Instruction
Leadbetter’s Swing Tips for GolfWRX: Part 1
In a three-part video series brought to you by Callaway Golf, golf instruction guru David Leadbetter offers tips for better distance control on approach shots, and demonstrates how to add distance off the tee by improving efficiency.
Part 1 from Leadbetter shows golfers how to better control distance and trajectory by choking down (or up) on the golf club. It’s the same approach used by Leadbetter’s star pupil Lydia Ko, the 18-year-old LPGA phenom who is currently the No. 1-ranked woman golfer in the world.
Pt. 1: Choke down for control
See more video tips from Leadbetter here.
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Instruction
Clement: Laid-off or perfect fade? Across-the-line or perfect draw?
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
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.
More from the Wedge Guy
- The Wedge Guy: Golf mastery begins with your wedge game
- The Wedge Guy: Why golf is 20 times harder than brain surgery
- The Wedge Guy: Musings on the golf ball rollback
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Instruction
Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!
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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dapadre
May 1, 2015 at 5:20 am
Guys/fellow golfers,
Come on, these guys take their time to do this. I doubt if they get any reimbursement. Like any advice you have the option to take it or LEAVE IT, but save the comments unless they are constructive. I agree I was looking for more details, but maybe we will get more on other tips. Just my humble opinion.
Adam
May 1, 2015 at 11:44 am
yup nothing to learn from a top 5 in the world golf coach here who has taught Ko, Els, Howell III …. Thank you David for the article.
David
Apr 30, 2015 at 6:25 pm
Your all criticizing him but you know if he talked about some technical aspect of the swing you would be ripping that too. We all know he’s not the flavor of the month teacher like Waite/Mayo, Foley, or Bennet/Plummer.
No matter what he posts you would tear it down, so really why even click into the article
Jack
Apr 30, 2015 at 6:53 pm
This.
Greg V
May 1, 2015 at 9:29 am
On the other hand, some might say that he works with the most talented female golfer ever to come out of juniors, and she has way underperformed to expectations. Some would say that Michelle Wie is playing golf swing, and not golf. Way too much technical information going on in her head.
The same might be said for the Suzanne Peterson/Grant Waite relationship.
David
May 1, 2015 at 3:06 pm
expectations is the key word there, he had another student by the name of Ty Tryon who was off the charts but never lived up to the ridiculous expectations
Andrew
Apr 30, 2015 at 6:20 pm
In true WRX fashion, listen/watch pro tip, slam the pro. Nice… let’s chase one more away. I suppose you guys have taught PGA pros in the past?
Leroy
Apr 30, 2015 at 3:50 pm
Please don’t show parts 2 and 3 kthx.
Jameson
Apr 30, 2015 at 3:29 pm
Hey guys, want to see this cool new trick Leadbetter says to help me hit shorter?? Sure pal I’m all ears. Thanks but no thanks!
Rob
Apr 30, 2015 at 3:20 pm
Earth shattering stuff here.
Adam
Apr 30, 2015 at 11:59 am
Callaway just can’t win
Greg V
Apr 30, 2015 at 11:50 am
How to improve distance off the tee by improving efficiency: swing up through impact?
Color me surprised.
(Just as a post script. Billy Casper said the same in a video he made playing with steel and persimmon!)
other paul
Apr 30, 2015 at 11:12 am
Choke down to take off distance… Really. That’s it? This is an enthusiast website…
Large chris
Apr 30, 2015 at 9:07 am
Can’t wait to see the WRX reaction to this as America wakes up…. Could go one of two ways.
Brian
Apr 30, 2015 at 10:40 am
will go one of two ways. 😉