The "Nicklaus" Head Swivel

I recently watched another great video by Shawn Clement on head position and lag and tried something he mentioned, and this alone has made a huge impact on my game from the first try. It directly relates to that universal golf fundamental: Stay behind the ball or keep your head behind the ball.

When you address the ball in your standard manner, turn your head 20-deg to the right and then tilt the right side of your head 20-deg down. Just your head…not your torso, so perform it as a "1-2" move after address. Your left cheek should be behind the ball, and your right ear pointed down to the ground, as if you were trying to drain water out of it. The head is both behind the ball and tilted to the right; if you've been on top of the ball, this will completely change your perspective of the golf swing…and for the better.

Bradley's Head Movement

Why does this make a difference for me? First, the turn to the right (move 1) presets the head in a good position to allow a full, relaxed torso turn without any upper-body sway (i.e., the head is not blocking the left shoulder). This alone helps prevent a reverse pivot, because the head is not blocking the left shoulder. Second, the downward tilt (move 2) presets good secondary axis tilt away from the target, necessary to hit inside-out and to retain lots of lag for effortless power; you can't maintain tilt away from the target if your head is level or leaning left.

In addition, I monitor the following points: The 20-20 head swivel applies to the neck and head ONLY; be careful that you're not turning and tilting your torso more than the standard setup position, which can cause fat shots and shanks (remember, it's a "1-2" head movement only after standard address). The club head is lightly touching the ground behind the ball--almost hovering. I also let the club head lag my hands on the takeaway, keeping the club head outside my hands and ensuring my wrists are relaxed, so that I can sense a loaded club at the top and better retain lag coming down. Keep the club face pointing at the ball during the takeaway. Grip: Use a somewhat strong left hand grip and a neutral to weak right hand grip for most shots (alterations can be used to shape shots). I now understand Clement's analogy of "hammering into a door frame" and why one's head must be behind the ball (Would you hammer into a door frame with your head in front of it? Of course not; you wouldn't be able to see it or get any leverage). Though the 20-20 head swivel hinders the tendency of the upper-body to sway to the right on the backswing, the hips can still sway to the right, so be aware of this--all that's necessary is a rotation of the torso; no additional rightward shifting is necessary. I believe there are only a few universal requirements for a good golf swing, such as a FLW and forward shaft lean, and I also believe that staying behind the ball through impact is one of them.

If you dig deeper, you'll discover that Jack Nicklaus--arguably the greatest golfer of all time until Tiger gets his crap together--did this very thing as his swing trigger. And then you'll find out that he got it from Sam Snead. And then you'll see that Bobby Jones did it too. So there's something to it. It may look weird in the modern golfing era, but it has really helped my swing.

You'll also see that all modern pro golfers get behind the ball through impact; most simply don't preset it the way Nicklaus and Snead did at address or as a swing trigger--they achieve the correct head position while in motion, which contributes to the illusion that they stay on top of the ball because of their address positions. Examine the image of Keegan Bradley above. The vertical green line represents the back of the golf ball at address. The colored boxes mark his head positions throughout the swing: red is at address, yellow is at the top, and the green box is at impact. His head position at address is level and right on top of the ball, but by impact his head is well behind the ball's position and tilted right. The modern way to achieve Nicklaus' head position is to move into it during the swing; amateurs like me are better off presetting it address and leaving it there, as the former requires greater timing.

Another reason that this probably makes a difference for me is that I'm right-handed but left eye-dominant, which is not typical. Thus, I'm getting my left eye right on back of the ball.

You have to swing the club. To do that, your body must be in position, beginning with your head, which needs to start behind the ball and stay there all the way through impact.

Jack Nicklaus: My Lifetime Principles For Great Golf

First, it is a positive move, like the forward press of the hands, from which to start the backswing. Second, turning the head to the right makes it possible to take a longer, freer turn with the whole body than would be possible if the head were held straight to the front. Third, and most important, it is a method by which we help brace ourselves against swaying to the left on the downswing and moving our body out ahead of the ball at impact—a sure way to ruin a golf swing.

Give Every Shot A Cockeyed Look - 02.17.64 - Jack Nicklaus 

[Sam] Snead suggests that if we tilt our head slightly in the direction of our backswing, it will relieve a lot of the tension in the back and left side that keep us from making a full turn. 

Snead Says, "Tilt Your Head To Help Relieve Tension During Your Backswing" 

Jack Nicklaus was famous for turning his chin to the right before he took the club back. He moved his chin (head) to the right so that he [could] turn freely during the backswing.
Also, tilt your head slightly to the right at address. Because your spine should be tilted to the right at address, your head should be tilted as well. 

The Head Movement during the Golf Swing 

Most people's dominant eye is on the same side as their dominant arm, leg, etc. However, despite being right handed, I am left eye dominant. So is Jack Nicklaus. 

3Jack Golf Blog: The Dominant Eye and Golf 

Joe Dante, one of America’s best known teaching professionals, from his book Four Magic Moves To Winning Golf. “Keep the head still.” This impossible advice has been given in one form or another for about as long as there has been any literature on golf: “Keep your head down.” Keep your head still.” Keep your head fixed.” “Keep your eye on the ball.” “Don’t lift your head.” “Don’t look up.” You’ve heard these directions a thousand times. If they would only say, “Keep your head back,” they would be much closer to being right. 

Expert Advice - Head Movement 

The best way to stay behind the ball is to start with your head positioned behind the ball in your set-up. As you swing, keep your head from moving in front of the ball. You’ll turn through the ball correctly, resisting any tendency to lunge forward in the downswing, which can cause poor contact and any number bad shots. 

It’s vital, however, that we make sure our weight moves to our front foot to begin the downswing. In an effort to stay behind the ball, many inexperienced golfers hang back on their back foot during the downswing, the dreaded reverse pivot. The result is usually a weak push or slice.

Golf Tips; Stay Behind the Ball 

Staying behind the ball doesn’t mean limiting your rotation or your weight shift toward your forward side. Rather, staying behind the ball means keeping your spine tilted away from the ball at impact and bracing against a strong left side. 

Slice Killers! | GolfTipsMag.com

The most difficult thing for the average golfer to do, in my opinion, is to stay behind the ball. He has a tendency to move ahead of the ball with the body, and in doing so he develops an outside-in swing which causes such familiar troubles as slicing, shanking, and topping. This is particularly true on the drive, which so many players try to hit with too much power. 

Staying Behind The Ball 

The point is…you need to have tilt behind the ball at address and tilt behind the ball at impact with your weight moving toward your front side…and you need to find a feel that gets you there. 

Tilt behind the ball at impact 

If you start with your head directly over the top of your belt buckle then you must move your head over to your right shoe on the backswing. If you start with your head more toward your right shoe than your belt buckle, you won't need to move as much. 

Golf Instruction: Keep Your Head Still 

In Harvey Penick's, The Little Red Book, published in 1992, page 75 is entitled "Stay Behind the Ball" "All great golfers move their head slightly backward before and during impact, but never forward. A golfer must stay behind the ball. I mean set up with your head behind the ball and keep your head behind the ball. If you move your head forward during your downswing or through impact, you will hit a wee, ugly shot, probably a pulled slice." 

Keep Your Head Back and Behind the Ball Through Impact! Six Top Golf Pros Agree 

During the transition, his head naturally moves forward with the weight shift to the left side and his head gets further out in front of the ball by the time he arrives at impact. This forces him to release the club early just to make contact. 

How to Keep Your Head Behind the Ball in the Golf Swing 

Here's an easy way to help keep your head back and have an aggressive release. Simply focus your eyes on the back inside quadrant of the ball at address and remain focused on that spot on the ball until after impact. Doing that will guarantee that you keep your head behind the ball. 

Big Play: Ted Potter Jr homemade swing 

If you want to increase your clubhead speed while reducing tension, learn to lag―swinging the clubhead away from the ball last. Begin the backswing by rotating the upper body, while keeping the hands and arms passive. If the arms are truly relaxed, they’ll only move as a result of the torso turn. The clubhead holds its address position until everything else is in motion; once it moves, it “lags” behind the body. 

Lag Behind to Get Ahead

Spine Angle Required

I've briefly touched on this in a few other posts but wanted to give some more time to discussing the topic of maintaining--throughout the swing--the spine angle that was established at address. The golfing world has bestowed several different clever phrases to discuss this subject. It's been called "covering the ball with your chest," "keeping the head down," "staying over the ball," "keeping the upper body still," "staying in your posture," and, of course, "maintaining the spine angle." The opposite of this--the mistake--also has many names, like "standing up," "coming out of the shot," "losing the spine angle," "early extension," "losing the posture," "raising the head," etc.
For the purpose of this post, I'm referring to the primary spine angle, which refers to the angle of the upper body to the legs when viewed down the line. The secondary spine angle refers to the axis tilt to the right when viewed from the front, primarily caused by the right hand being lower than the left hand on the grip.
The mysterious "spine angle" really isn't solely about the spine, as the S&T creators have eloquently argued, because the spine bends all over the place during a golf swing. It's not really about keeping the head down either, because you can still change the head position vertically from the neck while maintaining spine angle. I like "covering the ball" best as a description, because it drives home the point for me that the overall angle of the upper body established at address (i.e., posture created by bending over from the hips) should be maintained at least through impact; I would argue that amateur golfers should work to maintain it well after impact, as they risk coming up too early otherwise. This is that "head on a pillow" look in the followthrough and finish position, or looking at your initial ball flight through slanted eyes.
In other words, the "tush line" should be maintained through impact; if the pelvis begins to move forward (i.e., the upper body comes up)--even a little--at any point before or during impact, the radius required for the swing gets longer, making it harder to hold lag through impact when it's needed. As a matter of fact, losing the spine angle is a major factor in many mishits and bad results, to include inconsistent, short, fat, thin, pulled, and sliced shots. Most expert golfers may come up a little well after impact, but you'll notice that they are still bent over towards the target line, even in their finish positions. Some professional golfers have upper body positions that actually sink even lower than their address positions before impact!
An additional, related aspect of spine angle is shoulder plane. The left shoulder should point down towards the ground (in the direction of the ball) at the top of the backswing (right shoulder rotated up and behind the head), maintaining a perpendicular relationship to the spine angle. The left shoulder should be touching or very close to touching your chin at the top. On the downswing, the right shoulder should replace the left shoulder's previous position, and vice versa. Keeping the shoulder plane more "vertical" allows the arms to hang more from the shoulders as they should through the shot. The correct shoulder plane is actually a side bend; stand up and bend fully sideways to the left from the waist. Now simply rotate to the right (pointing in between both feet) and the shoulder plane should be in the correct position to maintain the backswing spine angle.
Believe it or not, the right knee can affect your spine angle. Notwithstanding Stack and Tilt, you should strive to keep a bend in your right knee at the top of your backswing.
Maintaining one's spine angle or covering the ball is important for EVERY shot in the book, to include putting, chipping, pitching, and bunker shots. It encourages movements that make drives long, powerful, and accurate. It encourages you to keep lag through the shot, because otherwise you will hit fat. It helps prevent fat shots due to an an early release or cast (usually a direct, autonomic, and unconscious manipulation as a result of "standing up"). "Standing up" and "casting" are directly related to each other. Staying over the ball frees you up to swing faster while still feeling in control; you can really pop the driver when covering the ball.
Actually, the only way you can really deliver lag to the ball is to maintain the spine angle. Now you'll have to learn how to lag the club by keeping the wrist angle late into the ball to keep from hitting fat. You will have to learn to keep the wrist cocked late and make contact with the ball with the right wrist still feeling bent back or dorsiflexed. If you lose the spine angle or stand up then you must cast or straighten the wrists to have any hope of contacting the ball; the result in this case is a powerless poot shot, duff shot, or skull across the ground!

Here's how to diagnose that "coming out of the shot" is a problem causing some of your mishits. First, take your address position (ground the club if you usually hover it), execute your takeaway, and stop when the club is parallel to the ground. Now, immediately rotate back to the front without bending from the hips and see if your club re-grounds itself in the same position behind the ball. If your club comes back above the ball then the distance from the club to the ball represents how much you stood up on the takeaway! In all cases, make sure your arms are fully extended and knee flex remains unchanged.
If the takeaway isn't your problem (or even if it is), do the same procedure above with the only exception being to stop at the top of your backswing. Again, any distance between the ball and club represents how much you came out of your spine angle. Now, slowly rotate to your usual impact position and do the same procedure. In each case, you will learn exactly how much your spine angle is changing throughout the swing. Do the same procedure again for takeaway, backswing, and downswing and pay attention to your pelvis; it's very easy to see when you're standing up when you pay attention to it. Video analysis also works, or you can have a friend touch a club to your head while you work through these exercises.
You may only be standing up in one part of the swing, or if you're like me you could be doing it some throughout the entire swing. It's possible to do well at first but start losing the spine angle late into a round as one begins to get tired. The tendency is always to stand up, because it requires strength and endurance in the core muscles to keep covering the ball as one must to execute good shots.
Now, it's important to drill the correct feeling, which is literally a feeling of covering the ball with your chest through impact. If you've been standing up, you'll notice a distinctly new feeling of the right should coming down and through the shot and replace the position of the left shoulder as the upper body rotates through.

The whole idea of keeping your spine angle consistent is that it will help you to keep the “shape” of your swing consistent. When the shape of your swing is consistent, it is much easier to deliver the club face in a square position at impact.
Newsletter: The 3rd Key To Consistency: Spine Angle | Target Centered Golf
There are two main ways to lose the spine angle. A dive and a loss of “tush line.” A dive is what Tiger does and to see if you have this problem, put your finger on the end of your nose on a video from behind and down the line. If your nose moves out or down toward the ball, that is not good. If it happens a little, it’s nothing to worry about, so don’t go out and ruin your swing by trying to keep you head still.
To see if you are losing the tush line, you need a vertical line (same camera angle as above) like an imaginary wall your behind is up against and your body pulls away from that line during the swing. This is also known as standing up or pulling out of it…not to be confused with keeping your head down.
Maintaining spine angle | Monte Scheinblum's Blog

One crucial element for good iron play is to maintain a constant spine angle throughout the swing. This enables you to hit down at impact, correctly taking a divot after the ball. Many amateurs tend to rise up as they swing the club down in a mistaken attempt to help lift the ball into the air. Lifting leads to poor contact such as fat or thin shots. To correct this tendency, swing to a finish position and then hold it for a moment. Then bring the club back down as if someone hit the rewind button. You should be able to get right back into your address position. That's maintaining your spine angle.
How to play consistent golf: Golf Digest

Driver Downswing: See the Ball at Eye Level

One feel I use to shallow out the driver is to feel that my eyes are behind and level with the back of the ball up to the point of impact. Impossible, I know, but we're talking about a feeling here, not reality.

The head and chest are behind the club shaft, the head is actually behind its original position.

Another way to put this is that--of all the clubs--it's most important with the driver to exaggerate staying behind the ball! It's true that the longer the club the more behind the ball you should be at impact, but it's an absolute necessity to hit good, penetrating drives with the driver.

Look at slow motion video of most professional golfers and you'll notice that, up to the point of impact, their heads are located over their right leg when swinging the driver. In many cases, their heads move FURTHER right from the initial address position, which was already behind the ball! (You'll still notice that their heads are behind the ball with other clubs too--just not that far back.) Thus my feel of trying to get my eyes behind and level with the back of the ball. The continuing motion of the arms and club will pull you fully over into the left leg and into your balanced finish.

A wider stance and increased rightward tilt at address will help with staying behind the ball at impact, but it also encourages a hook. Remember that a wide stance is a hook condition, meaning that it inhibits lower body movement and encourages more arm movement through impact. If you find yourself hooking the ball wildly, you may need to go with a more narrow driver stance to help straighten out your drive; a narrow stance is a fade or slice condition, because the body can get ahead of the arms; as the stance widens, the swing plane becomes flatter, and the plane becomes more vertical with a more narrow stance. There are many such characteristics associated with different ball flights that you can use to encourage a shot shape you desire, but remember that you still must be able to get behind the ball and stay there up to impact.

Swinging this way also allows you to tee the ball up higher to encourage a high draw without the fear of sliding the club UNDER the ball and hitting pop-ups, which is common with golfers who swing the driver too steeply.

Staying back like this with the driver helps to shallow out the downswing and produces a flatter swing plane, causing the golfer to catch the ball on the upswing and impart an upward angle of attack, which reduces backspin, helps ensure an inside-out motion (often resulting in a nice draw), and thus, increases distance. Some instructors teach setting up with an exaggerated spine tilt to the right, but this doesn't help if the golfer immediately begins moving back over the ball (as if hitting an iron). As a matter of fact, it might be best to set up with a rightward tilt with the understanding that this right tilt will, initially, increase when the downswing begins.

Some golfers try to keep their head still or over the top of the golf ball. To make a full turn on a swing with your driver your head might move a little towards your back foot. That’s fine if not desired. You need to be well behind the golf ball at impact. One should have a straight line from the front shoulder to the ball at impact.

Golf Tips with Bobby Lopez: Why Is It More Difficult To Hit Your Driver Than Any Other Club?

David Leadbetter in 100% Golf, 2004, states: "the head and upper body stay behind the ball as you unswing and accelerate into impact." Try to maintain your spine angle from the set up all the way to the moment of impact and don't worry if your head has a little lateral movement. Your head and spine are behind the ball at impact.

Keep Your Head Back and Behind the Ball Through Impact! Six Top Golf Pros Agree

The key to solid driving is that you first get fully behind the ball as you wind up your backswing. Only then can your truly stay behind the ball as you unwind on the way back down. With the driver, one of the problems that I see a lot of amateurs struggle with is they get too far ahead of themselves on the way down, which results in the swing being too steep coming in to the ball.

Remember, you have to get back to the left side to strike the irons properly, which involves making sure that your body weight is centred more on top of the left foot as you hit the ball. With a driver, if you can first get behind it and then stay behind it, you will enjoy flighting your tee-shots with a good powerful trajectory.

The BIG Feeling - Denis Pugh

Anchor the head at the beginning of the downswing. There is no need to shift the weight forward the same as on an iron shot where you have to hit down onto the ball. Keep the head back to hit the ball on the upswing.

Driving the Golf Ball - Golf Swing Driver Tips

In the swing you will need to feel that you are staying behind the ball with your upper body as you aggressively drive the hips and weight over onto the front foot. This is where the “uphill” sense comes from – as the hips drive the head stays back you create the body motion that allows for the clubhead to move up into the hit. I like to refer to this as body curve.

Driver Set Up | Andrew Rice Golf

 

Shawn Clement's Braced Tilt

I'm a huge fan of Shawn's teachings; plus, he's very generous in that he gives away tons of free instruction via YouTube. Due to his generosity, I send him a PayPal tip each month. You can find his web site here; he also offers very reasonable online video analysis and a DVD instructional series.

Shawn has a lot of great ideas and methods that are highly effective. His drills should be mandatory for every golfer, regardless of whether you agree with his instruction or even try his swing method. The drills include his classic perpetual motion drill, feet-together drill, and one-leg drill. You can use these to ingrain the fundamentals of the Clement swing, which in my opinion is focused on helping the novice golfer learn to stay centered, the opposite of which (swaying) may very well be the biggest error a beginning golfer makes. I've written about the pivot in several other posts, but Shawn's method may be the one to develop a consistent pivot and swing, resulting in fantastic compression and contact with relative ease. In a sense, most of the effort is spent in the setup fundamentals and the rest left to physics.

Shawn teaches "bracing against a firm left side" with the body tilting away from the target starting at address and all the way through the swing. This involves presetting some secondary axis tilt, such that more weight is on the left leg at address, the head is behind the ball (until well after impact), and the weight in the right leg is concentrated on the right instep (he describes the address weight distribution as 60% left - 40% right). The backswing pivot is more a turning of the posterior than anything else, and the slight backwards weight shift is concentrated on the inside of the right leg and inside of the right foot; there should be a feeling of pressure ONLY on the inside of the right leg and right instep, and the right knee and right hip should feel "locked" in place briefly at the top, before the transition of weight back to the left leg. Another description is that it feels like sitting back on the right leg, so you should really feel it in the right hip.

Before you start thinking this is Stack-&-Tilt, it isn't, because Shawn teaches a backward and forward weight shift during the backswing and downswing, respectively. It's just that the weight shift he describes is very minute; he states that it is "about an inch long." I would describe it as: address, 60-40; backswing, 50-50 (or maybe 45-55) onto the inside of the right leg due to the weight of the arms and club; downswing, 60-40; and finish, 95-5 (again due to the weight of the arms and club). By contrast, S&T has the golfer starting 55-45 and leaning left at address, with no weight shift on the backswing (the upper body continues leaning left throughout); the weight favors the left side at address and progresses more and more left until the finish.

Shawn's swinging motion is passive and he describes it as "assisting momentum towards a target." In other words, one tosses the "arm-club unit" to the right on the backswing (the club feels somewhat weightless at the top) and then one allows it to fall on the downswing, with one's posterior providing a counterweight to the swing. In a sense, the golfer is setting up as a crane or catapult, and the butt acts as the means to propel the club. Shawn even says that the downswing weight shift "happens behind you," such that the butt moves left ("about an inch long") to shift the weight back into the left leg before the club comes through. The right butt cheek moves backwards on the backswing, and then the left butt check turns back to join it in a line on the downswing.

The result of this swing method is a tighter, circular motion that doesn't waste as much energy, and a stable low point. This results in increased consistency, compression, power, and divots in front of the ball.

Characteristics of Shawn's swing method include hips that turn nearly as much as the shoulders (don't go looking for McClean's X-Factor here), head staying behind the ball, arms and hands staying in front of the body, left foot prevented from spinning out, right foot staying planted longer, left knee ticking in towards the right leg on the backswing (even at address), allowable head movement, left heel unconsciously coming up on the backswing, passive arms (i.e., tossing the arms to the top and letting them fall), wrists that hinge naturally up-and-down due to the club's weight (i.e., float loading), and a takeaway that begins with a slight leftward move, as if one is already in motion at address (hence the perpetual motion drill). Shawn feels that a slight move that mimicks a throughswing as a starting motion (catching the next backswing) is best for keeping the swing relaxed and effortless.

My personal experience with this method is that it really adds distance and makes the golf swing "easy." However, I start coming off the rails with this swing by producing fat and thin shots, and the reason is two-fold: 1) there MUST be a move into the right leg on the backswing (even if it is very slight), and the correct feeling is one of pressure on the inside of the right leg with the right knee and right hip locked in place (i.e., I can occasionlly get too frozen over that left leg in the backswing); 2) the head--it must start behind the ball at address and remain there until post-impact (this one goes along with the first error--keeping the weight too left on the backswing can have the tendency to cause the head to be too far left).

Passive arms: It's important to simply get to the top and leave the hands and arms there, especially with the driver. Toss the arms to the top and then let them fall and/or move in response to the lower body's movement. Don't do anything else--pull or push. Allow the arms to simply drop and whip through in response to the lower body motion. Any attempt to consciously or unconsciously steer, pull, push, or guide the club will contribute to errors. Picking up on this in oneself is difficult because the difference between steering and just letting it happen is very subtle.

I have so many videos that explain what you are asking here; they all start with "Braced Tilt", "Braced Tilt Part 2", "Tilted Spiral" part 1, 2 and 3 and my latest, "Feel the Braced Tilt" which will explain so much for you; it all comes down to 60% on the lead leg; Use the trail leg as a support post to keep you against the led leg which is your leaning post.

One Leg Drill Amazing Power Compression; #1 Most Popular Golf Teacher on You Tube Shawn Clement - YouTube

 

Make a Centered Pivot

Stay on the ball! This is another one that is often debated among teaching professionals (no shortage of such debates really), and slow-motion videos of touring pros are often used to emphasize the point that the head can and occasionally does move rearward in varying degrees during the backswings of many great players. (And yes, you can find videos of pros that illustrate a centered turn as well...far more these days than days of yore.)

But we've also heard the adage that we should "turn like you're standing in a barrel." While I think you'll find that there are no shortage of differences among professional golfing turns and pivots as they relate to the position of the head during the backswing and downswing, I believe that we amateurs benefit by staying as centered as possible. Why?

If you move off the ball during the backswing (i.e., your head shifts too far over towards your back foot), you've effectively moved the swing center backward from where you established it at address. In short, you've introduced unnecessary inconsistency into the swing. This means that the bottom of your swing arc has also moved backwards and will require timing to get it back to the right place consistently. Remember, pros can do all sorts of crazy things because of their talent--not necessarily because it's the right way. Also, you increase the chance that you'll sway (i.e., your weight will move to the outside of your back foot instead of staying on the inside where it should be).

Here's what you should try. Set up using the proper posture, grip, aim, and body alignment. With your shoulders properly squared to your knees and hips, your right shoulder should be noticeably lower than the left (assuming you play golf right-handed), and this will place your head slightly behind the ball using irons and wedges (the wider your stance and longer the club, the further your head will be behind the ball at setup).

Now, focus on the keeping the lower body stable and unmoving during the takeaway and backswing, as your shoulders turn and your weight turns into the inside of your back leg. The feeling you want is that the hips and knees stay parallel to your target line for as long as possible and only move in response to the shoulders turning back. Your head may move slightly to the right as a result, but it should stay relatively steady.

Achieving a centered pivot is possible when you recognize that the right hip does NOT move to the right at all during the takeaway: It moves straight back and even towards the body's center line in response to a proper shoulder turn, and the right leg stays angled towards the target (does not move towards a perpendicular-to-ground position). The right knee also stays bent. As a proper on-plane takeaway keeps the club head outside of the hands, the correct opposing move is for the right hip to move straight back. This thought should also keep you pivoting correctly.

Now simply unwind into your downswing and try to keep your head in the same place (or even moving slightly back) as your arms come through. One thing all pros do is to keep theirs heads behind the ball during the downswing. In some cases (especially with the longer clubs like driver), you will notice that the heads of professional players will sometimes even move further back (secondary spine tilt increases) as the arms come through. But that's only during the downswing and usually with longer clubs.

Slightly kicking in the right knee at address or at the beginning of the backswing will assist in stabilizing the body and help prevent a lateral sway off the ball.

Strive to stay centered on your backswing pivot and behind the ball on the downswing and you'll gain consistency.

The classic teacher from the 1930s Percy Boomer coined the phrase "Turn in a barrel." Boomer recognized that turning around your body, rather than sliding your hips sideways, results in more consistency. It's difficult to hit it solid when you move off the ball on the backswing, because you have to move back to the ball the exact same amount to hit it flush. That takes more talent than most golfers have and more practice than they can afford.

Jim Flick And Jack Nicklaus: Turn Don't Slide: Golf Digest

"Turning while keeping your chest in place not only eliminates swaying and the likelihood of fat contact, it improves the quality of your rotation, because if you sway you can't turn. Ditch the sway and your backswing becomes 100 percent rotation."

Hunter Mahan, Keep Your Chest Over the Ball, Hunter Mahan's Five Moves to Make Your Swing Great Photos | GOLF.com

The body needs to make a centered turn around your spine with limited up and down or side to side motion, thus creating an efficient coiling of the upper body and lower body.

Increase Swing Speed for More Distance | Instruction Feature | PGA.com

 

Correct Shoulder Plane

I posted previously about my whacky left shoulder hitch on the downswing. But I have flaws that have exacerbated that problem.

My shoulders usually turn properly on the backswing, with my left shoulder moving DOWN under my chin and my right shoulder moving UP behind me (i.e., shoulder line maintaining a perpendicular relationship to my original spine angle). Note that the left shoulder should not point down early or it can cause the upper body to tilt toward the target; the left shoulder move across before pointing down. (Updated 1 Mar 15)

However, in an attempt to aid hitting from the inside and avoid an OTT (over-the-top or outside-in) move, I've developed a habit of having my shoulders see-saw on the downswing. In other words, the shoulders have too much up-and-down, linear shoulder motion with little to no rotational movement.

Therefore, my shoulder plane was rotating back correctly but changing directions and becoming too vertical on the downswing. It was going too much down and not enough around. This is the identical problem that Tom Watson talks about in his Lessons of a Lifetime; his right shoulder moved too much under and not enough around; his ball flight errors were pushes off to the right. He fixed it by feeling like he was coming OTT compared to what he had done before. For Tom this amounted to his "secret." It was his eureka moment.

In reality, the correct shoulder plane has the left shoulder pointing down toward the target line on the backswing and right shoulder pointing down toward the ball on the downswing; think of hitting the ball with the right shoulder--some call this "covering the ball" with the right shoulder.

The key move is to feel like the right shoulder on the downswing REPLACES the left shoulder's backswing position and points DOWN at the ball. In other words, the right shoulder must move DOWN, FORWARD, AND OUT. Too much of either isn't good. Keeping the head back behind the ball while using this motion allows one to hit from the inside instead of coming OTT. If the head (and spine angle) shifts forward with the weight shift to the left leg, this shoulder move will cause the swing to be OTT.

Another feel to go after is that the right shoulder stays higher coming through the ball; in other words, the shoulders feel more like that turning level to the ground (in reality they aren't). This provides a shallowing effect to the swing, resulting in a swing that's flatter and more "rounded" as opposed to "up and down."

The correct finish will have the right shoulder pointing at the target; if it's trapped behind the left in any way then the swing went unfinished--a stuck swing.

It's important to note that this is a feeling. With a proper setup, backswing, and throughswing, the shoulders will be only slightly open at the moment of impact. Because of the continuity of the swing's motion, the ball will be just departing and then the right shoulder comes through powerfully.

At the top, think of replacing your left shoulder with your right. That will help you turn through while keeping your right shoulder under your head instead of spinning out in front of you.

The Turn Secret You Don't Know | GOLF.com

'MOVE THE RIGHT SHOULDER TOWARD THE BALL'

When I start down from the top, I try to feel as if my right shoulder goes directly to the ball, and this improves my swing path. Chuck also says this makes the body square the face at impact, which is more reliable than trying to do it with a lot of hand action.

Golf Instruction: Jason Dufner: Duf's Moves To Hit It Solid: Golf Digest

If the right shoulder comes down (rocks slightly) as it begins to turn, it brings the upper right arm against the right side and the swing starts down on an inside line.

It is when the shoulders turn, throwing the right shoulder high and out toward the ball, that the golf swing goes outside. Keeping the head back helps the slight rocking action which brings the right shoulder down.

Golf Downswing: Third Magic Move

If the head comes forward at this point, we lose the tension and get ourselves, in a manner of speaking, "over the ball" as we hit it.

If we keep the head back we do in truth stay back of the ball where we should be.

Golf Downswing: Second Magic Move

The head must be set back as the golfer reaches half way down to ensure the golfer attacks the ball on the correct inside swing path.

Head Angle in the Golf Swing Helps Dictate the Plane of the Swing | Suite101.com

 

 

Troubleshooting on the Course

Golf is not a game of perfect; it's a game of a thousand variables. First, you--the imperfect human--is the greatest of all variables. One day you may play great and expect to go out the next day and do the same. Wrong. Golf don't play that. You may think you're doing everything exactly the same, but because the tolerances (+/- standard deviation) in golf are so narrow, it doesn't take much to get the ball hooking, slicing, topping, fatting, shanking, etc. Remember, even the biggest club face is only a few inches across, so that means you, at most, have a few inches of lateral and/or vertical leeway; that's not much room for error.

The other big group of variables include Mother Nature--the golf course conditions. First, is it an unfamiliar course? How difficult is the course design? How far back are you playing? What's the wind like? The temperature? The humidity? Rain? Fog? Terrain? Your lie? The grass length? Distracting shadows? Bright sun? I could go on and on.

Then there's simply probability and chance. Yes, I'm talking about "luck." You can hit a good shot but get a bad bounce or kick. You can hit a tree and have it bounce back into the middle of a fairway, or if you're unlucky it can bounce the other way and end up further in the woods. You might roll into a bunker and end up with a bad lie. Your ball can simply be in a bad position on the fairway, making your next shot tough. No matter how good you are, there are aspects of the outcome that are difficult to control. Chance is in charge here.

So, getting back to you--the group of variables you have the most control over. It's important to be able to analyze what's happening and make reasonable adjustments on the fly, or your day of misery on the course will continue. Sometimes one small adjustment you make will make all the difference. Some days, nothing will work. Happens to the pros too, so don't sweat it.

As so many wise sages of golf have said, what's the ball doing? It really will give you clues about all of the variables and how they're affecting your game that day. For example, if I am suddenly hitting straight pulls low and left, the first thing I can do is run through a fundamentals checklist in my mind, and I should start with the club face--probably too closed at impact relative to the path--and go backward from there. In this case, I may have unconsciously taken too strong of a grip (turn the grip leftward until I see the ball straighten or even start right a little). Maybe my grip pressure is too firm, or I'm gripping harder during the swing. Maybe my stance is too open or too closed. Maybe I'm too tense on the downswing and trying to muscle it. These are all things that may help correct recurring faults.

There is no magic elixir, no sudden epiphany, no all-encompassing panacea that will suddenly turn you from high to low-handicapper on the course. The swing thought or tip that works today may not be the one that works tomorrow. But there does seem to be one universal truth: A return to fundamentals can reverse your fortunes.

So start from the beginning and progress through the checklist. If you're a diligent student of the game, you likely know a lot about your particular tendencies and errors, your strengths and weaknesses (this blog is mostly about my own particular quirks, strengths, and weaknesses).

Begin with alignment, setup, and posture. Next the grip. Remember GASP (grip, aim/alignment, setup/stance, and posture) as an overall starting point. Next overall tension, rhythm, and tempo. Think of each one of those areas; there are so many tidbits of information associated with the fundamentals of each one. That's why golf is so hard; it's a game of managing mistakes, because the mistakes are coming--even when you're playing great. The golfer who makes the fewest mistakes (or the less serious mistakes) is going to score well.

Here's what you should NOT do. Don't rush. Don't have 15 different swing thoughts. If a zoned, blank-minded swing isn't working that day (and unless a flaw becomes suddenly obvious), you might be better off to only focus on two fundamental areas as potential quick fixes: GASP and keeping the head back on the downswing. It's likely that going any further with backswing, downswing, and impact swing thoughts and modifications will only increase your misery on the course. Save that stuff for practice.

Rushing is something I can occasionally do. I'll stop running through my usual preshot routine and stop taking practice strokes. I'll stop thinking about GASP. This is tension creeping in. The best thing to do is RELAX EVEN MORE during these bad moments and remember GASP (what happens before the swing) and for the swing, just keep the head back.

And don't try to make a miracle out of a bad situation, especially when you have no business (i.e., no such talent) doing so. I will soon publish a Trouble Series on how to deal with trouble lies (and they're coming). If you get over the ball and you don't feel right, back off! Go through your checklist on how to deal with the trouble and what you're trying to do.

 

Downswing: Back Leads the Way

An inside-out swing path is definitely a building block of a good golf swing, and I've already mentioned it in previous posts (hitting inside-out). An outside-in swing is a slice or fade move (and no…it doesn't cause but is associated with a slice). You can still hit a slice hitting inside-out, but you only have to learn to close the face to get the ball hooking or going straighter, if you're truly swinging inside-out. Some instructors say you should try to swing inside-square-inside, but I just look at that as another way of saying swing inside-out.

Instead of consciously forcing your arms out to "right field" (a baseball analogy that can help imprint the proper motion), learn instead to keep your back facing the target as long as possible. In other words, let the arms and hands drop while the back is still turned and facing the target.

My feel is that, at the top, my left shoulder is behind the ball and over my right foot (as I look down). As I start my downswing, the left hip bumps targetward and then immediately begins turning back behind me. As Shawn Clement has put it, this lower body motion is about "an inch long" and happens "from behind you." In other words, the rear end moves towards the target first and the upper body stays back, creating a slight tilt away from the target (head back behind the ball). All of this is happening while the back is still turned to the target to get the club coming from the inside.

Finally, remember that the arms stay in front of your chest all the way through the backswing and followthrough and that you should "keep the box" coming down, with the right elbow coming in close to the right hip as the left hip bumps target ward.

So in summary:

1. Turn all the way back (left shoulder over right foot) with the back facing the target
2. Keep the back facing the target during the transition and first part of downswing
3. Bump the left hip slightly targetward (the back still facing the target)
4. Keep the box and allow the right elbow to drop towards the right hip (back still facing the target)
5. Now pivot through and supinate the left arm (don't flip the wrists)

When you're practicing without a ball, you can instantly see whether you swing path is inside-out or outside-in by noticing the blur of the club through the impact zone.

The key is to keep your back facing the target for a split second longer as you make this initial move with your hips. You should feel that your back resists against your lower body. Your upper body stays still, your lower body begins firing, your golf club is automatically dropped into the slot, your golf ball goes straight and far!

[From Golf Tips - Fixing your Slice - Keeping Your Back to Target]

Step 5: Continue turning your hips and shoulders. When the club reaches the top of the swing, your back should be pointed at the target, Suttie says. At that point, Sorenstam notes, you should feel that “your left shoulder is over your right foot while your lower body is stable.”

Step 6: Maintain your back's position. Even as you begin your downswing, “hold your back to the target for as long as you can,” Sorenstam advises.

[From How to Keep Your Back to the Target for the Golf Swing | Golf Tips | Golfsmith]

Imagine leaving your back facing the target as your hips shift toward target. The hip clearing will gradually kick in a moment later as the arms lower to the waist-high area and the majority of weight has arrived on the front foot.

[From Weight Shift in Golf Swing – Herman Williams Golf]

Make sure you make a big shoulder turn on the backswing. Get 75 to 80 percent of your weight to the inside of the right leg at the top of your swing. To get you to feel this, try to turn your left shoulder over your right knee.

On your downswing, try to keep your back to your target as long as you can. As you are doing this, you want to feel like your arms are dropping down vertically from the top of your swing. You should now be in the slot if you perform this as I have mentioned. At this point in your swing, you should simply turn out of the way with your hips.

Jim Suttie: The most important move in golf ... get in the slot

From the top, there should be a slight shift of your weight towards the target first, followed by your arms dropping down below your trailing shoulder before your shoulders begin rotating. This will ensure they are in the proper position and give you the best chance of hitting the ball along your target line. Your dropping arms will force your lead shoulder to rise, in turn causing your trailing shoulder to drop, followed by the natural follow-through motion to complete the swing.

Quick Shoulders – Cure Your Slice | SirShanksAlot.com

Swing thought: Completing a full shoulder turn, keep your back to the target as long as possible during your downswing. Feel your arms leading the swing as they fall at a speed close to a gravity drop. Soon you will begin to feel your downswing path coming much more from the inside with a shallow angle of approach into the ball.

Don't 'Come On Over' | Instruction Feature | PGA.com

One way is to make sure to drop your right elbow into your right side as your first move on the downswing. This move is the best move in golf! Your first move on the downswing is "DOWN", not out. When you get to the top of your back swing your first upper body move should be to let your right elbow drop down into your right side. (left for lefties of course) Feel as though your right elbow is brushing against your shirt as you PULL the club down. This one move cures a whole lot of ills that can ruin your shot.

Fix Your Slice! 7 Free Slice Cures, Slice Help!

Then, as your first move down, shift your weight to the outside of your left foot while keeping your shoulders turned. While still keeping your shoulders turned, feel as if you simply drop your arms and the club down to the ball. You need to feel this move with your arms, not your hands, which only would flatten the clubshaft. Jim says to think of Jack Nicklaus' key of keeping his shirt buttons facing to the right of the ball as you swing through impact.

Full Swing: The Instruction Blog: Golf Digest

 

Els: Keep the Box!

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.

I've referred to this before in other posts (sequenced passivity and golf's triangles), but it also ties closely into other posts and fundamentals that did not mention Els, including the right hip-right elbow relationship and arms falling to start the downswing (as Shawn Clement's "arm-club unit falling down the plane").

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.

How to maximize wrist lag

[Drill for learning the feel of lag pressure.]

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."

Best Drill for maintaining lag

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.

Golf Lag Tips » Focus on pressure points to feel Lag

 

 

Low Trajectory with the Driver

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.

[From Impact Position: Keep Your Head Back | Golf Tips & Lessons]

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.

[From Stop Hitting The Driver Too Low]

Lift your left heel

At address, lift your left heel. Take a few practice swings with your left heel off the ground during the whole swing.

This will prevent your upper body to move forward on the downswing.

If you stop your head from moving forward, your clubhead speed will increase.

[From Impact Position: Keep Your Head Back | Golf Tips & Lessons]

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.

[From Trajectory is too low with my Driver]

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.

[From Causes of a Low Drive in Golf | Golf Tips | Golfsmith]

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.

[From Can't Hit the Driver? | Golf Samurai]

 

Ball Focus: Inside-Left

I wrote about this briefly and anecdotally in another blog post, but I decided it needed a post of its own; it's that important. At least for me. I don't begrudge the many teachers out there who think the ball should appear blurry or the focus should be only on the target. But if you're focused on the target and then launch the ball into the woods 45 yards to the right of the target, focusing on the target does you little good.

We know that lagging the shoulders behind the hips is important to swing inside-out (the so-called X Factor). And we also know that the head should stay behind the ball through impact (or not move past its initial position created at setup for the woods and driver). We know, too, that the ball should start to the right and curve left to REALLY hit a draw (i.e., not a pull hook or straight hook).

I believe that focusing on the inside-edge or inside-left quadrant of the ball throughout the swing will assist in achieving all of these goals. First, it telegraphs to the body that you want to hit the ball on that spot, which encourages an inside-out swing. This means that one MUST keep the back to the target longer to avoid coming over-the-top by hitting the outside-right quadrant of the ball.

Second, focusing on that spot will tell the body to keep the head (and therefore upper body) from swaying ahead of the ball on the downswing. Keeping the head back allows the arms to come through, make impact, and then pull the golfer up to a nice, balanced finish. 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. Understand, however, that keeping the head back can cause the club face to close earlier.

Wherever your eyes are looking, your hands and the clubhead will want to go. If your eyes are looking at the back of the ball at address, then you are probably trying to square the clubface to the back of the ball at impact. Address and impact are two very different alignments in golf. Focus your eyes on the inside quadrant of the ball at address and your hands will strive to reach your new focal point. By making this small change, you will be well on your way to improving your downswing and obtaining much more manageable misses.

[From Classic Swing Golf School]

Other golfers need to focus on the ball. If this is you, try to hit the inside edge of the ball at impact.

A good thought for you might be to keep your back to your target and swing your arms down to the inside. Just try to avoid starting your down with your shoulders and upper body as this will throw the club down on a steep and outside path.

[From Golf World: Better shots through inside path | ScrippsNews]

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.

[From Impact Position: Keep Your Head Back | Golf Tips & Lessons]

[Bobby] Jones was quoted: "Stay behind the ball is a splendid maxim. Should your head ever get ahead of the ball, at any point in the swing, a poor shot will no doubt result."

In Harvey Penick's, The Little Red Book, published in 1992, page 75 is entitled "Stay Behind the Ball" "All great golfers move their head slightly backward before and during impact, but never forward. A golfer must stay behind the ball. I mean set up with your head behind the ball and keep your head behind the ball. If you move your head forward during your downswing or through impact, you will hit a wee, ugly shot, probably a pulled slice."

[From Keep Your Head Back and Behind the Ball Through Impact! Six Top Golf Pros Agree]

Leaning back through impact can cause the face to shut quickly. For a power draw, Brett [Wetterich] releases the club straight down the line with the toe up.

[From Swing sequence: Brett Wetterich: 'hit it from the inside | Golf Digest | Find Articles]

 

Right Leg: Too Straight in the Backswing?

A swing mistake that has caused me grief (left over from my S&T days) is straightening my right leg too much on the backswing. I had an outing once in Panama City, FL where I focused on keeping the right knee bend established at address into the backswing, and I had very good results throughout the round--fewer mishits and even more distance. As with anything in golf, inattention to one part of the swing can allow old habits to return.

Note Palmer's Right Knee and Level Hips

 

I never completely straighten it now, but I occasionally (unconsciously) do it enough that it is changing the angle of my pelvis, which tilts the body left and causes a slight, unintentional reverse weight shift to the left. This requires a compensation on the way down which can lead to toe shots and other mishits. Obviously, straightening the right leg is desirable in S&T but not in a conventional swing.

To fight this, I like to feel like I'm sitting down (into my right hip) when I turn (see Paul Wilson's video below); in a way, it feels like I'm bending the knee more, when I'm actually just maintaining very close to the same bend I had at address (because I've been used to straightening it excessively). When performed correctly, the right hip moves straight back (not up or to the right) and feels very loaded and the pelvis feels very level--just turning, not tilting. The lower body feels very coiled, ready to unwind in its own flat plane, and capable of producing tremendous torque once you let it go. You will find no end of material on the internet that addresses this subject: keeping the bend in that right knee all the way through is important.

Properly executed, you can feel an unmanufactured, correct weight shift forward into the ball, where the weight goes from inside the right foot, first into the left big toe, and then around the outside of the left foot and into the left heel, just as many great golf instructors (like Hank Haney and David Leadbetter) teach.

This is one of those areas of golf instruction where there is debate among reputable teachers and professionals; new, popular swing methods require a straight or straighter right leg on the backswing. Examples of old golfing experts like Bobby Jones completely straightening the right leg on the backswing are used as proof for the validity of straightening the right leg. However, watching the video of Jones from behind, you'll notice that he regains the original address flex of his right leg during the downswing, well before impact. Many amateurs like me fail to execute this compensation, and instead, we straighten the left leg too much coming down to level the pelvis and end up catching the ball fat and thin; in essence, we're unitentionally "standing up" at impact. One avoids having to regain the right knee flex of the address position if one simply keeps the original bend--or close to it--in the right knee into the backswing; it is eliminating the need for a compensation.

There are, of course, a few words of caution. First, be wary of swaying. The right hip can feel loaded but still exhibit a sway, where the right hip moves rightward (away from the target) of its address position; if the right hip sways, the left shoulder will often tip towards the target. The right hip should move backwards while staying close to the same level during the backswing, never towards, over, or outside the right foot. The correct address position should form a "reverse K," meaning the right leg should be slanted away from the target at an angle that makes the entire address position of the body look like an inverse K.

A simple check: After address, place the club down the middle of your chest mimicking the spine without moving. If you are in the proper Reverse K position, the handle of the club will touch the inside of your left thigh. The position of the sternum should be behind the pelvis at address and all points during a standard full swing.

The right leg should really never move from this angle from the front-on view during the backswing; the right hip moves back ONLY (not up, down, or sideways). From the golfer's perspective, just focus on keeping the right hip inside the instep of the right foot at all times. The right leg braces against a firm left side, as Shawn Clement teaches. Your right leg, from your perspective looking down, should be angled outward to the right or away from the target--it shouldn't lose that angle while the right knee stays bent in the backswing.

Next, watch out for the tendency of the head to drop too much. The head SHOULD drop some on the backswing when correctly loading into the right leg; according to Jim McClean (video below), 70% of tour players drop their heads in the backswing some. Some professionals have so much lag that they drop even more on the downswing. Too much of a drop can happen if you're overzealous with focusing on keeping the bend of the right knee. You may unintentionally bend it more and drop the upper body too much into the right hip. This squat feeling definitely loads for power and torque but increases the chances of hitting fat behind the ball without enough compensatory action in the downswing. Be especially careful when hitting the driver; it's better to keep a very steady and somewhat level head when using longer clubs. Will the head move? Yes. But steady is better with the driver for most amateurs. Just be wary of going to far; anything in golf can be taken too far.

If you rotate properly into your right hip, your hips should remain level, allowing you to make a downswing that is on plane, and compresses the golf ball.If you’re like me, you may slide off the ball during the takeaway, then your right hip gets higher than your left at the top of your swing, causing you to come up, and back out of the shot to even make contact with the ball. If you hit thin shots, off the toe, you may be making this mistake.

[From Correct Hip Movement In The Golf Swing]

Although a full shoulder turn is vital to a powerful golf swing, be sure not to compromise one key fundamental: right knee flex (for right-handed golfers).The role of the right knee in the backswing is very simple, but incredibly important. The importance of the flex in the right knee is undeniable. The flex in the right knee helps keep the hips more level in the backswing. If the right knee straightens, it pushes the right hip up and consequently the left hip down resulting in too much left-hip tilt in the backswing.***Another key reason to keep the right knee flexed is how it is used in your transition into your downswing. Your right knee is a key source of driving power of your lower body in the downswing. It's very difficult to drive off a straightened right leg in the transition. Therefore, the upper body tends to dominate the downswing resulting in poor swing plane and loss of power.

[From Looking for a way to make your golf swing more repeatable? Remember knee flex]

There are many important facets to a good golf swing, but maintaining the bend in the right knee is one that simply can’t be overlooked. When a student comes to me with a common complaint (slicing, poor ballstriking or a general lack of consistency), I always take a close look at his or her body angles, and make certain that their posture and knee position are constant throughout the swing.

[From Golf Tips - Maintain The Bend]

Here is another great swing thought - and one that is inter-related with that idea of turning the Right Pocket Back. Maintaining a level belt line as you turn your shoulders and upper body allows your weight to go fully on o the right heel, which gives you more time to fully wind and unwind your swing for maximum clubhead speed.There's nothing worse than seeing a golfer with a short, quick swing which chops down on the ball. And the last thing you want is a tilted belt line, like this above, where the right hip/right pocket is very high and the weight hangs on the left side.

[From What the pros do - Robert Baker]

Other tips to increase power in your golf swing: Flex the back knee during the backswing: Keeping your back knee flexed during the backswing does two things. First, it restricts your hip turn so you can coil your upper body (the upper body continues to turn against your hips), this builds energy in the backswing. Next, it allows you to drive your weight off your back foot during the down swing so you can release the club head through the impact area.

[From Golf tip: Remember, in your backswing, width equals power - GolfInstruction.com]

If you’ve been struggling with consistency, and you find yourself hitting thin, fat, and even topped golf shots, I want you to pay attention to what your right knee is doing in your backswing.Many times a golfer will either straighten the right knee in the backswing, or let it move to the side (away from the target), which results in a sway off the ball. This may seem like a minor issued in your swing, but let me tell you from firsthand experience, it WILL cause many faults in your swing unless you fix it right now!

The Role Of The Right Knee In Your Backswing

If and when the right knee flex is lost, as is the case with so many amateur swings, weight is thrown from the right side back to the left (reverse pivot). That’s a big no-no. Second, straightening the knee moves the backswing plane to the inside, which can lead to all kinds of downswing misery. Third, losing the right knee flex gives your lower body too much room to turn, in addition to allowing it to sway away from the ball on the backswing. As a result, you lose all of your coil. Potential energy is nil, and all you’re left with power-wise is what you can generate by moving your arms as fast as you can back down to the ball. It’s an unleveraged motion that’s both weak and inconsistent and certainly no part of a successful swing.As far as maintaining flex, I advise my students to preset a solid, bent right knee. This preset goes beyond simply flexing the knee and holding it there. At address, and without lifting your right foot, bend in your right knee slightly, like you’re trying to point your kneecap at the golf ball. It’s just a slight kick in to the right.

The Key Ingredient | GolfTipsMag.com

All-time golf great Jack Nicklaus believes a player’s knee action is important to a proper backswing. As you take the club back the front knee should move forward and to the right (for a right-handed player) to allow your hips to rotate properly. At the same time, the back knee should remain stiff to brace the right leg and prevent your body from sliding to the right. When your back leg remains firm during the backswing, "the body is coiling like a spring around the knee," Nicklaus says.Tiger Woods says if you slide your right hip outside of your right foot "you’ve cut your power by about 50 percent." Woods focuses on keeping his weight over the inside of his right foot during his backswing while keeping the angle of his right leg steady.

Coiling In the Backswing | Golfsmith

The key to achieving this effortless backswing is keeping the spine angle you establish at address a constant. The spine angle and right-knee bend are closely related, and it’s necessary to maintain both angles for a solid golf swing.

Maintain The Bend | GolfTipsMag.com

The way you will know that you start the backswing properly in the lower body is that there will be tension in between your right thigh and right hip flexor.

Golf Lessons 101: Knee Action Basics | Golf Lessons 101

Recently, I was working with a student (we will call him Allen) on this very move and I noticed that his rear leg was straightening in his backswing. I have seen this before in golfers and this error can cause a number of swing errors like reverse pivoting, or can cause you to top the ball or hit it thin. Often I will try to create a swing error with my own body to help me to feel what the student is feeling which allows me to explain why a particular problem is occurring. As I made a backswing and straightened my right leg, as my student did, I noticed that I had no way of pushing off my back side to move my hips through. Allen had no way of rotating his left hip backwards because he couldn’t push-off his right side.

The Right Knee and my Upcoming Article | Guru's Golf Blog

Most players never load their butt muscles during the swing properly. In fact, many golfers straighten or lock the right knee completely before they even finish their backswing. If you straighten up during this phase, it causes an "over the top" move so common to amateurs and saps all the power from the trunk or core muscles. Ideally, you should maintain a slight knee flex at the top of your golf swing or think of maintaining the same knee flex that you started with at the address posture. This should feel like a semi squat.

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