Instruction

Solving your golf swing equation

Published

9 years ago

May 7, 2015

I think of the golf swing as two parts: The backswing and the downswing. Each represents a side of an equation that needs to be balanced. In other words, the downswing needs to be compatible with the backswing; it has to complement it for a golfer to reach a good impact position.

It would not be a stretch to say that a golfer can make almost any backswing if they learn the counterbalance motion in the downswing. Those of you who are regular readers of my instruction columns know that I often discuss this issue, simply because it is the single most important aspect of hitting the ball solidly.

If we look in the golf hall of fame, we would see a variety of backswings. Take Lee Trevino’s backswing and compare it to Raymond Floyd’s. Or to use a more recent example, take Jim Furyk’s backswing and compare it to Matt Kuchar’s.

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Matt Kuchar (left), Tiger Woods (center) and Jim Furyk.

What do these swings have in common? Each player learned a downswing that is fully compatible with their backswing.

If you look at the video below, I have filmed a student who has a very Jim Furyk-like backswing, that is, the left arm is almost totally vertical at the top, but the downswing difference is radically changed and rather obvious.

https://youtu.be/-uSjbgAOrNE

It is very difficult to change the way golfers get to the top of the swing. The good news is that you might not have to — at least not drastically!

A few more detailed examples.

The golf swing has two components: Vertical and horizontal. The more vertical it is, the more narrow the motion tends to be. The more horizontal it is, the wider it tends to be. Picture the up-and-down swing as a “V,” and the around swing as a “U.” If you have an upright backswing, you’ll need a little width coming down to balance your swing equation. Conversely, if you take the club away flat, you’ll need to narrow your downswing arc.

How do golfers gain or lose swing width? Look at it this way: If a player stays very centered over the golf ball, with little to no motion “off the ball,” he or she could balance that narrowing with a fairly wide arm swing, i.e. pushing the club away or setting it quite late. So the width here would be with the arms and club, as in a flat swing.

Golfers who move to the rear foot with a more lateral move off the ball have their width in the body motion. Their swing will need to be balanced with a more narrow swing arc, as in a vertical swing: one that stays in tighter to the body or sets the club up earlier in the backswing.

When Tiger Woods was younger, for example, he had a very wide body move off the ball, but took the club way up high (and across the line) to balance the slide. When he started staying more “stacked,” his swing got flatter by necessity (he was much more comfortable in my opinion with the old way, but he did win both ways). Tiger seems to be getting wider again off the ball now, and a little more up with the clubs and arms.

Then we have a Sergio Garcia-type swing. He is very wide going back, with no offsetting upright move in the backswing, but he has a very, very narrow downswing arc with all that lag. Again, a balance. All elite level ball strikers have matching components.

Jim Hardy said once that golf can be played in even numbers, never odd numbers. that is, Two back, Two down works, but 3 back, 2 down does not.

The permutations are numerous, but matching is the key. Another example: Does Jim Furyk drop and flatten the club coming down because he takes it back so upright? Or did he start out by learning that drop, and then figure out that the super upright backswing matches it? The answer is, “Who knows or even cares.” It has worked for him to the tune of some $64 million.. and counting.

I can’t think of ONE THING that all great golfers did in their swing except hit it solid. I’ve played in PGA section events and state opens with guys who looked like they were digging ditches and shot 68. I also teach some “beautiful swings” who can’t break 80. The difference? Compatibility.

It’s usually futile to try and change your whole swing. I might suggest finding an innate CORE MOVE and building around it.

If you’d like me to analyze your swing, go to my Facebook page or contact me ([email protected]) about my online swing analysis program.

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Instruction

Clement: Laid-off or perfect fade? Across-the-line or perfect draw?

Published

14 hours ago

Apr 24, 2024

Shawn Clement

Some call the image on the left laid off, but if you are hitting a fade, this could be a perfect backswing for it! Same for across the line for a draw! Stop racking your brain with perceived mistakes and simply match backswing to shot shape!

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Instruction

The Wedge Guy: The easiest-to-learn golf basic

Published

4 weeks ago

Mar 29, 2024

Terry Koehler

My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.

As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.

The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.

Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply. Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:

Mis-aligned hands

By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.

The position of the grip in the upper/left hand

I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean. Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.

To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.

Too much lower (right) hand on the club

It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.

Gripping too tightly

Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.

So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.

Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

Published

2 months ago

Mar 4, 2024

Shawn Clement

Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

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