Ringer

Step #5: Relax

Take your golf stance. Put a golf ball in your hand. Now throw it underhanded as far as you can at a target. Now, standing in exactly the same place, try to throw another ball 10 yards to the right of where you threw the last one. How did you do that?

Like I said, they both work for them. You just have to try it and see what works best for you. Experiment. I have my own way that does neither of these two. All I try to do is get students to pay attention. I am not the one swinging the club so what I say or do doesn't really matter. If I can get a student to simply pay a bit more attention to their "problem" areas then I've done my job. That may not sound like much but trust me, figuring out where the real blind spots are and showing my students how to experiment with them is the path to real success.

Sounds like both teach THEIR way. Both ways work to hit the ball but make sure you don't hold onto any of the advice from the first teacher. The two styles are completely different and you don't need the confusion. This is pretty typical for most instruction. It's pretty much how THEY hit the ball so it's how they teach you to hit it.

Bingo. Precisely the right advice.

Just make sure they are experienced INSTRUCTORS and not just a guy with the PGA symbol next to his name. "Head Pro" doesn't mean they're good instructors either.

GAH! Neither. Why do people insist that the hips "clear". And I have to say Shawns swing is not one that I find that appealing. Look, the biggest misnomer about the hip turn is that the hip with no weight on it is the one leading the swing. In the backswing they think the right hip moves out of the way. In the forward swing they think the left hip gets out of the way. It's just wrong wrong wrong wrong and I can't believe all these people aren't smart enough to think about it on their own. Just think about things for a second. If you are standing on one foot and you want to shift your weight to the other foot you PUSH OFF of the foot that has weight on it. Now I'm going to say this with great emphasis because it is absolutely important. WITHOUT THE PUSH THERE IS NO WEIGHT TRANSFER . For example. Stand on just your right leg. Now, put your left foot on the ground a few feet from your right, but don't put any weight on it. Now, HOW did you do that? How could you possibly have made a movement with your left leg but not shifted your weight? According to every golf instructor I have ever heard this must be an absolute miracle because EVERYTHING is done by the left hip on the forward swing!! Are you beginning to see my point here? It's the PUSH OFF of the RIGHT foot that makes the weight transfer AND the hip turn happen. It's the RIGHT knee, and RIGHT hip that make the hips move because it's the one actively pushing. The left can't do anything but get out of the right hips way. Here is one of THE BEST hip turns I've seen in an amateur. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6avjUoLRSQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0EbFIc6IJ4 Watch the tremendous push of his right side through the shot. THAT is power. He doesn't even come close to holding the imfamous tush line but it has to be one of the most powerful lower body movements I've seen. The bottom line is, drive the right side through. Don't "clear" anything.

Here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcSyeAdlhUU

Most of the time it's a chain reaction from the lead hip twisting away from the ball instead of having the back hip turn around a posted lead hip. But even more importantly is that twisting our bodies quickly is what we think creates speed. And it does. So the farther we want to hit the ball, the more we twist our bodies. A twist tends to be more horizontal than vertical and also tends to be over the back leg. We simply don't have the patience to shift our weight first and then turn.

I'm going to guess that it's a lot lighter than your last driver.

Spot on Jonny. Good observation. I tend to watch the left hip placement on the finish to tell me, but he's got a classic slicers twist rather than a professional turn. What's amazing to me is how some instructors actually teach it that way.

First off, thank you. It's experience and observation talking. Like I said, it's the same trap I see nearly every slicer fall into and it's the advice so many people dish out. I can't tell you how many people I've seen get told to strengthen their grip to get rid of a slice and try to "drop it in the slot". Sure it gets rid of the wicked slice but even a bandaid will stop SOME blood from an open chest wound. Doesn't mean your fixed. BTW, if he's the same guy that you've been working with I'm not sure he's going to stay on the ball with you. He'll probably mandate the strong grip stays and try to teach you about hip turn and "drop into the slot" like everyone else. As for what starts the downswing, it's a push off of the right leg onto the left leg. When you can do this drill smooth as a cuccumber then you won't need that guy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnQ6RHepJgk

I knew because your left hip jets away from the ball on your forward swing which pulls your left shoulder, which pulls your left arm, which pulls the club... So over time I would imagine you've probably strengthened your grip a little over time cause you got tired of the big slices to the right. Although the grip has helped to reduce the slice to a cut you can't make it any stronger without pulling or even pull hooking the bejeezus out of it. As a result of that stronger grip you've learned to pull a bit harder with the left side through impact and slightly hold off your arms from rotating. If you were to let it really go and stay relaxed through impact your grip would cause the pulls to come back. You make adjustments because you're smart. You've managed to make the right adjustments to get your slice under control. Unfortunately you wandered down the path that nearly everyone with a slice wanders down. And you travel down this path because that's how everyone else tells you they did it.

Not bad but you're going to be fighting that cut of yours for a long time if you dont fix your hip action and learn to release properly.

It used to be Greg Norman's swing thought back in the 90's during his putting stroke.

Keep your tilt... try to "peek" under the ball.

Most launch monitors and simulators are configured for sea level which often causes people to wonder why it's so short. There is also the question of what the temperature is figured to be.

That's a wonderful testimonial to the book and you have certainly pulled out of it some of the more crucial elements of what he says. Learning to be present and not beliving the past dictates the future. So many people get caught up in what happened and don't realize the possibilities of the future. Throwing clubs is an incredibly easy way to develop good swing mechanics through non-mechanical thought. It's instant improvement if you simply let it be done. When you try to really focus on the why's and how's then suddenly you're lost back into the "culture of golfers". But the most profound thing I think I took away from that book was the simple idea, "Learning is about understanding distinctions." It's not about right and wrong but rather cause and effect. A mistake on this swing might be the exact thing you need later on.

I've read this book about 20 times now.

You hit the nail on the head. Sometimes swing quarks simply don't need to be fixed. But once the student sees the quark they want it gone. The thing most people don't realize is that the idiosyncrasy is there because it helps them hit the ball. You fix the idiosyncrasy and the ball will probably start to go everywhere. So then the student doesn't trust the teacher anymore. It's about making someone play better, and seeing your swing on video has the potential of openning pandora's box if you don't know what your doing. You have to know your primary learning process and work within that. Just because it's "neat" doesn't make you play any better. BTW, golfnut, I have found video most useful for before and after demonstrations to the student. It provides some evidence and confirmation that there is actual change taking place.

Ahhh yes I hear this sentiment ALL THE TIME. No offense, but it almost always comes from high handicappers or people who can't really afford to buy the right set of clubs. Don't try to fit the square peg through the round hole. Even if you successfully do it once or twice doesn't mean it's the right way to do it. You have to remember your subconcious mind is the one swinging the club and making adjustments. What you THINK is going on is rarely ever what is actually happening.

Yes.. but remember that we are smart creatures so we adjust and any number of things could happen given enough time.

No, more pulling with the left side and usually a cut. You tend to try twist your body more, pulling your left hip and left shoulder away from the ball on the forward swing and not releasing the club properly on plane.

The player may not feel the difference through his conscious mind but his subconscious will feel it and act accordingly. Usually small differences don't show up until later on. It takes several swings before the small differences become big enough to see. Sorta like watching your kids grow up. Every day they don't look like they've changed much... but compare every 5 years and it's crazy how different they are.

Tempo is gonna go, timing is gonna go, and you'll get more ball bound than ever. You gotta swing the club and if you have too light a club in your hands, you're more likely to use the small muscles of your hads and arms to swing it. You swing an axe with your big muscles.. you swing a hammer with your arm.