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Pitching from firm, tight lies can magnify even the slightest bit of leading edge as the club approaches the golf ball. Hitting a successful pitch from that lie can be difficult for golfers at every skill level. As Scott Hamilton demonstrates in this video, the ticket can be in how position the club shaft at the start of the downswing.

At Athletic Motion Golf, we see so many golfers trying to play this shot from a “hands-in, club-out” position. The problem with that is it virtually eliminates your chance of using enough bounce… and it pretty much guarantees you’ll be coming into the ball with that sharp leading edge leading the parade.

If this shot has been a tough one for you to play consistently, get yourself a small wooden dowel and give what Scott is describing a try. Hopefully you’ll start hitting it closer to the hole!

Let us know how it works for you.

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Athletic Motion Golf is a collaboration of four of golf's brightest and most talented instructors who came together with the sole purpose of supplying golfers the very best information and strategies to lower their scores. At AMG, we're bringing fact-based instruction that's backed by research and proven at the highest levels on the PGA Tour straight to golfers through our website. Our resources will help you "clear the fog" in your game and understand the essentials of playing great golf.

5 Comments

5 Comments

  1. sanjay

    Oct 14, 2017 at 6:33 pm

    And if you play Single Length clubs you need not worry about multiple swing planes because the butt end dowel pointer plane will always be the same. Anybody who can’t break 90-100 should be swinging SL clubs, and if you’re not you’re swing and game is futile…. i.e. you’ve hit the wall with your multi-lie angle clubs.

    • Jerry

      Oct 15, 2017 at 9:17 pm

      Yes, we all want a 37.5 inch LW. Golfers are not exactly storming golf stores for SL Clubs.

      • sanjay

        Oct 16, 2017 at 3:10 pm

        Jerry…. I sense you are a scratch golfer or nearly scratch so you don’t need SL clubs because you’ve mastered your variable length clubs.
        Perhaps you should have some empathy for those 90-100+ golfers who are struggling to control their multiple swing planes and have no time or hope to get it all together.
        New golfers are defeated by their traditional clubs before they start the game, and soon there will be no new golfers to subsidize the good golfers like you because the OEMs will go bankrupt.

    • Darrin

      Oct 16, 2017 at 11:27 am

      ROFL. Futile? Sounds like someone drank some KoolAid. There has been a total of one win in the history of the PGA tour with single length irons…..everyone else is futile…gimme a break.

      • sanjay

        Oct 16, 2017 at 3:14 pm

        I was referring to recreational golfers who can’t break 90-100+ because they can’t master the multiple swing paths with conventional clubs.
        A good golfer like you can play and feel the clubs the pros play and win with, but the vast majority of golfers are unable to play with pro clubs. You are one of the lucky few.

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Instruction

Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

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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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Instruction

How a towel can fix your golf swing

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This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.

For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.

Setup

You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.

While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.

Get a Better Shoulder Turn

Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.

In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.

Stay Better Connected in the Backswing

When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.

Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.

Conclusion

I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.

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Instruction

Clement: Why your practice swing never sucks

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You hear that one all the time; I wish I could put my practice swing on the ball! We explain the huge importance of what to focus on to allow the ball to be perfectly in the way of your practice swing. Enjoy!

 

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