Give some love to the first move in your golf swing !

If you are having problems making great contact with the golf ball, you would do well to examine your shoulder plane !

For those of you who are consistently troubled with “topped” fairway metal shots make sure your left shoulder works sufficiently down on your move away at the very beginning of your backswing. (Right handers).

Take a serious look at this photo. Clearly the left shoulder has a more diagonal quality. In other words a balance between too flat, or horizontal, and too upright, or vertical.

I find that when I am hitting it poorly I have become lazy on the first move in my backswing. My shoulders are not turning sufficiently down as I coil on the way to the top of the backswing!

Remember that one of my favorite concepts is that the “inside” always moves the “outside” in a great golf swing. The shoulders being part of the torso or “inside” always initiate the beginning of the swing by moving “backward and downward” as part of the “move away”. In the Amazing Angle swing training system, the “move away” is one of the key elements in determining the quality of your swing plane and therefore how much potential power and accuracy your swing can generate.

I have now named the “move away”, as one of the “killer movements and positions” that can destroy your golf swing if not executed correctly.

So please practice slowly and deliberately and give your ” move away” and shoulder plane some serious attention !

 

What about Rickie Fowlers golf swing, Part 2

Building on Rickie Fowlers golf swing Part 1, we are examining photos from the August 2012 issue of Golf Magazine. These are photos that will help you understand how to develop an inside delivery of your club head to impact.

In the last post, Part1, we took a look at Rickies “move away” position. I stated that I believe this “outside the hands” position begins and leads to a momentum “chain reaction” that moves the club on the downswing on an inside rather than outside swing path to impact.

Remember that all powerful golf swings begin with a connected move away of the forward shoulder in a “downward and backward” coiling movement. Note Rickie’s left shoulder position in picture 3.

Clearly, at the “left arm parallel position”, Rickies club is obviously in a much steeper position than in the “original shaft plane position” of picture 1. See below.

I think that putting the club in a steeper position at this point paves the way for a dropping down and backward movement to start the downswing, as seen in the swings of Jim Furyk and Sergio Garcia, both noted as great ball strikers, that have natural ” draw” ball flights. If you try this in practice, you would feel the loop movement, “outside to inside”. If you are currently coming “over the top” or “outside” on your downswing, you will feel the difference.

My point is as we will see in Parts 3 and 4 of this series, that this is an effective position to be in at this point in your golf swing. As I will show, it does in fact lead to an inside delivery of the club producing a ” right to left” or “draw” ball flight.

In the Amazing Angle Swing System training video, I state that “swing style” is not of significant importance to me. It is obvious that there are many different “looking” swings on the PGA tour. Eliminating your uncontrollable slice and establishing a consistent, effective ball flight is the significant issue.

Stay tuned for parts 3 and 4, and as always practice “slowly and deliberately”.

 

What about Rickie Fowlers golf swing, Part 1

I saw a series of pictures featuring Rickie Fowlers golf swing in the August issue of Golf Magazine.

Here is what I think is great about Rickie’s swing and how it can help get your swing path more from the inside. Remember that creating more of an inside swing path when you deliver the club to impact, helps turn your bad slice into a playable draw ball flight.

Below, picture labeled #2, shows how in the “move away”, that Rickie’s club head is in a position outside his hands. You may have not have realized that Rickie was in this position. This is a similar position to Sergio Garcia and Jim Furyk at their move away positions. We are all familiar with Jim Furyk’s “loopy” golf swing. I think it is a great golf swing, very effective and repeatable.

I have always taught my students that if you have problems with an outside delivery, you must learn to keep the club more outside on the move away. The principle in physics is, “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”. Try it. Start the club back on a “very” outside path like Rickie’s, then at the top, loop the club backwards as it drops and really get the feel of an inside delivery of the club.

Both Fowler and Furyk are known as great ball strikers.

In the second part of this review of Rickie Fowler’s golf swing, the move to the top of the backswing will be discussed. As always practice slowly and deliberately.

If you get a chance, watch the Amazing Angle training video on this website. Pay particular attention to how the Angle can help you get this outside to inside feel in your golf swing. It will feel goofy, but I bet your golf swing becomes more powerful, and you will learn to control your ball flight.