The relationship of club head path to club face angle at impact determines the shape of your ball flight (i.e., left curve, right curve, or dead straight), while it's mostly club face angle at impact that determines your ball's starting direction. This is all based on the proven "new" ball flight laws (9 potential shapes) and D-Plane theory. Stated simply, the "old" ball flight laws taught that the starting direction of the ball flight was determined by the path, while the face pointed at where the ball flight would finish. The "new" laws state the opposite.
Problem: You usually hit a draw but today you're hitting fades and pull-hooks that are not terrible but are leaving you in the rough. You can't figure out how to get your draw back. You strengthen your grip, close your stance, feel like you're swinging right, rotate your left forearm, and nothing you try is really bringing your nice draw back. Should you be trying to adjust your club path or club face angle? For most golfers who have hit nice draws in the past, they should be trying to fix their path. It's likely that MOST golfers should be scrutinizing their path, especially if their ball is starting on the right line. Because the face and path have a relationship that's actually reasonably fixed with a good grip, adjusting the path will often adjust the face angle automatically, without doing anything different. This is why better players who often "lose" their draw start hitting pull-hooks; the face and path still have the same relationship, but the path is now outside-in. The entire club face-club path relationship shifted left.
No matter what the shape of your backswing, it's the first six to twelve (6-12) inches from the top of the downswing that programs what path the clubhead will take back to the ball. So it's the initial drop of the hands and handle that need your attention, though it's true there are many ways to influence how a particular path witll occur.
When the club head is still above the hands during the transition and downswing, the butt end of the handle is automatically pointing at the path the club head will take into the ball at impact. The club head will always follow where the end of the handle is pointing at this point during the downswing. Try this drill: Go to the top of your backswing and then start down but stop after about 6-12 inches; your hands should be somewhere vertically between your sternum and your waist. Where is the butt end of the club pointing? Chances are it's pointing at the target line or even left of it already. This means you're already over-the-top and swinging outside-in. This may be what you want if you're a skilled player and trying to hit a fade, but that's not the case for most of us. If the butt end of the handle is pointing out to the right, you can probably expect one of the following ball flights: 1) push; 2) push-draw; 3) hook; 4) push-slice. Which of these you see depends entirely on the face angle relative to the amount of inside-out swing path you're using at impact. Could you see a pull-hook with an inside-out swing? The new ball flight laws say yes, but this is a highly improbable occurence, as most golfers--even beginners--would not have the impulse to swing outside 45 degrees with a club face closed the other way (this would make me feel as if I was trying to hit the golf ball with toe edge of the club).
How do you ensure you have an inside path back to the ball? First, ensure you make a good, compact, connected backswing, where you keep both elbows close together--the same distance between the elbows that you started with at address. This may not be a problem for you, but I personally fight a flying right elbow. The right elbow must be able to drop back in front of the body unhindered by crashing into the right side, and keeping good external rotation in the right humerus is crucial. Next, keep your attention on where the butt end of the club handle is pointing during the first 6-12 inches of the downswing (i.e., while the hands and handle are dropping); you must keep it pointing out to the right or towards the left-rear quadrant of the golf ball during this period of the downswing. The only way to do this, you'll find, is to keep your back facing the target just a touch longer during this period, so thinking of where the handle end is pointing helps you automate this move. This keeps you from opening your shoulders too soon, which is a major cause of swinging outside-in.
There are numerous other swing thoughts and feels you can use to achieve an inside-out delivery. I've already alluded to one of them: Keep your back closed while your hands begin to drop. You can also focus on the club head end, ensuring it falls behind you somewhat before arcing down towards the ball.
As a former slicer, you may--through various compensations--have developed a hook that occasionally--or maybe usually--turns into a vicious hook. On a bad day, you pull-hook a lot, which is partly left over from your slicing days. And then suddenly one day, you'll go back to slicing the crap out of the ball. And you'll marvel to yourself and wonder why and set out trying to hook the ball again. That's golf. Fun huh? But wait! Maybe you've never broken the slicing curse and have resigned yourself to trying to make the slice work.
The Thumb Press
I've posted before about ways to square the club face and ingredients for various ball flights. If you start slicing the ball (i.e., curving left to right unintentionally), your club face is open to the path upon which the club head is moving; this is why you can hit a pull-slice (ball starting left of target usually with an outside-in path), straight-slice (ball starting at target usually with an in-out-in path), or push-slice (ball starting right of target usually with an inside-out path). So path has an effect, but you can see that slice basically means 'open club face' in all three situations. If you're hitting a push-slice (starts right and curves further right), you're almost there and just need the club face to close through impact! If you're hitting a pull-slice, you've got the most work to do, because you're likely over-the-top (OTT) with an open club face. But in all cases, the club face must be squared! That should be your first priority; then you can work on ingraining the correct plane and swing path. As the saying goes, you can go from slicing to hooking to good golf but can never go directly from slicing to good golf.
Many fine instructors, such as Brian Manzella, teach that OTT (and many other related golfing errors like flipping) is a symptom of an open club face, not the cause (though you'll find others that absolutely attribute a slice to an OTT path). Why is OTT a symptom instead of the cause, some say? Because in an effort to compensate for the open club face, you move OTT (and again, the open face could be causing other swing flaws) in an unconscious attempt to get the ball moving left, so that the ball might slice into the fairway instead of the right woods. So OTT may very well be a compensation for the open club face, not the cause. This means that the open club face is actually discouraging you from hitting inside-out, which is the correct path into the ball!
Assuming a netural to slightly strong left hand grip, you should use a dorsiflexed right wrist (DRW) to hit the golf ball, because you'll ensure a flat left wrist (FLW) at impact, and this may be one of the few universal fundamentals espoused by all great golfers and teachers. And I believe there are various places in the swing sequence where great golfers achieve this position. Some great golfers cup the left wrist at the top (e.g., Hogan, Couples, Watson, Clement, etc.) but dorsiflex the right wrist coming down (thereby flattening the left wrist). Others (e.g., Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker) achieve a FLW at the top, and thus, a DRW at the top before starting down. And some teachers espouse creating the DRW as you move off the ball in the takeaway (the point of this blog post). Most weekend and high-handicap golfers should only hinge or dorsiflex the right wrist in the backswing and forget the temptation to squeeze more power out of the conventionally taught upward vertical wrist cock (i.e., radial deviation or thumbs pointing more and more toward you); vertical wrist action feels powerful (and it may be marginally), but it will cup the left wrist and straighten the right wrist at the top, and that all has to be undone properly by impact to square the club face.
Duval's Closed Takeaway
Grip strength plays a role on the left wrist. Stronger grips tend toward cupping at the top, while neutral to weak grips tend toward flattening or bowing at the top. Want to slice on purpose? Use a weak grip and then cup the left wrist at the top--instant banana ball without major compensations. That's actually a good combination to use in a greenside bunker; but I digress.
Why is a FLW at the top antithetical to left wrist radial deviation at the top? Because of biomechanics. It's easy to see how a FLW limits or restricts radial deviation (i.e., upward vertical wrist action); the more you cup or dorsiflex the left wrist, the more you can vertically cock the left wrist up and create what Shawn Clement calls 'snuff boxes.' With a FLW at the top, the left wrist is restricted and can't radially deviate more than 90 degrees, which is all that's needed--especially by weekend golfers. Likewise, the DRW can radially deviate slightly but is prevented from going too far because of the blocking action of the FLW.
Too much vertical wrist cock can contribute to collapsing at the top (in addition to opening the face), especially with weekend golfers. In Stricker's case, he uses very minimal vertical wrist action, and so he's very consistent and long enough to score well against the best professionals; he may have the best professional golf swing for amateurs to mimic because of its simplicity and minimal vertical wrist action; however, he uses plenty of right wrist dorsiflexion!
And now for the point of this post: Using one of Brian Manzella's teaching points (which other teachers such as Joe Dante and Tom Tomasello have also espoused in one form or another), try setting the club face in the correct position early--even as you take the club back, using only one conscious wrist motion. Manzella calls it "twisting" the club (i.e., "twistaway"), such that you dorsiflex your right wrist, palm down, without radial deviation, as you take the club away. The left wrist flattens immediately; it may even arch or bow slightly, and the back of the left hand faces slightly towards the ground. The club face is pointing more down at the ball, as you take it away, staying square to the arc (some detractors would argue "closed to the arc"). Then take it to the top (the club face pointing more skyward than a slicer is likely used to), keeping in mind that you must keep good width, good lower body pivot to start the downswing, and then return the DRW back to the inside part of the ball.
Some notes of caution about the downswing. You'll notice, when you "twistaway" like this on your takeaway, your right palm is roughly on top of the shaft, which means that your right arm is above your left arm. You should immediately discern that you can't come back down exactly the same way, or you'll be OTT, hit pulls, pull-hooks, tops, toe shots, and produce thin, toe-deep divots. During your downswing, you have to shift left (left hip bump over the left ankle) and your arms sort of reverse positions: The right arm feels as if it initially comes down UNDER the left arm (instead of on top of the left arm as it was in the takeaway). The right shoulder feels like it's moving down towards the right pants pocket. In a sense, you're opening the face up just slightly as you come down, because a strong lower body move to start down--in addition to adding tremendous power and great sequencing--has an opening effect on the club face that counteracts the closing affect of the palm-down DRW. This really puts you in a powerful impact alignment, pressuring the shaft, with the hands leading the club head down, with a FLW and DRW right wrist. You're making a bit of a loop--back steeper and closed, and down shallower and a bit more open, instead of trying to go back open and then close the face quickly on the way down (what's conventionally taught but is very tough to do consistently). In reality, your wrists aren't changing positions at all to create this more open club face position; your body and arms are changing to allow for the correct contact, so that your right palm comes back down a little more to the inside of the ball, as opposed to on top of the ball (which is how you executed the "twist" takeaway). Using the "twist" takeaway, get the feeling that the right arm and right hand are coming UNDER the left on the way down and you'll hit inside-out with a club face that's closed just enough--not too much, and with no extra, crazy squaring manipulations needed on the way through.
You no longer have to swing OTT, cast, or flip to keep the ball from going right; you've removed the cause. You no longer need to rotate the hands over in a flash to close the club face. You have to learn to trust that you can hit inside-out, start the ball to the right, and then draw it back to the left, because you've already ensured a square club face. No manipulation coming down is necessary, other than just starting down properly. Manzella teaches this in his "Never Slice Again" video, but he's also published parts of it on his web site and in Golf Magazine. Joe Dante's "Four Magic Moves" book is also an old classic that covers this precept. Many others teach very similar concepts, and just as many are opponents of this kind of thing (like many golf theories--lots of contradictory opinions, with everyone of them thinking their way is the "right" way).
Duval Closed at Top
Are there touring pros who are or have been shut or appear shut at the top? David Duval, Zach Johnson, Lee Trevino, Graeme McDowell, Greg Norman, Boo Weekly, Payne Stewart, Tom Lehman, Tom Weiskopf, and Dustin Johnson to name a few. But remember that this "shut face" position can be achieved at the beginning of the downswing or at any point before impact, and many pros, including Tiger Woods, do it this way (i.e., club face angled more toward the ground coming into impact due to the right palm rotating down toward the ground). Hogan went from cupped at the top to bowed left wrist at the bottom. Taking the club back already in this position and keeping it that way prevents the timing issues associated with achieving the position on the way down--very important for weekend golfers!
Why do you think you slice, because you come ‘over-the-top’? Reverse Pivot? Cut across the ball? ‘Hang back’ on your back foot, etc.? Nope. You may do one or all of the above, but these ‘flaws’ don’t cause the slice, you do them because you slice. You slice, because the clubface is too open. Period. Fix the clubface, and the slice goes bye-bye forever. The compensations will often also go away quickly when they are no longer needed.
Once the hands move beyond the right thigh, the right wrist will start bending back which is classified as "dorsiflexion." This bending back of the right wrist creates the corresponding "flat left wrist" that is so well known in golf instruction.
As the backswing continues to progress beyond the right thigh area and the wrist bends back, the right elbow will start to fold. The right elbow actually does not travel very far in a good backswing. It simply folds and points toward the ground as the right palm faces the sky in the classic "waiters’ tray" position at the top.
The best way to describe the right arm on the downswing is that it should be "pushing down and out."
"Pushing down" allows the right arm to actively straighten while maintaining its bend in the right wrist.
"Out" is the second half of the equation as it directs the right arm to deliver the club head from the inside. Most players need to feel as if they are driving the right arm not only "down," but "out." I often times describe this feeling as if the right arm is being directed more towards right field.
The down cock of Hogan and Garcia has nothing to do with achieving distance. It is the maintaining of the cock [the hinge or DRW] in the right wrist until waist high in the down stroke that produces club head speed. The left wrist cock is unnecessary mechanical motion that must be recovered from. The left wrist cock[s] in a plane that is 90 degrees to the plane of the swing. Left wrist cock is one of the most unnecessary and hardest to recover from mechanical motions in golf.
When it is done, without moving the hands other wise, the right hand breaks backward at the wrist and the left hand breaks forward or inward, the hack of the left hand going under and facing, in a general way, toward the ground.
Good wrist action is no wrist action. This is something I have been saying for years and years. It's one of my Surgisms. Yet, every so often I get a critic who is adamant that I actually cock my wrists. Well Surgites, today I'm going to let the video do the talking!
A strong grip is by far the most common error I see with players who curve the ball too much from right to left. The right hand drifts to the right--away from the target--and moves underneath the club, as shown in the photograph below. With the right hand in this position, it will tend to turn over too much through impact. Because the position of the right palm roughly replicates the clubface, it's easy to see why this turning over of the right hand causes the clubface to close and the ball to curve left.
As you drive through the hitting zone, give the ball a slap with your right hand, changing your right wrist from bent back to bowed. Check the positions at left to see what it looks like.
I have had tremendous success with this technique – primarily, I believe, because it taps into a [slicer's] instinct that screams – in order for my ball to not leak right I must swing as much to the left as possible. Essentially the drill gives the golfer a reason, something they’ve never had, to swing to the right.
Tilt the face down 30 degrees (1 hour)
Take normal grip
Adjust shoulders and arms to square the face at address
If you understand the above-described biomechanical maneuver, then you should realize that this "twistaway" maneuver is automatically/naturally used by a TGM hitter, who doesn't use a takeaway swivel action.
At this stage [downswing, shaft parallel to the ground] the right wrist should still be bent back fully but the palm is now facing the ground not the sky. With the palm facing down this insures the clubface is also facing down or toward the ball and requires no scooping or manipulation to be squared up in time for the hit.
A clubface that points down was said to be a closed clubface. We now know that this is not true and in fact is a square clubface position. The clubface angle should match the angle formed by the back of your left hand on the takeaway. The more you have to manipulate the hands, the more clubface control you will lose. So next time you swing a club look at the toe position at your waist height. Is it open, square, or closed? [Toe-up means the club face is open.]
This golfer eliminated the shank very quickly when we got him to stop rotating the face open during the take-away. At the start, he was rolling his arms, right palm toward the sky, on the backswing, and he changed that to keeping the right palm facing down toward the ground for as long as he could throughout the backswing. Yes, it felt awkward as could be. The shanks disappeared instantly, but returned every time he failed to execute the new move. That’s good. There’s nothing like immediate feedback! But now his solidly struck shots went well left of the target. I explained that he no longer needed to try to flip the club closed through impact to correct the formerly wide-open face. He began to hit far better shots when he felt like he was keeping the face from closing through impact. His sensation was closed back, open down. It worked! Funny game.
The philosophy of the golf swing is that the position of the clubface throughout the entire golf swing is the single most important fundamental there is. It effects all other major fundamentals and is the glue that holds the golf swing together. When we swing the club with a square clubface, we naturally improve the path in which the club head comes into the ball, the angle that we approach the ball, our ability to get into a great impact position, our acceleration through the shot and our overall rhythm.
[Tiger Wood's] right palm twists outwards as he starts the downswing. The motion is as if you are directing traffic to stop coming from your right side. There is a little straightening of the right arm along with the palm rotating to face away from you. This is the little secret that no says much about. Yet it happens in most good golf swings.
One of the biggest misunderstandings of the golf swing is that the hands have to rotate through impact. While this may be partly true, it directs the attention of the golfer to a point in the swing where all is lost already. This golfer has the same odds at getting the clubface squared at impact as me getting into a size 32 pants There’s too much error built into the swing and we already know what’s going to happen.
Do you know why golfers don't change club path on the course? It is because they don't understand and cannot control the club face. When you have a club face that is open, the golfer will always correct this by swinging over the top, or left. Simple.
In addition to Dustin Johnson, many tour players have played successfully from a closed-face position, including Zach Johnson, Paul Azinger and Rory Sabbatini. The common denominator amongst them is they all rotate their body very aggressively through impact. This rotation neutralizes the clubface and prevents the ball from curving left. This technique can hold up very well under pressure because these players are not required to consciously close the clubface at any time through impact. Rather, the opposite is true: the harder they rotate and do nothing with the clubface, the straighter the ball will typically fly.
"David’s [Duval] clubface is amazingly square through impact," says David Leadbetter. "His clubface is closed at the top, the face pointing a bit toward the sky, which along with the strong grip would be a recipe for hooking for some players. But David works the club `under’ on the downswing, a bit like Lee Trevino, and that move can make a player incredibly accurate, especially with the irons."
If you're struggling with solid contact, it's always best to try something different in your setup. The swing itself is best when the setup, posture, grip, and alignment (GASP) create a somewhat automatic backswing and downswing. Trying to control small muscles in the arms in an attempt to provide power and club face control (i.e., steering) is a recipe for disaster. A good setup should help you "automatize" the swing.
Here's something I've found that really helps me create consistent, solid contact. Please note that, depending on your body type and swing mistakes, trying this may cause you more problems than it solves. Try it as a drill (at the very least) before you determine whether this is of any help. Of course, I can only theorize why it's helpful, and I will get to that shortly.
First, let's get to the heart of it: Setup like you normally would with feet, knees, hips, and shoulders aligned square to the target line, as the fundamentals tell us to do. You can even setup with slightly closed feet, and the correct shoulder position should feel somewhat closed, although in reality it's square (shoulders pointing left is a major no-no). Now, before swinging back, preset your hips into a slightly open position. Yes, you can do this even though your feet are square/closed and the shoulders are square, due to the mobility available in the hips (assuming you have no restrictions in the movement of your hips). In essence, you're starting from a correct preset impact position, and your hips are "out of alignment" with the target line compared to your shoulders.
Starting my swing from this position created very powerful near-center-face hits on all clubs, so I decided to analyze potential reasons why this apparent break from the fundamentals is helpful to me, especially given that open hips are supposed to contribute to slices and pulls.
First, I think simulating the impact position before starting the swing pre-programs the brain on what the impact position should be for a particular club and lie. You're giving your brain a "pass-through" point in the swing; instead of trapping the ball between backswing and followthrough, you've added a middle waypoint to connect those dots.
Next, you'll notice that opening the hips while keeping everything else square automatically puts a little more weight on the front leg and positions the remaining weight into the right instep where it should be. In reality, your knees will move slightly to the left when opening the hips, so you should let them (don't think about moving the knees consciously); the right knee will automatically tick inward a bit, which is a solid setup tip unto itself.
Next, when you swing back and rotate your shoulders to 90 degrees, you'll notice now that your hip turn is VERY restricted and that it's difficult to stay in a fully rotated position. The shoulders instantly want to release the tension, which means more power for your downswing. You're basically presetting a greater "X-Factor" or differential between the shoulder line and hip line at the top, which is what the X-Factor calls for. This tension is a good thing because it's going to provide automatic unwinding power from your body down to your arms and club.
You'll also notice that your weight automatically concentrates into your right instep where it should be at the the top of the backswing and thus you can't really sway to the right off the ball with the hips or shoulders.
The hands and end of the club handle also move fractionally more forward of the ball, which is where they should be at impact.
Finally, when you let that automated unwinding happen, your weight gets instantly back to your left leg as it was at address, because there was no sway off the ball. You're moving left well before impact without even thinking about it.
There may be other reasons, but I believe these are probably the main reasons why presetting open hips assists me in making reliable, solid contact.
I believe that there are other versions of this same line of thinking out there. Opening the left foot while keeping the right foot perpendicular to the target line (espoused by Hogan) or using a slightly open stance with closed shoulders (like Trevino or Couples) are really designed to do the same thing. It's important to note that all of these golfers favored a fade, and open body lines at impact are associated with a left-to-right ball flight. However, you can still hit a draw using this technique; experiment with different grips, ball position, turning the club, swinging more right, concentrate on hitting the inside of the ball, etc. Trevino stated that he used the same setup for draws and fades; he pictured a row of four balls, and for fades he would try to hit all four in a row, while he would only pick off the first ball without hititng the others for a draw.
You can preset open hips for all shots, especially including the short game and even for putting (it locks the knees into place and prevents swaying), and for full shots, you may choose to use it merely as a drill.
Speaking of Hogan, I believe DTL views of his swing show that he also preset his hips slightly open, because you will notice his right knee ticked in slightly and his left foot flared out with the right foot perpendicular.
Last but not least, all three main horizontal planes, i.e. feet, hips and shoulders should never be parallel to one another. Hence the idea of increasing the diagonality of the stance in three planes - hips open in relation to feet, shoulders closed in relation to hips. Of course shoulders are used for visual aiming while feet seeks for ultimate balance and ultimate benefitting from ground forces.
Pre-Set Drill: A great drill to properly train the feel of Key #2: Weight Forward is to pre-set your impact position before making a golf swing. Here's how:
1. Set up over the ball as you normally would.
2. Move your left knee and hip towards the target and open them slightly. Let your hands shift towards your left thigh as you do this. You'll feel more weight on your forward leg.
3. Make a half to three-quarter backswing leaving your left knee and hip forward.
4. From there, bump the hips even farther forward, hit the ball, and swing to an abbreviated finish.
Doing this drill properly will set you on the path to achieving Tour-quality impact.
A common error of golfers of all levels is lining up too far to the right of the target. This forces you to come over the top on the downswing to reroute the club on line, then release the hands quickly to prevent a slice and send the ball toward the target. These corrections put too much pressure on the small muscles of the hands to release the club at precisely the right time. You may be powerful, but you'll find yourself missing the target in every direction.
If you're going to make mistakes in alignment, make them to the left of the target. An open stance presets your hips in a cleared position, as they begin slightly rotated toward the target. You don't need a quick release of the hands; instead, you can square the club with the big muscles of the shoulders and back and approach the ball from an inside path. Keep your stance square to slightly open to develop a repeating swing. Don't let yourself drift to the right.
For pitch shots and chip shots, there is a much less aggressive turning of the body through impact. This is especially true for chip shots, as the chipping motion more closely mirrors a putting stroke. To overcome the less aggressive hip turning through impact, ideally we want to set up with an open stance to the target line with our body lines. This ensures open hips through impact, and the result is our arms can swing freely without manipulation to the follow-through position.
Believe it or not, this also comes into play with putting. Although it is common for teachers to tell students that their entire body alignment should be parallel to the target line, most tour professionals set up with open feet, knees, and hips (with the shoulders remaining square to allow a proper putter path). Again, this open alignment of the lower body allows the arms to swing down the target line in a free manner.
If that sounds familiar, here's a drill to help you start the club back straighter and shallow out your downswing. Set up in a dramatically open stance, with your feet aimed 30 or 40 degrees left of the target. Then swing back along your stance line. This will prevent you from pulling the club to the inside and will create a wider arc. You'll get into a lower, flatter position at the top (below).
I must have a ga-ja-billion posts on shaping shots (i.e., coaxing fades and draws), and that's because I'm always in search of the best way to do it. The best way is the way that is consistent and reliable for you to perform on the course (i.e., 90% of the time the ball bends as you intended). Click on the tags or keywords at the end of this post and you'll discover the numerous ways it's possible to influence the ball's starting line and follow-on ball flight.
I think this method--along with Jack's method--may be the easiest.
To fade the ball, tee up the ball LOW (even with the top of the driver) and on the right side of the tee box. Aim the club face towards the left side of the fairway (pick a tree or other target on the left); this represents the starting line. Place the club down aligned with this starting line. Make the address stance slightly open to the starting line; this means the hips, knees, feet, and shoulders should be aligned to the left. The upper body should still be tilted away from the target, and one must still shift the weight correctly and stay behind the ball for this power fade (sort of a push-fade, as you're still hitting inside-out ala Lee Trevino). Position the ball off the inside of the left instep (or roughly with the left shoulder). The further forward the ball position, the further left the ball should start on line before curving. Experiment with tee heights and ball position to get the right mix for the shot shape you want. Hit through the ball as if hitting four balls in a row on the starting line. Finally, use your normal grip, as most amateurs and high-handicappers hit with a slightly open club face even when trying to close it. Done correctly you should impart a nice, narrow fade on the ball.
To draw the ball, tee up the ball HIGH (one quarter to half the ball above the driver) and on the left side of the tee box. Pick a target on the left side of the fairway and place the club on that starting line. Make the address stance slightly closed to the starting line (pull the right foot back and align the shoulders and knees to the feet). Position the ball back in the stance (a few inches to the right of where it would be for the fade); the ball should be inside the left heel or roughly even with your shirt logo. Finally, rotate the club face slightly closed compared to the stance and then take your normal grip (most amateur golfers have trouble closing the club face enough for a push-draw, so manipulating the club at setup is easiest). Instead of hitting through all four balls, pretend you're hitting only the first ball of the four. Experiment to find the right mix; you will draw the ball (if you hook it then either move the ball slightly forward, tee it lower, lessen your closed stance, or try combinations of all).
A few notes. The lower the loft of the club (6-iron and up to driver), the easier it is to slice and the harder it is draw (another reason for manipulating the club face slightly closed for a draw). The higher the loft of the club (i.e., 7-iron and higher), the easier it is to hook and more difficult to fade. Draws tend to fly lower, further, and run more on landing. Fades tend to fly higher, shorter, and land with less roll. Take this into account when selecting a club. Don't be afraid to exaggerate adjustments to get the ball spinning like you want (i.e., if you lose your draw, get the ball hooking by standing with your back to the target and hitting balls).Full extension adds power and helps close the face (obviously useful for a draw but maybe for the fade too if the fade is too close to a slice). Hit both shots with the same swing shape--inside-out. And inside-out fade is called a power fade, and this was used by the greats like Hogan, Trevino, and Nicklaus.
Trevino’s swing is unorthodox, and so is his method for hitting the fade. The conventional way is to align the body left of target, aim the clubface at the target, and swing along the line of the body. Trevino follows the first two steps, but swings down the target line rather than with his body. The deviation actually produces a swing path that’s inside-to-out relative to the body, and directly down the target line. Trevino produces the left-to-right spin necessary for a fade by delaying the release (rolling over) of his hands through impact. According to Trevino, his routine produces more power than the traditional technique. He acknowledges that the ball will finish right of the target, but suggests simply lining up the body and clubface farther left to compensate.
Most players think of the swing as a circle. Trevino saw it as something different. Instead of folding his arms up after impact to remain on the circle, he chased his right shoulder toward the target to the point where the club pointed straight down the line. He made this move with such force that it looked like his right arm was going to rip straight out of its shoulder socket. It’s actually a move that most great ballstrikers have used over the decades.
Eventually, your left elbow must fold and get the club moving up the circle again, but try chasing down the line first, like Trevino did. I bet you’ll find yourself hitting the ball a little straighter and, if you can hold off your release just that much longer, creating a power fade. While the word “fade” has negative connotations for a chronic slicer, a controlled cut in the hands of a good player like Trevino leads to a Hall-of-Fame career, five Vardon Trophies and half a dozen major victories.
"Inside out?" you might ask. "Doesn't that cause a draw?" Yes, it does, but only when your swing is inside out in relation to your target line. This swing is inside out in relation to the body alignment, but straight back to straight through in relation to the target line (see illustration). You won't draw the ball with this swing. If anything, you will contact the ball after the club has swung down and back to, the inside on the forward swing, thus putting a slight left to right spin on the ball .
So you have two big pluses here: First, you have an inside to outside attack in relation to your body. This is much more powerful than the outside-to inside swings that many amateurs use to fade the ball. Second, you have the club moving down the target line, producing either a straight ball or slight fade. You can't beat that combination.
Here's a trick that might help you understand this a little better. After you set up, imagine that there are three golf balls in front of the one you're about to hit. For the fade, you want to hit through all four balls. This will force your right shoulder down rather than around on the downswing, with your arms extending toward the target on the follow through. Keep in mind that the right shoulder doesn't dip. That would cause fat shots. Instead, the shoulder simply swivels underneath the chin. As a result, you will hold your release, keep the club moving down the target line, and push the ball to the hole, with very little sidespin.
I have, however, encountered one "problem" among people who have tried this method. They say to me, "Lee, when I swing your way, I hit the ball way to the right. I just tell them, "Aim farther left.” Don't open your stance more; just shift your entire orientation to the left. In other words, rather than aim the clubface down the fairway or at the pin, aim it at an intermediate target more to the left and shift your body alignment farther to the left as well. There's no rule that says you have to aim down the middle. Line up for the trees on the left and push it down the fairway. It's easy, when you know for sure that you can hit the push/fade.
The beauty of the balls in a line image is that you can use it to draw the ball, too. For the right to left shot, line up your body parallel to the target line and aim your clubface at an intermediate target to the right, to allow for the draw. Then, simply think of picking off the first ball in line, the real ball, without touching the three imaginary ones. This brings the right shoulder and club up quickly in the follow through, and whenever the club and shoulder move up, they go counterclockwise as well, which closes the clubface. Result: a draw.
I wrote before about my wacky left shoulder hitch. It's not my only downswing hiccup, however. This particular one--the subject of this post--can really destroy one's game unless one has a lot of talent (like Bubba Watson or other pros who can spin out and play well in spite of this error).
I had unconsciously ingrained the habit of turning my left foot outward during my downswing, such that my toes were pointing more toward the target than they were at address. I would address the ball with both feet flared out slightly (left over from the S&T days), but I would then unconsciously spin my left foot more open, so that the toes pointed more towards the target midway through my downswing. When I concentrate, I can keep it from moving during my downswing, and as a result my impact is much, much better. For me, I believe moving my left foot is just a bad habit more than a flexibility issue.
The position of the feet at address can be used to assist in creating different ball flights. Keeping the left foot perpendicular while turning the right foot out a bit can assist with hitting a powerful draw. Reversing this can help hit a fade, but it's important NOT to move that front foot once it's position is established at address, regardless of how open it is at setup.
If you're observant, you'll notice that there are a few touring and teaching professionals who allow the front foot to spin out--some significantly--on the downswing, such as Bubba Watson. But I believe they're great inspite of this error; we amateurs can't afford to allow this to happen. Another interesting point: Most teaching professionals espouse a front foot that is positioned anywhere between 20-45 degrees open (seriously...does one get out a protractor to measure this?), while the rear foot (right foot) should be positioned perpendicular to the target line. However, like most "fundamentals" of golf, you'll find teaching pros who advocate the feet positioned in every possible combination: left flared, right straight; left straight, right flared; both flared; both straight. Hogan advocated for a flared front foot and square back foot (probably why most instructors teach this), but keep in mind that Hogan also fought a hook, so much of what he taught in his famous Five Lessons book were keys to hitting a controlled fade and avoiding the uncontrolled duck hook.
Spinning the left foot outward during the downswing from its initial address position can affect weight transfer to the front foot and throw one off balance. It can cause a slice, pull, or pull hook, as the downswing path is suddenly thrown--even if minutely--off to the left; as the left foot spins open, it sets up a chain of movement from the ground up that adds more leftward downswing rotation (knees, hips, and shoulders in that order), which can exacerbate a slice or pull. Ultimately, this can affect the quality of impact, reducing distance and causing various mishits. One sign that the foot moved (other than simply being aware of it happening), is that it's impossible to maintain a balanced finish. A balanced, solid finish usually means the front foot did not move--or move much--during the swing.
Keeping the left foot in the same position from address to finish can be critical in ensuring a solid, compressing strike on the ball. This is what is often called hitting into a firm left side.
Here's an interesting theory: Keeping the rear (right) foot pointing straight ahead at setup (perpendicular to the target line) and the left foot slightly flared out may, in fact, prevent the left foot from spinning open during the downswing, whereas flaring the right foot and left foot may actually contribute to a left foot spin out on the downswing. Flaring either foot eases hip rotation in that direction, so a more rotated pelvis in the backswing (not desirable--see the much maligned "X factor") could increase rotation on the downswing, causing the left foot to spin out. Because the keeping the right foot perpendicular at setup decreases hip rotation on the backswing, it also helps prevent a sway to the right; likewise, a left foot that is too open at setup can cause too much forward sway or hip slide in the downswing.
Either way, you should experiment with keeping either the front or rear foot perpendicular at setup to see how it affects ball flight and improves power and stability. For a standard shot off the tee box or fairway, I feel one foot or the other should be perpendicular at setup; both feet should not be simultaneously flared out nor both perpendicular, though you can find any variation of these taught in golf. Remember that flaring the front and not the rear can increase the chance of hitting a fade or even OTT (in this case, pull the right foot back a bit--especially for longer clubs [see Hogan's image above]), and the opposite condition can increase the chance of hitting a draw or a push.
Make certain that you recheck the alignment of the knees, hips, and shoulders when adjusting the positions of your feet. For me, flaring the front foot while straightening the rear foot caused my hips to open without me realizing it. I started hitting it better once I re-squared my body alignments.
As most trouble shots require a stable lower body (for instance, in a fairway bunker), keeping both feet pointed straight ahead or even turned in a bit will limit the turn back and turn through of the lower body and increase the chance of solid contact and a good escape over power and distance.
This ideal weight shift allows these players to deliver the clubhead squarely into the ball at impact as they rotate powerfully around the front foot.
Does your left foot stay stable throughout your golf swing? Does it move, and if so, which direction? It can move incorrectly three ways during motion or a combination of all three. On simple terms, it can move incorrectly, side to side, rotational, and forward and back. Fix the most dominant mistake first!
If there is too much rotational movement in the foot, practice off a dry erase board on socks with some pledge for more difficulty. Objective, don't let the foot rotate during the swing.
The two stabilising points are the head and left foot. The head must be kept back behind the ball, and it must act as the upper stabilising point while the left foot represents the lower stabilising point.
The two main ingredients in a golf swing that are responsible for hitting against a firm left side are the head staying still and the left foot set correctly at address.
The head should be tilted back slightly at address anchoring the top half of the body. The left foot must be positioned almost at right angles to the target, this anchors the bottom of the body. All too often club golfers open up the left foot too much. These two small adjustments at set up can have a dramatic effect on hand speed at impact.
One of the common mistakes golfers make is to allow their left foot to spin out as they hit the shot. This leads to inconsistent golf ball striking and errant golf shots.
Since Hogan wrote the Modern Fundamentals it has been popular to open the left foot at address a quarter turn. But turning out the left foot too much can make a slice worse. Rather than being able to hit against the left side, which encourages a full release of the club, if the left foot is turned out too much there is nothing to stop the shoulders spinning open.
You have to setup with your feet in a certain configuration. What I noticed is when I told my students to do this drill with no additional instruction. They almost always setup with [their] LEFT foot flared toward the target.
To get maximum benefits you should setup with your left foot perpendicular to the target line, and your right foot flared away from the target. You should also drop your right foot back slightly. Just check out the picture below and copy the feet position.
The left, or front, foot is always turned out slightly to the left. With the foot in this position, a player can transfer their weight to the left side more easily and quickly on the downswing. They can also hit through the ball with greater power and comfort because the directional force of the swing is toward where the left foot is aiming—to the left.
Position the right foot so that it points almost straight ahead. A common mistake is to address the ball with both feet pointed out, whereas only the left foot should be in that position.
With the right foot positioned so that it points ahead, or almost so, instead of to the right, the weight shift on the backswing becomes more centralized around your spine rather than on the extreme outside of the right leg and right foot.
At address, my right foot points perpendicular to the target line, but my left foot flares out almost thirty degrees to the left. That's a lot. The reason I do this is that it helps me get my left side out of the way and turn fully through impact. The flip side of this is that the flared-out left toe restricts my hip turn away from the ball and thus limits the length of my backswing. That's not a liability for me, however, because I've been blessed with a supple body.
If you have trouble turning through the ball, I recommend that you experiment with this flared left toe. Just be careful not to allow the alignment of your feet, hips, and shoulders to open.
Conversely, if you want to make a more full and free turn on your backswing, try experimenting with a flared right toe. Just bear in mind that this can inhibit your turn through impact.
There is always lots of discussion about whether the feet should be flared, square, turned in, etc.
Just like most things in the golf swing, it is very individual and dictated by how you swing the club and what mistakes you make or physical limitations you have.
To me, the right foot (back foot for righty) should never be flared intentionally. It can cause over rotation and getting the club behind you and it can also make it difficult for your lower body to clear in sync with the shoulder turn.
The left foot (front foot for righty) has a more flexible range of how to place it. Many people get a great benefit from flaring the left foot to give the lower body more room to clear. Those with over active lower bodies that get out in front and get the swing out of sync, may benefit from a square or turned in left foot.
I can’t tell you individually what to do, but you can use this info as a guide to tinker yourself.
However, if the left foot is turned back so it is at right angles to the target, it encourages the correct transition between backswing and downswing. The shoulders can’t spin open too much as the left foot anchors the whole of the left side.
The more the left foot anchors the hips and consequently the shoulders from spinning open, the club will approach the impact area more from the inside.
To do this, dig your feet into the sand, then turn your toes inward as you take your stance. This secures your lower body in the bunker. Your weight should feel as if it's on the inside edges of your feet, and when you swing, keep your weight in that same position. Unlike a normal full-swing shot, there's not a lot of weight transfer.
There's a reason Jack Nicklaus is still the greatest player of all time (at least in terms of majors won). I've blogged so many times about ways to hit fades and draws. All of the methods work on the same D-plane principle (i.e., all roads lead to Rome), but some methods are easier to understand and pull off than others. Feel free to review my early post on factors that are associated with various shot shapes or ball flights.
To hit a draw, you could strengthen your grip, close your stance, move the ball back, swing out to the right, and do any number of other things that we've been told will help hit a draw. Same thing for a fade (except the reverse). But I've found that these methods sometimes have too many variables and don't always end up giving us the shot shape intended; sometimes the ball hooks wildly instead of mildly drawing, slicing instead of mildly fading, or ironically going straight! Being able to shape the ball is important in order to advance in skill. Shaping the shot allows one to bend the ball around obstacles, fight the wind's influence, reach a tucked pin, control trajectory, control roll upon landing, and generally avoid trouble.
I think Jack's method (being taught in the video below to beginning children of the First Tee program) might be the one to use because of its simplicity. Jack Nicklausadvocates using the same swing for all shots. What he changes is the club face and maybe the ball position. In other words, he loosens his normal, neutral grip, opens or hoods the club face slightly (depending on the desired shot shape), and then regrips with the same neutral grip. However, keep in mind the caveats below.
Many instructors correctly advocate creating a divergence between club face and swing path to shape shots, but they often are nebulous in their explanations (i.e., "aim your club face at the target and swing either left or right of the target"). However, one must either change the grip on the club (i.e., stronger or weaker), change the club face position at setup (as Jack describes), or use the hands/arms to control the club face during the swing. Simply "aiming the club face" with no other modifications will do nothing except cause one to lose another ball. Actively rolling the forearms (closing the face for a draw) or blocking the forearms (slowing the face for a fade) is a method best left to the timing of professionals.
Here are my embellishments to Jack's simple method. Stand behind the ball and pick a desired target. Set up on that target line as if you were going to attempt to hit a perfectly straight ball. To hit a draw, hood or close the club face a few degrees as described above (ungrip and regrip the club to do this). Now adjust the body and stance such that the newly hooded club face is aimed at the desired starting line (i.e., for a draw, aim the face and body further right of the target line). Now take a normal swing as if you were trying to hit the ball well to the right of the target. The ball flight should start right (where the club face was aiming at address) and draw or turn back towards the intended target.
For a fade, reverse every step above; you should ungrip, open the club face a few degrees, and then regrip. Aim the body, stance, and club face left of the target line and take the swing as if you were trying to hit the ball well left of the target. The ball flight should start left and fade back to the right. Use the exact same swing for both. We're following Jack's advice by reducing variables and making the swing simpler.
Now a few caveats.When attempting a fade, go with at least one club of lesser loft (e.g., 5-iron instead of 6-iron) for the required distance; this is because the fade shot will tend to go higher, shorter, and land softer, with little or no roll. The opposite is true for a draw: it will tend to go lower, longer, and run after landing, so choose a club with more loft for the required distance (e.g., 8-iron instead of a 7-iron). When you open a club you're adding loft and taking away loft when you close a club (closing down a 3-iron will turn it into a 2-iron or less).
Also, clubs with lower lofts (like a driver) don't need to be opened or closed quite as much to impart the same amount of side spin as higher lofts (like a pitching wedge). So you should hood or open clubs with lower lofts (e.g., driver or 4-iron) much less than you would with higher lofted clubs (e.g., 8-iron or wedges). As always, experiment!
Next, close your face a bit at address. But be careful not to close too much. Drivers don't have much loft so if you close the face too much, you can't get the ball airborne and lose the distance.
Then all you do to play a fade is aim your body slightly left (as Jim is making sure I'm doing above), open the clubface, and make the exact same swing.
You are starting the ball to the left because you aimed your whole body to the left. In other words, you are purposely trying to hit the ball left of your target. In trying to teach this shot to people this is where they go wrong. They aim there stance and body to the left yet they swing down the target line. REMEMBER: if you aim left, you have to swing left. The ball will spin right because of the clubface position.
In order to hit fades and draws or to hit the ball low or high, Nicklaus uses the same swing. It is the angle of the club head at impact that enables you to hit these variations in your shots. To get the club head on these angles, Nicklaus simply adjusts the position of the club head at address.
Adjustable drivers are all the rage these days; golfers can adjust various attributes of the club to suit their swings and help correct ball flight errors. My Nike SQ Machspeed driver is a square-headed, thud-making monster; I keep it adjusted to a flatter lie with a slightly closed club face position (because my ball flight error tends to be a slice).
However, I've noticed that on days when I'm making a good turn behind the ball and using a reasonably strong grip (slightly more than neutral), I can start pulling, hooking, and hitting really low shots off the tee with it. This is why it's important to be able to diagnose what's going on while playing. Two primary components of ball flight are swing path and club face; the two are joined at the hip and synergistic.
When I know I'm making a good turn behind the ball (full shoulder turn) and getting an inside-out swing path and the ball is hooking, pulling, or going low, I know that my club face is too closed to match that swing path. Suddenly, my adjusted driver becomes an enemy. True, I'm not slicing…I'm just doing the opposite, which can be disastrous too.
In those situations, a slight grip change may be all that's needed to correct the ball flight. I've noticed that the stronger grip I use for my other lower lofted clubs (like the 3-hybrid or 5-iron) can produce low and/or left ball flights with my adjustable driver, if I'm swinging on a good inside-out path. So (and every day on the golf course is different), I will slightly rotate my grip to the left (V's pointing between my neck and right shoulder as opposed to directly at my right shoulder) as a fix. Usually, this small change will straighten my ball flight and produce a higher draw shape.
However, go too far with the grip (or start making an incomplete turn) and the ball will start fading or slicing again. Golf is great, huh?
Wrists play an important role in the swing, to be certain. But this is one of those areas, for me, where I can unconsciously start doing the WRONG thing and end up with that slice creeping back into my rounds. Ball flight is always a result of a marriage between club path and club face position at impact. This means it's easy to misdiagnose what's happening to oneself on the course if one suddenly starts hooking or slicing the ball. I've posted before about the various characteristics of different ball flights; it's up to each individual golfer to figure out his or her tendencies in order to diagnose correctly on the course.
So, what's the correct wrist action at the top? First, let's define what's an incorrect wrist action. For the left wrist, an improper wrist cock would be where the knuckles move more backward towards the forearm (in essence, a left wrist hinge). This is what is defined as a cupped or dorsiflexed left wrist, and it's a move that opens the club face. If timing isn't perfect coming back down, the wrist will not fully flatten and the face will likely be open at impact, causing a slice or fade of some kind. It's important to note that this cupped position at the top might be useful for greenside bunker or flop shots, where an open face at impact is desirable. All of this is related to one's grip as well (a stronger grip can be more cupped at the top of the backswing and still allow for a reasonably straight ball flight). When the wrist is too cupped at the top, it opens the club face and lays off the club. At the same time, a left wrist position that is too bowed (like Dustin Johnson uses) could result in a club face that's too shut and could put the club in an across-the-line position at the top (associated with hooking the ball). Good players can get away with either if their timing is good and they can incorporate manipulations to return the club to the correct impact position.
Now the right wrist is really the opposite of the left. An improper right wrist action would have it too straight at the top of the backswing (knuckles moving away from the forearm), which, if you think about it, mirrors what the left wrist does in an improper action. And for both, there are variations in between. Much has been written and taught about the wrists in golf, and wrists actions among golfers will vary by individual. Some professional golfers, like Tom Watson and Shawn Clement, teach that you should have a slightly cupped left wrist at the top to get the maximum wrist load, wrist cock, or radial deviation (Watson says: 'with as strong a left hand grip as you can use without hooking the ball'). Others, like Hank Haney, teach that the left wrist should be flat at the top (like it should be a the bottom), which means the right wrist would be hinged backward more. The right wrist associated with a left wrist that's too bowed would have the right palm pointing to the sky at the top (like holding a tray or pizza). A flatter left wrist at the top is associated with a more neutral grip. In reality, the right wrist should be more dorsiflexed than the left; this would be kind of like holding a slanted tray--where anything on it would slide off onto the ground.
When I make a club face error these days, it's usually because of a left wrist that's too cupped at the top or not rotating or bowing it fast enough coming down; when I fail to lead with the left wrist, it leaves my club face too open. My outside-in path error is usually an incomplete shoulder turn.
Here's what I've found is a good wrist and grip drill to teach the correct wrist positions at the top. I take my address position with a club and then raise my body into an upright position. From there, I simply move the club straight up and down in front of me using only my wrists. The wrists should cock upwards and downwards, raising and lowering the club; Shawn Clement describes this as hinging on the 'anatomical snuff boxes.' Using the same drill, cupping the left wrist would result in the club moving left of one's head, and too bowed a left wrist would move it right of one's head. The proper movement using this drill would have the club moving upwards right between my eyes. The club face should return to the same position when lowering the club back down using the wrists; if it doesn't…the grip is either too strong or too weak. Once the feel of this is ingrained, it's simply a matter of keeping the arms in front while going to the top, turning the shoulders fully, and hinging the wrists along the same axis practiced in the drill. As with all things in golf, too much or too little can be a very small standard deviation: Too much cup or bow in the left wrist will lay off the club too much or put the club over the line too much (respectively) and will contribute to a slice or hook (respectively), if not corrected coming back down using some artificial manipulation.
I've posted already about setups to hit the fade and draw and the D-Plane (which explains the ball flight laws). My big fall flight error (like most amateur golfers) is the slice. Sometimes I set up to hit a draw and still end up hitting a slight fade (works out okay sometimes), or sometimes I'll set up to hit a fade and it will become a slice. That tells me that I'm compounding the left-to-right ball flight with my setup. And I've done the same thing with the draw too--setup to hit a draw and then end up hooking the ball off the course. Unfortunately, there are times when I've set up to hit one and hit the opposite (I'd rather not talk about those times right now).
Recently I was hitting fairly straight tee shots with a slight fade and was trying to figure out why I couldn't hit the tight draw that I was hitting a few days before. Everything SEEMED the same, but it obviously wasn't. Then I hit on it: I was NOT turning my shoulders back fully to 90 degrees. I noticed that my left shoulder pointed in front of the ball at the top of my backswing, which was giving me a slight outside-in swing path. That path along with a square club face should produce a fade; if the face was open, it would produce a slice (basically a severe fade from which it's hard to recover). Anything used on top of that to exacerbate the outside-in swing path would produce a more severe fade or slice, even with a relatively square club face.
Golf is really about trying to diagnose and repair what's screwed up during a round, because it's easy to get lazy and let bad habits or old tendencies creep in without realizing it (e.g., partial shoulder turn, right leg straightening to much, not keeping the arms in front, etc.). If you're getting a slice, it can be a lot of things, but I know I have a tendency to get lazy with the shoulder turn (which can cause a laid-off position at the top). I have a tendency to let the arms get too much across my chest (too inside leading to outside-in), and I have a tendency to get too handsy with my takeaway (too inside on the backswing that can lead to OTT).
The reason it's tough to diagnose why one might be fading, slicing, hooking, pulling, pushing, or drawing when it's not intended is that ball flights are a marriage between swing path and face at impact. If you KNOW your path is inside-out but you're push-slicing then you have an open club face. I believe this was more my issue when I first started golf--I simply was blocking the club face open and would often end up with a push-slice. Sometimes (unless you're really paying attention to yourself compared against the fundamentals), you may have trouble diagnosing what you're doing wrong.
Given that I noticed (this time) that I wasn't getting my back to the target at the top, I hit on the idea of using a variable shoulder turn to try to hit cuts, straight, and draws, especially since the traditional setup ideas to hit them usually give me severe slices and hooks instead of the intended flights. What if I simply used less shoulder turn for a fade and more for a draw? Then I could aim left of my intended target and hit the fade and vice versa for the draw. I wouldn't have to worry about all the other aspects of hitting fades and draws. If you think about it, it's the equivalent of opening or closing the stance to hit a fade or draw, but adjusting the stance requires the same full turn on both.
Here's something to try: To hit a fade, try turning the shoulders so that the left shoulder points in front of the ball at the top (from your perspective looking down); you shouldn't be able to see your left foot because your left shoulder will be shielding it from view. For a draw, turn more fully so that the left shoulder points behind the ball and covers the right foot from view. A straighter ball will be somewhere in between. Don't do anything else differently (except for where you aim)…use the same grip, square stance, takeaway, and ball position. The point here is to manipulate only one variable: swing path (and to do so as simply as possible).
Probably one of the best bits of golf swing advice I've ever seen or heard comes from the great touring professional Ernie Els; touring pros aren't usually the best golf teachers, but this small tip from Els has become one of my top swing thoughts.
Simply stated it's this: the right elbow, right forearm, and right wrist (and thus the club) form a box shape (actually more of a rectangle with 2 90-degree angles) at the top of the swing. During transition, one simply allows this box shape to remain intact and fall down in front (right elbow coming close to the right hip while the shoulders REMAIN turned) and then release it past the ball. As Ernie so simply puts it, "Keep the box and give it a lash!"
I believe it's probably best to focus on the right arm only in the backswing, because doing this properly will keep the left arm straighter and help set the wrists earlier. And thinking of the box shape in the downswing is a given; maintaining it as long as possible gets 2 crucial levers working in the swing: the right elbow and right wrist straightening in the right sequence and at the right times. This adds tremendous, effortless power to the swing (for all shots…include bunkers and pitch shots).
This is Els' way of describing what TGM'ers call the use of Pressure Point #3: "Keeping the box" as Els describes will place pressure in the base knuckle of the first digit on the right hand from the start of the downswing until past impact. This is often referred to as "lag pressure," and it's maintained all the way down into the ball. As a matter of fact, one can think of the base knuckle or first phalanx of the right finger as analogous to the club face; it's often called the "trigger finger," though most of the finger should do NOTHING during the swing.
By using this "box" method, you will notice that the left and right wrists can cock up and down WHILE the right wrist remains hinged backwards, and it's this backwards hinged right wrist that creates a flat left wrist at impact, maintains lag pressure in PP #3, gets the hands leading the club head, compresses the ball, and creates a forward leaning shaft. A key is to start down or transition slowly; the greatest speed is added at the bottom, not the top.
In reality, Ernie could have called this "Avoid the cast!" instead of "Keep the box!" Casters apply an active pushing force, unhinging force, and/or uncocking force (either consciously or unconsciously) at the top (and thus have to flip the wrists at the bottom), while laggers (i.e., good players) form the angles at the top and then drop that arm-club "power package" intact from the top (the right wrist remains hinged backwards through impact). Thus, the angles formed in the right arm during the backswing are retained late into the downswing. Casting is often associated with an early shoulder rotation; the arm-club power package should ideally begin dropping in response to the lower body BEFORE the shoulders open up.
Many instructors will tell you that maintaining lag pressure is not something you can do actively, but that poses the question: Is consciously fighting the urge to cast considered an active attempt to maintain lag? One could argue that "keeping the box" as Els describes is a means of actively keeping the angles and lag pressure in PP #3. Martin Hall's take on this is to "keep the thumbs pointing up in the air as long as possible," which also implies an active effort to maintain lag. As with all things in golf, let your results be the arbitrator.
A good way to practice this move is using the Pump Drill (see videos below); Hogan doesn't refer to it as the Pump Drill, but you can see him demonstrating it in his video. Another drill advocated by Hogan and Brian Manzella is to simply remove the right thumb from the shaft and hit some balls (Sam Snead used to remove his right thumb and right index finger entirely to practice). There are also drills that advocate holding a wet mop like a club (or using a club with a towel on the end) and dragging it across the ground. An impact bag is also used to instill the correct feeling at impact.
My take on the Pump Drill is to completely remove the right hand thumb and index finger from the handle to accentuate the pressure feeling in the base phalanx of my right index finger. From the top of the backswing, use the left hip motion to cause the arm-club unit to pump up and down a few times. The end of a "pumping action" gets the hands over the ball with the club shaft still parallel to the ground. After one or two "pumps," let it go at the bottom.
What happens when lag is taken too far? Skull shots (not really thin shots) because the club bottoms out late and balls that fly off to the right because the club face doesn't close in time. Rejoice if you see these occasionally instead of weak fat or thin shots that come from casting and flipping.
It's very crucial to keep your head behind the ball (i.e., maintain a tilted spine angle); just get the feel that once you get over the right leg in the backswing that the head stays there while the lower body weight shifts to the left. Keeping the head back assists with shallowing out the swing and with hitting inside-out.
Even cooler, if you "shake hands" with your right hand towards the target, you can coax a draw or straight-ish ball flight (the toe of the club overtakes the heel), or you if you hold off the right hand somewhat (toe and heel come through more together) you can get a fade.
As Ben Hogan rotates his lower body towards the target, the "straight left arm + bent right arm" act as a single unitary structure and they are both passively pulled down towards waist level as a single unit. Homer Kelley refers to this unitary structure of the left arm and bent right arm as the power package assembly [6]. In other words, Ben Hogan does nothing actively with his hands/arms/club during the early downswing - he simply allows them to respond reactively/passively to the shift-rotational movement of the lower body, and he simply allows the entire power package assembly to be passively pulled down to waist level.
BM: "Grip the club normally. Take the right thumb off of the club and point it at the target. Hit it."
[Why does this work?]
Forum Member: "...when most of us begin to lose the lag, we compensate by feeling/adding pressure from the right thumb to try and stop the throwaway....without the right thumb on the club, we must store and hold the lag or be ready for the club to flop around coming into impact (especially if there is throwaway or if we lose the lag on PP#3)."
BM: "Helps Slicers too!
...but why???"
Forum Member: "Without the right thumb exerting pressure on the club, one can drag the sweetspot onplane via the right index finger, thus closing the clubface by impact."
In the Golf swing there are 4 distinct pressure points (more on that in another article) but again, for simplicity stakes, we will focus on the easiest and more convenient to feel: the meaty part of your index (the "trigger finger") of your trailing hand where it touches the club.
Here is the trick: Are you able to perform a Golf stroke while feeling pressure in this index from start down to both arms straight (the end of the follow-through and before the finish)???
Even better: if you can feel this pressure not decreasing (unrelentless pressure), I bet my shirt you must be a 1 digit handicap as you must have Lag in your swing with all the good things that come with it!
A player who casts the club (club head throwaway) does exactly that: he feels a lot of pressure in the start of the downswing (by accelerating the club very hard and convulsively). Such a sudden accelartion thows the club away with no chance to catch it up before impact.
Needless to say, that player feels no pressure at all in the index finger when the club head arrives at the ball.
The correct way to do it is to push your cart evenly with no over-acceleration.
UPDATE: Can now confirm that this is a MUST, especially with longer irons! Definitely gained yards and height by keeping the head back, but the bend in the right elbow (or keeping the box) needs to be kept as long as possible to prevent hitting fat. Another way to think of keeping the head back is to simply widen the stance, which automatically pre-positions the head behind the ball and more weight to the right side. Also, one of my old habits is to unconsciously try to lift the ball (a yip or flinch), because we've all been told to hit up on the ball with the driver, but this actually will cause thin and fat shots. It's more important to envision swinging level to the ground; pretend you're trying to drive a nail directly in the back off the ball with the driver and woods.
This is something that has plagued me. So I'm intrigued to try some of these strategies to correct it and give me a higher ball flight with my driver. In essence, I think I use too much of an iron swing with my driver; I end up with low pull-hooks, high push-slices, hitting behind the ball (fat), and toe shots. I've noticed that my head will often get ahead of the ball or that I'm fully on the outside of my left foot at impact, and thus the only thing I can do is hit more down and cut across the ball as opposed to sweeping it off the tee with an inside-out motion. I also often try to help the ball into the air using body english and arm motion, and this just makes things worse; the irony is that the ball will get more airborne by concentrating on hitting the back of the ball (sweeping it level with the ground) as opposed to trying to hit up!
I believe that a lot of my problems stem from being too aggressive with shifting to the left leg (again…left over from my S and T days), and that is especially troublesome with the woods. Yes, I think it's true that the weight must shift fully to the left, but for me I think it has been too quick as opposed to a gradual process. Pictures of pro golfers hitting driver at impact shows that their heads are well behind the ball and even over their right leg, while they finish fully on the left. Clearly, I'm not executing a proper weight shift and losing distance as a result.
The golf weight shift from right to left is a definite…but a GRADUAL definite. It's not an instantaneous, violent maneuver as I've thought of it before. As Haney says with regard to weight, one should roll from the inside of the right foot onto the left big toe and finally to the outside of the left foot and heel.
In reality, keeping the head back longer and preventing a rapid weight shift from right to left are nearly synonymous. They both refer to the same thing. And this error is never more glaring than when hitting driver. Get the feel that once you get over the right leg in the backswing that the head stays there while the lower body weight shifts to the left.
Also key is teeing up a little higher when you're trying to achieve a higher trajectory. The height difference will not be that different--maybe a quarter of an inch, but this will help get the ball back in a good position for the sweet spot with a more upward motion. Use with caution, however. Teeing higher requires that the ball be further forward in the stance, which may mean simply widening the stance.
Shallowing influences include positioning the ball further forward, swinging more around the body, and widening the stance.
When your head moves forward during the downswing, your whole swing plane moves ahead. That means you will tend to lose the ball to the right or leave the clubface open through impact.
One day, Lee Trevino was playing with the amateur golfer. Trevino gave only one advice to this golfer. He told him to keep his head back.
This amateur golfer was hitting a strong draw on that day.
If you feel that you’re shifting to the left in the downswing to early, do some practice swings facing a mirror and watch your head to see if it’s moving left in the initial stages of the downswing. Also, watch yourself load your weight better into the right inste/heel as you hit the top of the backswing.
Another thing you can do is take you ball and as you tee it up, turn the label so it faces to the right. Now, as you go to hit your shots, watch the label. If you shift too much left, you will loose sight of it. The only way to see the label is if you stay behind the ball as the club swings through impact.
A final thing you can do are practice swings “feeling” more weight on your right foot as the club swings through. By feeling more weight on your right, it will stop you from shifting to drastically to the left. Once you get the feeling in practice swings, apply it to your shots.
NOTE: It’s not that I want to weight on the right foot at impact, it’s just a drill to stop the weight from shifting to the left too soon. So, do a bunch of practice swings feeling more weight on your right side into the downswing. Then, apply this new feeling to your shots. After you start hitting your shots higher forget favoring the right leg like this.
Lee Trevino had a great tip or swing thought that I use when I want to hit a ball really high (#10 at Lake View requires me to carry a ball pretty high over some trees around an 80° dogleg).
His tip was "you want to feel as if you're head is moving backwards (to the right for a righty) at impact." Lee used the tip to hit a draw, but if you're square it's a good way to keep your upper body back through impact, too. Tee the ball up a bit higher if necessary too, yeah.
When a golfer places too much weight on their front foot, it increases the chances of a golfer getting out front of and "stabbing" at the ball, which is likely to yield a low trajectory off the drive. However, by keeping one's weight back and leaving it there until impact position, the weight is more evenly distributed across the swing, which will help make impact with the ball on the way down, therefore increasing the chances of a longer, higher drive. Also, make sure not to swing too quickly and "lunge" at the ball, as this can create a low drive as well.
Lots of teachers will tell you to hit it on the upswing with your driver. But if you do it too much, it can cause slice. Some golfers start to hit well when I ask them to sweep the ball instead of trying to hit up on the ball.
...you can focus on the back of the ball instead of just looking at the top of the ball. The clubface contacts with the back of the ball. So you should focus on the back of the ball as well.
Here is a good swing thought. Picture a nail stuck into the back of the ball. When you swing down, I want you to drive the imaginary nail through the ball.
The problem is teeing up higher and placing the driver on the ground at address. For example, let's say that you tee the ball up so that 2/3 of the ball is above the driver head. If you return the driver head to its address position, you will hit a pop-up.So you will have to raise the driver head off the ground at impact. But if you do this, the driver head moves further away from your body and cause heel hits.To fix this and hit it in the middle of your clubface with higher tee height, hover the driver head (off the ground) just behind the ball. I think you will be able to fix your heel hits with this adjustment.
