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Everyone has a certain amount of power. However much you have, it’s found all the way on YOUR trail side. Here’s how you can find it.
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Northbound Golf provides a comprehensive way to learn and play the game. Martin Ayers and Michael Powers have uncovered what great players do that makes them great. It’s an approach that you can adopt, irrespective of your current level of play. Martin Ayers is a former Australasia Tour player who has coached Major Champions Steve Elkington and Mike Weir, as well as 3 time PGA Tour winner Cameron Beckman. Michael Powers is a PGA Member from Boston, Massachusetts with over 25 years of coaching experience. At Northboundgolf.com you’ll find over six hours of instructional video content, question and answer podcasts, plus personal online coaching.

16 Comments

16 Comments

  1. Don Toth

    Dec 18, 2018 at 10:36 pm

    I like the analysis here…there’s not enough of an emphasis put into staying in the shot with the torso.
    If you clear well with the lower body and stay in the shot with your spine angle you can have this sort of look.

    Well done and great selection of videos!

  2. Golfer

    Dec 18, 2018 at 3:59 pm

    Check out the swing teachings of TN Hall of Fame golfer and former PGA tour player Bobby Greenwood.

  3. BofH

    Dec 17, 2018 at 8:58 am

    to me this is about having passive arms and hands, using the pivot and turn to swing the club. the guy who has EE they show is pulling the club down and swinging with his hands and arms.

  4. Scheiss

    Dec 15, 2018 at 5:02 pm

    Total and utter bollix wrapped in a whole load of mierda is all I heard in the first 2 minutes of this video.
    Wow. You mean to say that the arms are attached to the body via the shoulder and the clubs are attached to that, in his hands, and something has to happen for us to be able to hit the ball? Amazing. I never knew we even had to swing the club or anything for the ball to move.
    What an idiotic analysis

  5. Mark

    Dec 15, 2018 at 7:21 am

    I think to achieve what he calls the ‘trail side strike’ is a function of a) being able to clear the hips, early, a long way to the left, and b) being able to maintain posture ie. being bent over from the hips. Both of these moves are almost unique to young female and male professionals and high level amateurs. I would contend 85% of the GolfWRX membership (including myself) are physically incapable of making these moves.

    • geohogan

      Dec 16, 2018 at 1:50 pm

      @mark, and you would be wrong.
      ‘Side on’, golf swing is easier to do than trying to hit with the hands or by straightening the right arm. The latter two, require timing that is impossible to repeat consistently, by any golfer.

      Recognizing what is happening and teaching the method to achieve it are very different.

  6. geo

    Dec 14, 2018 at 5:59 pm

    Is this a repackaging of the Most Powerful Move in Golf?

  7. Skip

    Dec 14, 2018 at 4:23 pm

    Juat another guy saying everyone else is wrong, I’m right.

    • geo

      Dec 14, 2018 at 6:18 pm

      If EVERYONE else is telling you to get your arms in front of your body(sagittal plane)
      and to square the clubface with your hands(muscles are in the forearms)

      then YES, they are wrong.

  8. Matt Strube

    Dec 14, 2018 at 12:16 pm

    Can you elaborate what you mean by high left arm and keeping your trail side underneath and behind?

    • Matt Strube

      Dec 14, 2018 at 12:18 pm

      And you mainly showed driver swings. Is this an iron thing as well?

    • geohogan

      Dec 16, 2018 at 9:16 pm

      Elevate your left scapula at address and leave it there through the swing. Presto… your left arm is elevated and you have increased the range of motion, sufficient for a full shoulder turn in BS and sufficient range of motion increase to allow wide open lower body while upper body is impacting the ball , “side on”.

      ref. The Hogan Manual of Human Performance: GOLF, 1992

  9. SG

    Dec 14, 2018 at 11:48 am

    This may be right, but I foresee a lot of shanks for those trying to add this to their swing…

  10. Ken Kapcia

    Dec 14, 2018 at 9:34 am

    Martin is by far the strongest teacher not recognized in the world!! Probably political BS because he verbalizes things differently than what we are inundated with across all media’s. If you really want to get better at golf emerce yourself with as much information Martin echoes!
    Ken Kapcia, PGA Professional

  11. The dude

    Dec 14, 2018 at 8:32 am

    Maybe one of the best instructional explanations I’ve seen in a looong time …..

    • geohogan

      Dec 20, 2018 at 5:14 pm

      Explanation of what?
      Just adds more confusion to existing abyss of BS confused with golf instruction.

      To transmit maximum power transmission (mechanics), slack needs to be taken out.
      So much for counter winding, left arm high etc etc. It all boils down to taking out slack from the transmission of power. Its no different that the rollerchain drive on a bicycle.
      The tension and slack has to be correct to maximize power transmission.

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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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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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