So many new golfers have been told to “keep your head down.” I’m here to tell you that is really bad advice! In this video clip you will come to understand why. And when you make the change to chin – up, you WILL play better golf!
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In the following video we demonstrate the connections and feel of motion gained by using a one piece takeaway. A proper takeaway establishes the rhythm of your swing as well as your connection to your target. This is perhaps the most ignored part of the swing by the majority of players, but certainly one of the most important. For the better part of the past two generations, instructors and authors alike have been telling us that the moment of truth in the golf swing is IMPACT! This single piece of misinformation has caused more trama for golfers than perhaps any other – with the possible exception of the admonition to “keep your head down.” The Real Moment of Truth in the golf swing is the moment you deliver your club head speed (where is your WHOOSH?). Watch this video clip and learn the focus and feel of delivering your WHOOSH from the ball to your target, and learn to play far closer to the level of your talent! One of the most frustrating parts of this game in looking for “lost” balls. We can go a long way toward hitting the ball “where we’re looking” by simply keeping our elbows pointing at the ground throughout our golf swing. In this video clip we show you why that works and how you can quickly teach yourself this important connection in your own golf swing. Golf fitness simply cannot be ignored. In the golf swing we ask our bodies to move in ways that just doesn’t happen in the routine of our daily lives. In the following video I demonstrate one of the very best pre-round warm-up exercises it has been my pleasure to come across. By doing this one daily, I’ve nearly restored my full range of motion – so I’m hitting it farther than I have in years. Sam Snead once said to me: The most common error I see, even among young tour players, is a tendency to change their spine angle during the downswing. When you change your spine angle, you also must change your shaft angle at impact – which in turn causes the player to spray shots all over the parking lot. In the accompanying video, we show you how to properly establish your spine angle at address, and then how to practice retaining it throughout your swing. Maintaining spine angle is an extremely important component of consistency and ball flight predictability. Question: I always seem to be out of balance. Sometimes in my backswing, but most often in my delivery. Try as I might I just can’t seem to pose my finish. Would better balance make me more consistent? Ozzie Answers: Balance is critical to consistency in two important ways: body balance and delivering a balanced club through the region of impact. Swinging a balanced club is the one most ignored fundamentals in teaching this great game. It is important because it is so crucial to delivery of path and face - the two determinants of direction, but it also contributes to a loss of body balance. So let’s deal with this one first. Deliver a Balanced Club: Through the region of impact the handle must be pointing to your lead pivot (the ball joint at the top of your thigh bone). This is one of the most important connections in the golf swing. When you allow the handle to come up (point above your waist), i.e. allow the clubhead to drop, the centripital force travelling from handle to clubhead (upwards of 80 mph) will pull you out of balance and thus alter your swing arc at the most critical moment in your swing – the moment you deliver your clubhead speed. Tiger was doing this during his entire tenure with Hank Haney. It’s the principal reason he missed so many fairways with his driver. His learned compensation was to drop his head during his downswing in an effort to control shaft steepness at impact. The better fix: Try getting the feel of “spearing” the inside of your lead thigh with the handle as you post/spin and fire. Body Balance: Please click on the Video Tip: Maintain Your Spine Angle to learn how to set-up properly balanced and then to maintain this balanced posture throughout your swing. Golfstruck – Better Golf – Right Now! 16 Mar 2011 Q: Why do I keep hitting the ground behind the ball and how do I fix my problem? A: This is one of the most common problems in the game, yet its cure is rather simple. First: Check your set-up: do you feel stretched tall at address? By this I mean have you maximized a) the distance of your groins from the ball and from the ground, without locking your knees straight; and b) the distance from your chin to your hands. When you address the ball with this s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d feel, while your arms are hanging straight down from your shoulders in a totally relaxed or “dangling” position, your clubhead simply cannot get “too deep” on the way down – so long as you maintain this stretched feel throughout your swing. Thus you have eliminated the first reason for hitting the ground behind the ball. Next: Check for spine angle and or head bob during your swing. I watched Matt Kucher on Sunday at Doral hit a 1/2 wedge shot fat because his head dropped about 6″ during his backswing. So you see, even the tour players are not exempt from the basic fundamentals. You must not allow your head to drop down either during your backswing or your downswing. Simply maintain the feel of maximum distance from chin to hands throughout your swing. Also, your chest must remain DOWN, i.e. facing the ball so there is no change in spine angle back, down or through. These two feels of motion help you to maintain a constant width of arc so your clubhead will return to brush the grass. Next: Your groins must continue to feel up and away from the ball and the ground throughout your swing. So, as you start your downswing, maintain the feel of pushing your feet against the ground sufficiently to push your groins up and away from the ball. This feel will also help you to maintain a constant spine angle and stretched feel throughout your swing. Finally: All parts of your body, along with the handle of your club must get to your DOWN line, your lead heal line prior to striking the ball. The big tendency for those who hit the ground behind the ball, is to deliver the clubhead to the ball while their weight is still on their back foot and/or their trailing elbow is “stuck” behind their trailing hip. Bobby Jones said it best, “once you have turned fully behind the ball, you must get back up against it.” He called this the “Magic Move of Golf.” So I suggest practicing “the move” of leaving the torso and club in backswing position to wait patiently for you to get both sides of your body and both elbows to your down line (your lead heel line), BEFORE you deliver your down and through. In summary: get stretched, stay stretched and get to your down line BEFORE you deliver your down and through. Golfstruck – Better Golf – Right Now! |
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