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 !

 

Moving the club away

The more I look at the swings of the greatest players, the more I am convinced that getting the club to the end of the backswing in a correct, advantageous position is accomplished by feeling the left shoulder move downward. This allows you to do two things, first, it helps keep your swing on an effective plane and second, it increases your ability to fully load your swing with your back and chest muscles while decreasing the potential for only using your hands and arms to get the club to the top. Some time ago, I spent some time with Mr. David Lee who is the creator of “gravity golf”. David is a man of few words and teaches the golf swing by getting his students to “feel” the golf swing not analyze it to death. David coined the term “heave” to start the move away of the club in the backswing. I like the term because it seems to me to be the opposite of “takeaway” which gives me the impression of using hands and arms which is diametrically opposed to using back and chest muscles. I often now refer to the first move in the backswing as a “heave”.

Regardless of which term you use, the movement is downward as well as back utilizing back and chest muscles as the first “in swing” movement.

Starting your golf swing correctly definitely increases the potential for the correct first move in the downswing and later a great impact position.

 

Rickie Fowlers golf swing Part 3

Why is it important to be able to produce a “draw” ball flight ? The answer, not just because ” a draw”, has been proven to produce more yardage off the tee, which it does, but because the average player can only produce an ineffective, uncontrollable “slice” ball flight.

Tour players have plenty of power, and there are many who play a “fade” and are very effective with it. The ” fade” is an effective ball flight. The “slice” is not. The truth is that good players are able to make the ball go either direction at will.

The problem for high handicappers is that they are victims of only being able to produce the “slice”, because they are not able to create an “inside” path on their downswing.

To reaffirm the reason for this post, Rickie’s swing is a great example of the “inside” path. I am always happy when I am able to help my students produce a more effective downswing from the “inside”. It is a real game changer for a player who has only been able to “slice” the ball.

Picture below left is the club going up on the backswing, picture below right is the club moving on the inside path to impact, on the downswing. A slightly higher plane going up and a slightly lower plane coming down.

Note that the picture on the right is the optimized position to apply the club to the ball from the “inside”. Rickie actually drops the club “down” on the first move of the downswing, waiting for his hips to “push out” and move the club from the inside to the ball. Unfortunately, the high handicap player starts the club “OUT”, on the first move in the downswing, putting the club in a very steep position, causing a delivery of the club on an “outside” path. The further outside the club approaches the ball, the bigger the slice, and the more loss of power!

Please view the Amazing Angle training video displayed on this site. If you have tried to change your downswing but have been unable to do so, the Amazing Angle can help you make the change to an “inside” delivery and a more consistent and effective “draw” ball flight.

Practice “slowly and deliberately”.

 

Does it matter what your swing looks like ?

We frequently see golf magazine articles heralding the swings of the “hot” tour pro of the week.
Is the article and information interesting? Yes, for sure. Should you try to copy that swing ? Maybe and maybe not. You have probably habituated some good moves and some bad moves just by playing over the years. Change for the goal of improvement is a good thing. Just remember a better ” impact position” and “ball strike” is the goal. The swing change is only successful if it produces better contact and ball flight. Don’t change your swing just for style points. The Amazing Angle can help you experience the correct positions and movements in the golf swing. Check it out at http://www.keithhaleygolf.com