball. Eventually you will run through these stages in your swing and this will stop the faults you have. If you look at someone with an orthodox swing like Rory Mcilroy, you can see that he has all of these 5 points beautifully when he is half way back. Check this video out at 5seconds in to see for yourself From this ideal position your club is perfectly on plane and from here you simply turn your shoulders, maintaining the angle between your shaft and body. Some coaches show you that from a front on view at the half way back position your body, arms and shaft form a box. From here you simply turn your shoulders and maintain that box. This video below shows Ernie Els doing this perfectly. Watch from 13secs until the top of his swing where you can see he maintains that box formed at 13secs until the top of his back swing. Again you can do this with a mirror. At the top of your backswing your shaft should be parallel to the floor and pointing at your target. Sorry for all the information but hope that helps!!

Hi, If you are hitting your wedge shots heavy it means that your weight is not on your left side at impact. It is nearly impossible to hit any shot heavy if your weight is on your left side at impact. You could try a couple of drills to help: 1) Try putting about 10% of your weight on your left side BEFORE you hit your shot (so at address). You should be doing this anyway for chip shots and short/mid range pitches. When you swing try to maintain that weight on your left side. 2) Try pausing at the top of your backswing with your wedge and then make a small LATERAL movement with your left hip so that weight is shifting onto your left side. This must be a lateral movement and not a rotation of the lower body(it feels like a lean towards the target). Make sure it is a small lateral movement and not a lunge - you should feel the weight shift to your left side. Make sure that your upper body does NOT rotate/unwind when you do this. Your hands should only come down a few inches or so (and remember with no rotation). Swing back to the top and repeat a few times then swing back to the top and hit the ball as you would normally. Make sure when you are hitting your wedge shots (particularly during the drill) that you are POSITIVE through the ball. Don't decelerate through the ball as this can also cause you to hit the ball heavy. 3) Find a heavy object like a table leg or something that you can sit your club behind. Set up to the table leg as though it is a golf ball. Don't take a backswing but instead push your hands and body forward into the table leg quite hard so that your weight goes onto your left side and your hips have slightly rotated and your hands are ahead of the ball. This is the feeling of the perfect impact position.Keep repeating this so that you train your body to experience the correct impact position. It is a very common misconception that the impact position is the same as setup but this is VERY wrong. If your body is positioned like in the table leg drill then you will never hit the ball heavy and in fact will rip any shot! Hope that helps!