Toe-to-Heel Weight Distribution

Proper Weight Distribution

Weight distribution in the address stance involves not only inter-foot distribution (i.e., weight distributed between the right and left foot) but also intra-foot distribution (i.e., vertical weight distribution within each foot); this post will discuss how the weight should settle within each foot vertically, from heel to toe, to create a balanced, stable stance during the setup capable of eliminating many potential downstream errors. Jack Nicklaus is correct: Most golf swing errors (90% or more) occur during the setup (i.e., GASP - grip; alignment/aim; stance/setup; posture/position); golfers should spend more time on GASP and takeaway than they spend on anything else because all that follows is a consequence of a good setup.

A quick Google search illustrates the most common bit of advice from various golf authorities regarding this subject: Most seem to advise the student to position more of their weight in the balls of the feet. For the anatomically challenged, the ball is the fleshy, firm part on the bottom of each foot located below the toes and just above the arch. The bottom of a normal foot contacts the ground primarily in three general areas: the heel; the toes, and the ball; the inside arch, in a normal, standing anatomy, is raised above the ground between the heel and ball of the foot, with the toe pads lightly touching the ground. (Actually the outsole of the foot also contacts the ground, but you should NOT feel that--especially in your golf setup.)

The theory behind the advocacy for positioning weight in the balls of the feet is always explained in terms of other sports; baseball, tennis, and basketball require ready positions that call for more weight situated in the balls of the feet to facilitate reactionary, springlike movement forwards, backwards, or to the sides. The obvious problem, of course, is that golf doesn't require any such sudden "reactions" from its "ready" position, so the reasoning is weak.

Then, of course, are the problems that can arise when skewing weight into the balls of the feet (and thus engaging the toes). As your weight shifts more towards your toes and away from your heels, the toes will begin absorbing body weight and you will notice that your upper body and arms tip excessively toward the ball, creating an unbalanced stance, and so the hosel of your club head will inch ever closer to the ball, introducing an increased risk of shanking. The address shaft angle will steepen, and you are more prone to be steep coming back down. If you go too far, you may unconsciously attempt to regain balance by shifting towards the heels during the downswing, which can move the club head across the line, cause early extension (loss of posture), and an increased chance of hitting pulls and slices. You can also tip further forward if you lose your balance; again, you'll see shanks and fat shots. None other than golf great Tom Watson advocates for this "athletic setup" with weight in the balls of the feet, but I wonder if he doesn't just mean "weight away from the heels." Hank Haney also states emphatically that more weight shoiuld be in the balls of the feet, not the heels. Jim Flick, the coach who helped Nicklaus in his later years, advocated for weight in the balls of feet, while his famous student, Jack, did not (see below). I had a recent local golf lesson from a PGA teaching professional who actually told me to shift more weight into my toes without any explanation!

There are a few who seem to advocate shifting more weight into the heels and with seemingly little in the balls of the feet, but this can cause the opposite problems as described with the "balls of the feet" crowd: Hooks, pushes, toe strikes, thin shots, and an unconscious downswing move that shifts weight towards the toes in an attempt to regain balance, or if unsuccesful, falling backwards. One particular "brand" of instruction in this cohort advocates "balancing on the ankles," though it's possible they actually mean being balanced between the heels and balls of the feet; it's hard to know because they never describe what "ankle balance" is. Too much weight in the heels produces an extremely flat shaft angle and a "sit down" look in the golfer at address, with a very erect posture.

The next largest (and most prestigious) group of golf gurus and professionals unambiguously advises amateur golfers to balance their weight evenly between the heel and ball of each foot. Shawn Clement uniquely describes such weight distribution by asking the student to imagine that the arch of each foot is a "suction cup" gripping the ground. And since we've already established that a healthy arch doesn't really touch the ground, Shawn is actually describing an equal distribution of weight between the heel and ball of each foot. None other than the great Jack Nicklaus advises golfers to distribute their weight this way--evenly between the ball and heel--in his great book, Golf My Way. When utilizing such a stance, you will easily be able to raise your toes very slightly off of the floor of your shoes and leave them that way throughout your swing, because the toes should have no weight on them. Other notable proponents of this advice include Ben Hogan, Jim McClean, Sean Foley, and Nick Bradley.

Japanese Geta Sandles

I believe this last group--Nicklaus's group--has it right: The best way to address the ball is to vertically distribute your weight in each foot evenly between the ball and heel. To find this position if you have address balance problems, you will need to shift away from your tendency; if you tend to concentrate weight in the balls of your feet (probably most golfers because of what traditional golf instruction has preached for years), you will need to rock back away from your toes at address until you feel your heels engage and your toes disengage. You should imagine you're wearing traditional Japanese Geta wooden sandles. Some of these sandles have raised wooden extensions that are roughly located at the ball and heel of each foot; they approximate how you should feel--both the heel and ball of the foot carrying an equal amount of weight. If you've been a toe-leaner, you're going to feel way back on your heels; and if you've been a heel-leaner (less likely and less problematic), you'll feel the ball of your foot engage more.

Other things you may notice when redistributing your address weight in this manner include a taller feeling posture with arms that hang freer (you've created more space for your arms), lower hands that feel more inside your eye line, and a flatter club shaft while at address. You will need to definitely unlock and protrude your glutes with a straight back to remain balanced. Your toes will feel ever so slightly raised off the floor of your shoes. Your quads will disengage and your glutes will engage more. It's easier to produce greater downswing speed by twisting the lower body (knees and hips) forward (swinging more "from the ground-up") when starting down from this balanced heel-to-ball weight distribution.

A drill for ensuring you achieve this position (or at least verifying that you're setup correctly) is to get into your address posture and then hang an iron from under one of your armpits using two fingers, with the club head hanging down. The shaft should hang straight down and pass through your knees and point at the ball of your foot (your armpits are over the balls of your feet). At the same time, you can utilize this drill to ensure your feet are shoulder-width apart (as they should be at a minimum for all fall swings, regardless of club length); in this case, the club shaft will hang down inside the heel. If you're doing video analysis, you can use vertical lines to check these positions as well.

The only times you should favor the heels or toes at address is when you face uneven lies. In the case where the ball is below your feet, shift back into your heels by bending your knees more and try to stay that way through impact. When the ball is above your feet, shift into your toes by straightening your knees more and maintain that feel through impact. You'll hit better shots from those trouble lies when remembering to make these adjustments.

Finally, this method of weight distribution isn't only helpful in the full swing. You can use it to good effect in the short game (chips and pitches) and putting, as well. Try putting with weight concentrated towards your toes in your stance; you will notice that it's very easy to move the lower body unintentionally, while it's easy to keep the lower body stable with the weight balanced between the heels and balls of the feet.

Most traditional golf instruction tells us that your weight should be over the balls of your feet. You’ll read this in books and magazines, and hear it from teachers and TV golf pundits all the time. Not only is this instruction dead wrong, you’ll lose power and consistency this way, but it’s also potentially harmful to your body.

Golf Swing 102c. Setup: The Perfect Golf Weight Distribution and Balance

Your weight should be 50-50 on your left and right legs and between the balls of your feet (those cushioned pads just below your toes) and your heels. I'm surprised how many people think their weight should be supported by their toes. Starting with your weight too far forward is one of the worst mistakes you can make. It throws off all of the critical angles—spine, legs, hips, shoulders and head. That creates a domino effect, resulting in a weak swing and fat shots.

Jim McLean: Find Your Balance

Your weight should be distributed between the balls and heels of your feet and equally distributed between the two. You should be able to tap your heels and wiggle your toes. At this point you have counter balanced your weight. You should be able to draw a vertical line from the back of your shoulders through your knees to the balls of your feet. Now you are in balance.

Set Up for Success

Good footwork, too often overlooked, promotes balance, power, and consistency. Good footwork starts with balance at address. From the beginning of the swing, the weight moves from the middle of the feet back to the heels. When you finish the swing, your weight will finish on your front foot heel. The weight should NEVER be on your toes.

Learn to Squash the Ball at Impact

When hitting shots, you want to make sure that your weight is centered on your arch. Not the balls or heel of your feet. If your weight is on the balls of your feet (Because you're too far from the ball) as you address the ball, your hips will be prohibited. The result is that you'll straighten yourself up in your downswing.

How good is your balance??

The ball tends to be lined up off the heel [when the weight is on your toes] and can lead to pulls and hosel rockets. To set up properly you want to ensure you have the weight in the middle of your feet. I often like to bounce slightly up and down to ensure I have achieved this position. As I go through my swing I am cognizant of trying to keep my weight over my feet and not let it sneak out over my toes or lean back on my heels at impact.

Set up for Success

While developing a sound foundation in your golf swing, focus on where your weight distribution is located. Ideally, you would like the weight evenly distributed between the balls of the feet and heels at address. If you reach too far to get to the ball, your weight will go too much on the toes. If you remain upright and bend your knees with too much flex, your weight has a tendency to go back on the heels.

Golfers need to feel it in the feet

A golfer should settle into the arches of the feet and allow them to compress. This will activate the feelings in the ball and heel of the feet. They will really come alive! This notion that a golfer sets up or balances on the balls of the feet is nonsense! Sure, there is weight on the balls of the feet, but it is a result of compressing the arches. Tiger has this mastered this in recent months. Prior to that he was back on his heels. This one, simple adjustment has paid huge dividends for Woods.

Tiger Woods Golf Swing with Sean Foley

So I just gave it a try, basically going for the feeling that my armpits were over the balls of my feet, and it instantly felt better - more balanced, more relaxed. Then a number of things started falling into place: I actually felt torque between my upper and lower body; I stopped swaying; my tendency to "lift up" at impact disappeared (which I realize now was what my body had to do to keep from falling over forward because of how far I was bent over); and I stopped yanking the club way inside on the backswing and lifting it to the top, which I've always done.

Eureka!!! The setup change that has me BOMBING it - Golf Rewound

Optimally, a golfer's weight should be evenly distributed between the heels of the feet and the balls of the feet, and he should be able to lift up the back of his heels slightly (or lift up his toes) without becoming unbalanced if his body weight is evenly distributed over the feet.

Address setup

What happens when weight distribution is off? The first thing you may experience is a swing that feels out of sync or off balanced. More specifically, if your weight is too focused over your toes, you will lose the whip power of rotation in your swing. You are instead using the "shot put" method with your body. This creates a dramatic loss of power.

Fix Your Golf Swing: Solution 1: Correct Weight Distribution

In ‘five lessons’ he says “Your weight should be a bit more on the heels than on the balls of the your feet, so that, if you wanted to, you would be able to lift your toes inside your shoes.” When you look at him setup from down the line it appears as though that’s where he has his weight distributed. It certainly doesn’t look like it’s on the balls of his feet.

Ben Hogan Feet Placement And Positioning

Control the Flinch

A lot of people have the yips when they putt. But I don't think people realize that they can have the yips (or a flinch) with any golf shot, including full swings. I've been a victim of this, and you must really pay attention to yourself to catch it, because it's very subtle and insidious. It often occurs right at impact or anticipation of impact.

I call this full swing yipping phenomenon "the flinch." Yips usually involve just the hands and small muscles in the forearms, but the flinch can involve muscles in your entire body. I've flinched with my left shoulder. I even flinch with my legs--even to the point of lifting with my legs and spinning out my front foot, and part of me believes that this is left over from my tennis days. In reality, it's just tension that tries to release itself at the ball, and a flinch swing is really the opposite of a smooth swing. The tension can be due to a variety of reasons, including the effect that the golf course's hazards and obstacles have on the psyche (e.g., a long forced carry over a lake, etc.).

In a smooth swing, the small muscles of the hands and forearms don't activate. This means there's no conscious or unconscious attempt to add power to the shot, rotate the forearms, flip the wrists, or any number of other handsy movements. But a smooth swing also means a smooth lower body. The left foot doesn't spin open from its address position; the legs don't try to unconsciously add lift to the shot. It's a smooth, gradually accelerating motion of the lower body that should move passive arms.

There are probably other movements I'm missing. Heck, for all I know I'm probably gritting my teeth, flaring my nostrils, and raising my eyebrows at impact. All are signs of tension and denote a high potential for flinching at the ball and causing crazy mishits.

 

Ironically, a slower, smoother, rotational swing imparts far more energy to the ball than a faster yip swing that uses small muscles and causes mishits. It's like a lot of things in golf--the opposite prevails. The mind must learn that a smooth swing without small, jerky movements of the twitch muscles will give the ball it's best distance and direction.

I believe that part of beating these flinches is to first realize that you're doing it, and this requires an ability to be aware of yourself and body through the swing. If you mishit a shot, ask yourself immediately if you flinched or not. Chances are you probably did. When addressing the ball, remind yourself to relax and not flinch--especially in situations where you fear hitting the ball short or too far wide and into a hazard. Try different grip pressures, grip more in the palm with the left hand (and more in the fingers of the right) or even trusting your setup and not looking at the ball (something like this worked for Hank Haney's driver yips). Thinking of your swing as having perpetual motion (as Shawn Clement teaches) might help reduce flinching at the ball.

She recalls starting to flinch in her swing during her junior year of college, right after coming off of the U.S. Women’s Open. Following that tournament, she first noticed she was flinching through impact, better known to amateur golfers as the ‘yips.’ Instead of taking a step back and figuring out what was causing the flinch, she continued to play through it. She assumed it would solve itself over time. The flinch progressively got worse. It became mentally draining for Henderson, but she refused to stop competing.

Selanee Henderson | Golf Channel

In the latest Golf Illustrated was a good article called Quick Fix for the Yips by Stephen Aumock as he states that this word can cause a chill to go down your spine if they feel this is happening to their putting stoke. As the article states that most golfers don’t realize they have it and if they do they seem helpless in ways to fix it.

I know my son who is a great golfer has had this problem and he has tried everything from going to the long putter and tried different methods to help him to relax. This author attempts to give some suggestion on how to overcome this affliction. He mentions the Yips can happen in all sports, from baseball to basketball so it isn’t all in golf.

Yips and What it Means - Golf

Many amateur golfers flinch at the ball at impact. They have a very free-flowing practice swing, but when they get up over the ball their swing looks completely different. I called this a hit impulse. The hit impulse is the moment you put a ball in front of you, you hit at the ball instead of take a full swing through the ball. A good friend of mine used to call this chopping wood. I don’t think I would consider a hit impulse full-blown yips with your swing, but is a very close cousin.

What are The Golf Swing Yips?

Small spasms or twitching of the muscles in the arms at impact causes an unpredictable clubhead movement, just as you see with the putting yips. When you suffer from the yips, the way your brain and muscles controlling your hands communicates is disrupted somehow, causing you to unintentionally move the club in anticipation of contact. As you would with the putting yips, you need to change the way you perceive the point of impact either mentally or physically.

Try different gripping styles with or without overlapping your fingers and see if this helps. Start by aligning your fingers onto the grip or squeezing the grip with your palms and then wrap your fingers around it for support. This can change the way your brain interprets the signals it receives from your hands. The simplest way to cure the driving yips is to change your preshot routine trigger. For example, one golf pro says that her trigger is to touch her golf bag and it mentally prepares her to swing. Try changing your key thoughts as you swing. These are thoughts you use to improve your swing; such as, keep your head down or make a full follow through. Most people watch the ball as they make contact and think: keep your eyes on the ball. One thing you could do is to start staring at your nose instead of the ball. This requires that you trust the way you set up to the ball and your swing. The benefit to this is that it reduces your anxiety or simply changes the way your brain interprets the swing in hopes to prevent the yips.

Golf Medic | Driver Yips

The technical name for the yips is focal dystonia—and changing where you focus your eyes can help solve the problem. Hansson had him hit balls with his eyes closed so he could focus on a different feel in his release.

How I see it | Hank Haney: Golf Digest

However, Hank eventually developed the bane for his demons. He changed his grip, incorporated a bizarre pre-shot waggle and avoided looking at the ball. You read correctly, he found the ball to be distraction to his swing!

Grouchy Golf Blog

 

 

Add Speed at the Bottom

"Swing faster for more distance." This is a refrain that we've heard from many instructors; Hank Haney recently told Joe Namath (The Haney Project) to speed it up and swing "OUTSIDE" himself. He was pointing out to Namath that he was capable of far more club head speed than he was demonstrating. I've had my beginning swing speed measured at about 84 mph on average, and I believe that's on par with many golfers at my level of play. With my driver, I can hit it about 210 on average, which isn't really great.

Physics backs the notion of velocity adding much craved distance. For every extra mph, about 2 yards in distance is added. But how to add speed the right way?

We see players like Ernie Els swinging in apparently slow motion but with clubhead speeds well in excess of 120 mph. How the heck do guys like Els and Couples, with their languid, lazy looking rhythms, manage to hit the ball so far? These guys take 9-irons and hit them 150 yards. How do they swing slow and lazy but obviously still generate club head speed?

When I think of swinging fast, the first thing my subconscious brain tries to do is throw the club from the top really fast. And this causes mishits, OTT moves, slices, and no end of other errors, because as Namath said to Haney: "I'm trying to swing WITHIN myself." Haney was trying to relate to Namath that his swing was too slow where it counts--down in the impact area at the bottom.

In other words, a violent transition and adding speed too early will cause errors and the swing will ironically slow down before it gets to the ball. We need to start down SLOWLY and gradually add speed in the right place.

Shawn Clement had a beautiful swing analogy for speed. When pushing a child on a swing and satiating the child's desire to go higher and faster, the adult must ASSIST MOMENTUM where it makes sense--AT THE BOTTOM! The adult gives the child a gentle but firm extra shove at the bottom to increase the speed. When thought of this way, it's easy to see why many of us amateur golfers screw up the speed part and lose distance or accuracy or both. Applied the analogy above, we might kill the child with this way of thinking.

You can swing "within yourself" (with an Ernie Els-like rhythm) and still get the club head moving through impact 20 mph faster than you do now. You'll be more likely to keep some accuracy while adding distance. Start down slowly and gradually add speed at the bottom. This feels very subtle, gradual, and dynamic. Use counting rhythmic meters at a moderate tempo to help pace your swing. Just think of Clement's swing analogy and practice it that way. This also will give you two speeds to swing every club: your "normal" pace, where you get moderate distance and your "boosted" pace, where you get extra the distance.

You must also ensure that you're creating a wide swing arc going back and extending fully going through; really concentrate on straightening the right arm as the torso continues turning left. (Updated 1 Mar 15)

Simple: speed. Adding extra miles per hour to your swing is the only thing that's going to allow you to hit each of your irons farther. Most amateurs think of speed as something they generate from the top, but that's a recipe for almost every bad shot you can imagine. The secret is to maximize the fastest part of your swing, and that comes after you strike the ball.

How to Add Juice to Your Irons | GOLF.com

 

Grip: The Ultimate Fundamental

How many times have we all heard it? "A good swing starts with a good grip." There have been any number of such aphorisms uttered about the grip in golf. It has been repeated so much that we all sort of get sick of hearing it. There's a reason it's repeated so often, however. Because it's true. The grip is the ultimate fundamental in golf. Some pros teach the acronym GASP (grip--aim/alignment--setup/stance--posture) as the bedrock fundamentals around which we should build our swings.

The Grip chapter is the first one in most golf books and the first one we usually ignore. We ignore it because we think we know it already. But I can tell you from experience, the grip deserves thorough and CONTINUOUS study. It really can affect how your backswing and downswing come off. It can, when performed correctly, AUTOMATICALLY create other often touted fundamentals in your swing, such as a flat left wrist and lag. With a neutral-ish to strong grip, it's easier to shape the ball flight or hit it straight.

I'm not talking about Vardon versus Overlap or strong versus weak, necessarily. I'm talking, simply, about how you hold the club--how you put your hands and fingers on it. You would think that wouldn't be so important, but it is!! When you put your hands on correctly, you'll have a good grip--one that's neither too strong nor too weak. You'll have the Goldilocks grip: it will be JUST right.

The first thing I recommend that you do is pick up a copy of Hogan's book, Five Lessons. Read the Grip chapter. Then read it again. Study it until you could teach it yourself. Actually work on the grip as you read--try out what's being illustrated. Then look around at other reputable golf instructors--such as Hank Haney, Shawn Clement, and Herman Williams--and see the similarities to Hogan's teachings. Fundamentals are fundamentals for a reason. Yes, I know that pros use all sorts of grips and play well, but again--YOU'RE NOT A PRO. You'll have better results going with a good, fundamental grip and building a swing around it.

Hogan's LH grip.

If you're anything like me, it might be a year or so after picking up a club before you go back and give the grip serious attention. And when you do (if you're like me), you'll discover that your grip was TOO STRONG. A grip that's too strong may be better than weak, but it's still a compensating grip that can change your swing for the worse.

Having said that, it's important to note that Hogan was fighting a hook and used a weaker grip. Most pro golfers today advocate for and use a stronger grip. Tom Watson stated that you should use as strong a grip as you can without hooking the ball. Shawn Clement advocates for a stronger grip. There aren't just three grips--weak, neutral, and strong. There isn't a switch on your hands that causes you to neatly segue from one to the other. Instead, grips occupy a spectrum in terms of strength: They blend from one to the other and you must find which position suits you and your swing.

You may also discover that your "Vs" and knuckles all seemed right but that you still WERE NOT gripping the club correctly. Where you have the club sitting in the palm and fingers (different for each hand) is SO IMPORTANT.

• For the left hand (always grip with this hand first), have the club sit diagonally across the open left hand, such that the grip rests on the first phalange of the index finger and the heel pad rests on the end of the grip. Close the hand around the grip. The club should feel both in the palm slightly and in the fingers slightly. Checkpoints: Thumb/index finger are close together. Pressure in bottom 3 fingers. V points to the right. You can see two to three knuckles. The thumb is right-center of the shaft and it's a "short" thumb (the tip of the thumb is just past the index finger). If you were to loosen all fingers except for the index finger, the grip would balance perfectly against the heel pad and first phalange of the index finger (as illustrated in Hogan's book). The club shaft and club head leading edge should feel like a straight line extension of the left arm, with the club face corresponding to the back of the left hand.

• 
  For the right hand, place the middle two fingers on the club. As described by Hogan, place the club along the first phalanges of these two fingers. DO NOT place the club along the base knuckles of these fingers (i.e., more towards the palm). The right hand grip should feel far more in the fingers than the left hand grip, which help eliminate excessive right hand action that can cause flipping or excessive delofting of the club. Slide the hand down over the left and place the left thumb into the life line of the right hand. Form either a Vardon or interlocking grip with the right pinky. Checkpoints: Thumb/index finger are close together, appearing pincer-like. Pressure is only in the two middle fingers and on top of the left thumb (not in the palm of base knuckle). The V points to the right of the chin or right of the neck. The left thumb is covered. The right thumb is left-center of the shaft.
• For both grips, adjust the grip pressure by ensuring it's not too tight or too loose. A light grip pressure that can keep the club from moving in the hands is all that's needed. A looser grip will relax the arms and allow the generation of more speed and increased capacity to close the club coming through.

A more NEUTRAL grip will feel really weak if you're used to a strong grip and vice versa; but trust me...you need to learn to adjust if you want to get better.

I think that the right hand grip should preferably be neutral (and the right wrist should be *level and *vertical) - irrespective of the strength of the left hand grip. The idea of the palms facing each other across the grip should only apply to a dual neutral grip - where both the left hand grip is neutral (or weak) and the right hand grip is neutral.

Grip

So get your grip right, and stick to it. If you can't play golf with an orthodox grip, it's your swing that needs attention . . . not your grip. You can't cure a bad swing with an equally bad grip...

Note that when the arm and hand is correctly placed on the shaft the possibility of independent wrist movement (breaking or rolling of the wrist through the ball) is eliminated. The hand and arm is firm, and will remain so through the stroke...

Hence grips in which the right hand is either on top of, or under the shaft have no logical basis whatsoever! Thus, the right hand is placed on the shaft so that the palm squarely faces the target. this is the sole guiding principle for the placement of the right hand in the grip.

Golf Lessons - Lesson 2 from Golf Today

Humans definitely don’t walk around with the right palm facing up, but they will sure put it on a golf club that way if left unsupervised.

Golf Grip: How to Grip a Golf Club – Herman Williams Golf Instruction

 

Find and Keep Your Plane

Ben Hogan championed the visual analogy of what a fundamental swing plane should look like. In his famous Five Lessons book, Hogan depicted the swing plane as an imaginary, angled plane of glass extending up from the target line and sitting on his shoulders. According to Hogan, the golfer should never let the left arm pass through that plane of glass throughout the entire swing, and that plane represents the ARM plane (not the club plane). The golf swing is a series of concentric circles, and there are multiple planes--club, arm, hands, eyes, shoulder, hips, knees, etc. We will focus on the club plane in this post.

Since Hogan gave us this wisdom, many golfing gurus and instructors adapted and modified his teachings on the swing plane; some did a good job and others not so good. Hank Haney states that the swing actually travels through several planes but that they are always parallel to the original plane, and this is a better description of what Hogan was trying to convey. I've written previously on the discussion of one-plane versus two-plane swings. This post is not about that or about the countless ways that the swing plane has been taught. Quite simply, this is about what helped me develop the feel of a consistent swing plane--one that I can repeat over and over again, regardless of which club I'm using. The swing plane is important; it allows one to hit the ball in powerful, repeatable, balanced manner with the ball arriving closer to its intended target.

The best way to experience a constant swing plane is to think of a modern day laser pointer. Actually, there are now training aids you can buy that feature a laser pointer on each end of a shaft. You could make one of these yourself with some electrical tape, two small laser pointers, and an old club or wooden dowell. However, you DON'T need this training aid to understand this timeless description of the swing plane. Martin Hall has used this laser technique and many other training aids (including stationary, angled PVC pipes) to illustrate a consistent swing plane. Most PGA professionals teach some form of this view of swing plane.

Instead of spending a bunch of money, use something you can utilize while on the course--your imagination. Imagine that each end of the club shaft you're using has a laser pointer on it. Forget the club head--think of a laser pointer coming from each end of the shaft itself--from the butt-end (handle) of the club and from the part that attaches to the club head. Yes, I know the club head hits the ball, but you see...you don't need to be exact--down to the milimeter--when it comes to working on your plane. If you're close to keeping parallel lines throughout the swing and close to keeping the radius of your swing always pointing at the line, the swing plane will repeat every time, so don't worry if the laser points an inch or so inside or outside the target line. Just get it close. If it's way outside or inside (especially when your arms are below the waist) then that can be a problem.

Set up in your address position using a neutral grip and good posture fundamentals. Align yourself parallel with the target or aim line; these two lines might be the same or different depending on your desired shot shape, but let's pretend we're going to hit a straight shot with perhaps a touch of draw, so the aim line and target line are the same. Remember that the target or aim line is imagined to be infinite, running forever in both directions.

Begin your takeaway (using a shoulder turn), keeping the club-end laser pointing at the target line for as long as possible (basically the radius of your swing circle). Eventually this will become impossible due to the fact that the shoulders must eventually turn to 90 degrees. At this point, the club will be roughly parallel to the target line and horizontal to the ground.

When you can no longer point the club-end laser down the target line because of the shoulder turn (and because the club shaft is horizontal and parallel to the target line), allow the wrists to hinge to 90 degrees (creating the L-shape between the club shaft and the left arm), such that butt-end laser now points at the target line. This will occur when the hands are just below or at waist level and just outside the right thigh; the left wrist should begin flattening (assuming a neutral grip). No additional wrist hinge is required after this; merely continue turning and raising the arms naturally to keep the laser on line. An important note: Once the arms are above waist level, it's permissible for the laser to point outside the target line, provided it still traces a line parallel to the original target line, but when you're not using a laser it's the feel of matching the target line that's imporant. If the laser points significantly outside the line when the arms are below the waist you'll be too flat and laid off; too inside and you'll be too steep.

As the shoulders continue turning to 90 degrees and the arms raise to the top of the backswing, the butt-end laser continues pointing down at the target line.

At the top of the swing, the butt-end laser may no longer point at (or parallel to) the target line but point directly away from the target, such that the club shaft is parallel to the target line (similar to how the club shaft looked when it was horizontal just below waist level). Likewise, the club-end laser would point at the target.

All that's needed now is to unwind into your downswing and followthrough. The body has a natural intelligence that will seek to retrace the backswing angles into the downswing. Practiced slowly, the lasers should retrace the target line on the downswing and followthrough, creating mirror images of the takeaway and backswing, culminating with a butt-end laser pointed targerward and parallel to the target line.

As with most golf teachings, there are detractors to this line of thought. Some say the exact plane depends on the golfer's physical characteristics, and that's true to some extent--especially above the waist. Bradley Hughes argues against the "pointing always at the target line" paradigm by discussing the variety of "off-plane" backswings among professional golfers whom always arrive at impact "on-plane," using a downswing plane that flattens out, and this is something I posted on earlier when discussing the "reversed loop swing." However, I'm not a professional golfer; anything I can do to make the swing simpler and more repeatable is preferrable. Almost all pros will retrace the club shaft angle closely on the downswing, however, with physical forces creating the deviations seen.

Pointing always at the line with the club shaft may not be a perfect or ideal plane, but it IS a steady, repeatable plane, and remember that the plane need not be exact or perfect. Just close in terms of retracing the target line and keeping as many parallel relationships as possible. Keeping either end of the club shaft pointing always at the target line on both sides of the swing is one way of experiencing a consistent plane, which will definitely help your golf shots if you've been experiencing multiple planes (especially an outside-in loop).

The golfer should move his body and arms in such a way that he can trace a straight plane line (that is along the ball-target line) with his right index finger and clubshaft during the backswing and downswing and early followthrough - when the hands are below waist level. The golfer should also consider the advisability of adopting a backswing style that minimises plane shifts as the hands get above waist level, so that it is easier for the golfer to get his clubshaft back to the correct clubshaft plane in the mid-late downswing when the clubshaft moves below waist level.

How To Hit The Ball Straight

 

Left Wrist: Flipping or Flattening, Facing?

You may find that some of your shots are leaking right and/or arcing really high and falling short. If you're like me, you might be slightly (and unconsciously) flipping your left wrist and/or not leading with your left wrist at impact. It's important to understand what this feels like so that you can self-correct on the course. Flipping the wrist is definitely a high-handicap mistake that takes some work to resolve. Over time I have decreased the amount of wrist flip I had, but it was still there--wreaking havoc.

The incorrect feeling is one where the left hand knuckles DECREASE their distance from the top of the left wrist at impact, creating an angle between the back of the left hand and left forearm. This move is called dorsiflexion. At the same time, the right hand knuckles increase their distance from the right forearm (loss of dorsiflexion); as a matter of fact, the right hand is the culprit in causing the left wrist to break down. Sometimes, this flip starts early in the downswing in the form of casting: the backswing angles in the right elbow and right wrist are lost early. In other words, flipping is where the left knuckles get closer to the left forearm because of an improper backwards flexion of the left wrist and an improper forward flexion of the right wrist. The correct golf impact position has these two reversed--they should flip the other way through impact, if anything!

Flipping is an unconscious move that the mind believes will help square the club face and get the ball airborne. Of course, like many unconscious moves in golf, it results in countless, unintended errors, especially topped shots, fat shots, slices, and shorter, higher ball flights. This "left knuckles bent upward" lifting motion (even slightly) adds excessive loft to the club and effectively shortens the club length at the same time, and it's often associated with its evil cousin--coming into the ball with the side of the hand instead of the back of the hand (a face opening move that causes slice spin).

I posted previously on ways to square the club face, to include a leading with a bowed left wrist position, with the back of the left hand and left wrist aimed in the direction you want to start the ball flight. I have also posted about the "knuckles down" or "revving the motorcycle throttle" release as ways to think of this squaring, flattening action. Some instructors teach using your watch as a drill (i.e., make the watch face the target), but you can have the watch face the target with a flipped wrist. Remember, the goal is a flat or slightly bowed left wrist that faces the target. Ben Hogan said succinctly that he never saw a good golfer who did not have a flat left wrist (to slightly bowed left wrist) at impact; it's simply an absolute fundamental. There are numerous ways this feeling has been taught other than those I've already mentioned, including "thumbing a ride" with the left hand, "making the wrists kiss," leading with the left wrist into impact, going palm down to palm up, and on and on.

MANY reputable golf instructors say that this flattening of the left wrist and supination is not a result of conscious control during the swing but the result of the proper mechanics of what precedes impact. They say that trying to consciously "turn the knuckles of the left hand down" at impact (or other such manipulation) may result in a few good shots, but it's also a conscious manipulation that will result in many bad shots, because we're talking about the fastest part of the swing. It's also true that flipping the wrists is an unconscious manipulation that becomes a habit that must be unlearned. So the real question is how to unlearn the flipping...not how to learn the flattening or bowing.

I believe Hank Haney has the right approach to this problem. Instead of thinking of wrapping the ball inside a release by supinating the left forearm (which requires exquisite timing) to square the club face, simply concentrate on firming or bowing the left wrist at impact (which helps limit or halt the flipping motion) and making the back of the left hand face the intended target line at impact. After that, the release (or supination) will take care of itself. I prefer to think of leading with the left wrist. Shawn Clement states that trying to keep the club head low to the ground through and just past impact (like a chip) will stop the flipping motion and automatically apply a flat left wrist.

The inverse of the flat left wrist is the hinged right wrist, which should be cupped (or hinged backwards) during impact (see keeping the box). Straightening the right wrist happens during the release, when the ball is on its way. All of this is split-second stuff, which is what makes golf so hard. When the right wrist does straighten (and it should), the question is what should the left wrist do in response. The instinctive thing to do is the error--allow the wrist to cup or flip. The proper thing to do is allow the wrist to rotate backward (supinate), such that the "watch faces behind you ." If anything, the left wrist should bow through impact--not flip--becaue of the right wrist bending backswards more when impacting the ball and then the ground!

All this means one can think of proper fundamental simply by focusing on the left wrist or the right wrist, as they are analogous to one another during the golf swing.

You can produce (or purchase) training aids to help instill the correct feeling. A ruler (or similar rigid, flat object) placed under your watch can inform you if you're flipping; now the watch-facing-target-and-then-behind-you drill makes more sense. Michael Breed has uses the hanger drill to teach this feeling. But you can also simply take some practice swings where you're trying it both ways to learn what correct and incorrect feels like. This will help you ingrain the correct feeling and to realize when the incorrect feeling creeps back in.

The back of your left hand, assuming you've got a decent grip, will show you where the clubface is through impact. The common mistake a high-handicapper makes is swinging through the shot with the back of the left hand -- and the clubface -- pointed up. When the side of the hand leads the way like that, you'll hit weak slices.

Get back to square: Golf Digest | Hank Haney

Back to "impact," the more you turn your hand so that the palm is facing away from you, the better you square the clubface. If the palm is facing toward you, you'll leave the clubface open. The feeling you need is one of turning your hand almost to the point of palm upward. That's a hook swing, but not a bad feeling to have if you've been slicing.

7 Deadly Slices: How do you slice? Let us count the ways and find your cure | Golf Digest | Hank Haney

In addition, the left wrist should be flat or bowed through impact. In the April 1956 issue of Golf Digest, Hogan wrote, "I've noticed one thing that all good golfers do and all bad golfers do not. The good ones have their left wrist leading at impact. It seems a small thing, but I've found it to be universally true. At impact the left wrist of a good player is slightly convex, while that of a poor player is generally concave."

This is all easier said than done. Proper supination with a flat or bowed left wrist is an advanced concept and one that it very difficult for the average golfer to learn. The vast majority of golfers instinctively flip their left wrists forward through impact believing that such an action will produce the optimal results: maximum distance and trajectory. Unfortunately, this couldn't be any farther from the truth. As with most things in golf, intuition must be thrown out the window. Instead, think of rotating your left wrist without breaking it.

Grouchy Golf Blog | Supinate The Wrist: The Key to a Solid Swing

Supination is the single most difficult thing to do. As Hogan said, the palm of the left hand must rotate to face up through impact. The left hand must also drive through without breaking down and allowing the right hand to take over.

Tiger's Impact Position: How to Achieve It

 

Set Wrists Earlier: Make the "L" at 9 o'clock

I recently found that I can hit some fairly decent shots with a half swing (i.e., from the 9 o'clock backswing to the 3 o'clock throughswing). I also found that my arms relaxed more on the backswing, because I had to set the wrists EARLIER to get the club in the "L" shape at the 9 o'clock position at chest height. Doing this allowed me to hit my approach wedge MUCH farther and cleaner than my old, full approach wedge swing. This got me asking why.

My tendency has always been to set the wrists late and, sometimes, past 90 degrees, near the top of the swing, and this means the club stays "heavy" well into the backswing, which means it's harder to keep the club on plane (the arms remain more tense as a compensation). Every adjustment to the swing (as Hank Haney says) is "action and reaction": When you make a particular change it can have effects beyond that particular change. In other words, changes to your usual setup or backswing can affect what follows, and vice versa.

In this case, working to set the wrists earlier (at 9 o'clock and at no more than 90 degrees) makes the club lighter going up, because it's balanced when in a vertical position (when the club is straight up and down, its weight on the hands and arms is negated). This makes it easier to keep the club on plane into the backswing and it relieves tension in the arms. And since the body works to make the throughswing a mirror image of the backswing ("L" shape to reversed "L" shape), it helps keep the club on plane coming down and assists with timing and dynamics.

So another benefit is that hitting half shots can be great for reestablishing your rhythm and timing.

Some professionals either set the wrists late, set them beyond 90 degrees, or both. But if you're like me, you're not a pro. You don't have the skills, talent, and timing of a professional golfer. I think any amateur would have more consistent results setting the wrists earlier (no later than the time the hands reach chest height) and only to 90 degrees (the "L" shape).

This line of thinking mirrors the Ernie Els lesson I've posted on earlier about "keeping the box" (another way of looking at the "L" shape). Even though Ernie DEFINITELY sets his wrists early as I'm advocating here (he sets by waist height even with the driver), he was primarily referring to keeping that shape on the downswing--a step critical for power and hitting inside-out. Again, some pros can set the wrists late and keep that box or L-shape coming back down, because they've spent the time honing that skill to maximize distance. I think most of us would do better to copy the backswing motion of Ernie Els, Ian Poulter, or Nick Faldo by setting the wrists early. Most professionals these days set their wrists, at least, by the time their left arm is horizontal to the ground (a mid-backswing set); professionals of bygone eras typically set their wrists late, near the top (a move often associated "float loading" the wrists at the top).

Setting the wrists to 90 degrees earlier doesn't negate a float load feeling in the wrists at the top. You should still let the weight of the club fully cock the wrists at the top to get maximum power.

Like most theories in golf, there are detractors and protractors (i.e., authorities for and against) this line of thinking. Some instructors advocate setting even earlier--right off the ball. You need to try it for yourself to see if it works for you; if you're suddenly hitting the ball better by setting your wrists earlier, who's going to tell you you're wrong for doing it?

My preference is to set the wrists early to 90 degrees when the club is around waist height. The left arm rolls very slightly also (see video below), such that the club is parallel to the target line during the takeaway and the wrists already have their maximum set. Stopping the arms and club at chest height will result in a half swing, which might be all you need for your wedge approaches. From that point onward, any continued movement (from a half swing) is all shoulder movement to the top. The wrists don't need to set or bend any further, as you might see with players like John Daly or Bubba Watson; remember that they're pros--you aren't. Going beyond 90-degrees in a float-loading type of backswing requires impeccable timing and skill to harness the extra power and lag while maintaining consistency.

For the better part of 20 years, ever since the reconstruction of my swing in the mid-1980s, I have focused on this halfway-back position via what's become known as an 'early wrist set'. It's quite simple: I look for my wrists to be fully hinged and the club 'set' up on a good plane by the time my left arm is at horizontal.

...

The beauty of working on this halfway-back position is that all the details of a technically sound swing are encapsulated within it: you have a full wrist hinge, the club is swinging up on plane, and you maintain good body angles. Completing your shoulder turn gets you to the top, whereupon unwinding the body invites the hands and arms into the perfect hitting position.

How to plug in a repeating swing - Nick Faldo

One way I help myself get into a better position is to hinge my wrists early in the backswing. I do it as soon as I take the club back, rather than waiting until I'm nearly at the top of the swing like many golfers do. The early hinge gives me a nice feeling that the clubshaft is pointing where it should at the top. It's one less thing to worry about when I have to put it in the fairway.

Ian Poulter: Steal My Feel: Golf Digest

 

Pivot: Think Inside of the Right Foot

A golfer's hips and upper body should mostly pivot in-place, staying fairly centered with no lateral movement. If you're like me, you've struggled with a sway that moves the swing plane's low point all over the place, making it difficult to get back to the ball consistently and apply power efficiently and effortlessly. The body can sway moving right, but it can, unfortunately, sway too far left on the downswing--getting too far ahead of the ball.

At some point, I think a golfer MUST get this point to advance beyond high handicap status: The backswing pivot occurs on the inside of the right leg and inside the right foot (for right handed players). Now, you may have been told that before from many credible sources and thought you WERE doing it, but when you really learn to do this right, a major lightbulb will go on over your head.

If you discover that your right hip is moving outside of your right knee and placing weight towards the outside of your right foot, you are swaying. This is very subtle and sometimes difficult to catch. The hips and knees should turn inside the feet.

The right hip actually moves straight back and even inwards a bit towards the center of the stance; the hips and knees should always stay centered between the feet until the very end of the swing.

A drill that you can find throughout the internet works to teach this sensation: Simply place a golf ball underneath and to the outside of your right foot and take some practice swings. There are also more expensive training aids available that can teach the same feeling. See how the swing center (and therefore bottom of the swing) stays closer to where you established it at address? When you first hit some balls while concentrating on this move (when you've been a swayer), you'll immediately understand the difference.

When this is done properly, the outside of the right foot should feel like it's slightly off the ground during the backswing, and the right knee will kick inward toward the left knee ever so slightly during or just before the backswing. Some pros use the inward kick of the right knee as a way to start their swing, and it's not a bad idea--it helps remove the possibility that you will sway. Or you might consider just kicking in the right knee slightly and concentrating your weight into the inside of the right foot as part of your address procedure. This bracing maneuver concentrates the weight on the inside of the right leg where it should be, preventing a sway to the right during the backswing. As a result, ball-club contact is much more consistent and powerful, because no energy is lost trying to find the ball again.

But this can be taken further, because one should really be on the inside of the LEFT foot during the initial part of the downswing! Hank Haney states that the weight should feel, initially, as if it's moving from the inside right foot into the left big toe and then finishes on the outside of the left foot. Therefore, the left foot rolls from inside to outside during the downswing, while the right foot NEVER rolls to the outside on the backswing. Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus (two of the best players to ever hold a club) say that the game of golf is played INSIDE the feet! It's also easy to see how moving first to the inside of the left foot on the downswing can keep the head behind the ball where it's supposed to be at impact, instead of moving out ahead of the ball. But the kicker here is, you shouldn't TRY to stay on the inside of the left foot; just concentrate on staying on the inside of the right foot during the backswing (ensuring you maintain a flexed right knee) and the rest will take care of itself on the throughswing.

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, and the right leg stays angled towards the target (does not move towards a perpendicular-to-ground position). 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.

Shawn Clement describes this feeling of playing on the insides of the feet as "bracing against a firm left side," because backswing energy is expended in making a centered turn, rather than wasting energy moving laterally backward and then forward again. Shawn says that any weight shift (back and then forward) is no more than a inch long! This is where the erroneous belief that the head doesn't move during the swing comes from: The head actually does move slightly right on the backswing, but it's such a small movement that the golfer doesn't always notice--it feels centered. Large movements to the right mean the swing bottom is moving well right of where it was set at address (probability to hit fat increases).

This works for ALL strokes: Drives, irons, chips, pitches, and even bunker shots (you can even dig the inside of the right foot into the sand to brace for those fairway bunkers, which helps pick the ball cleanly). For the short game and bunker shots, the weight on the inside of the right leg simply keeps one braced on the inside of the left foot (i.e., there's little to no rightward weight shift).

In an effort to keep your head still, your weight won't be able to shift to the right (for a right handed player) on the backswing unless you sway your lower body. This is not the way the tour pros shift their weight during the backswing.

Now, it doesn't take a lot of head motion to get your weight to shift, we measured it in centimeters. Most tour pros move their heads from 7 cm to 15 cm during a backswing.

Golf Instruction: Keep Your Head Still - Golf Tips

Keeping your weight on the inside of the right foot during the backswing is critical to shifting properly. Allowing the weight to get to the outside of the foot doesn't give you a strong base to push off from when "springing" over to the left side. This can also lead to the dreaded sway, which results in a lot of wasted movement and is corrosive to good swing mechanics. To find a proper position, keep the right knee over the inside of the foot at address and throughout the backswing. Obviously, it's not good medicine to think about this during the swing, but stop at the top of the swing occasionally and check your position. In time, this will pay off in added power and more solid hits.

Free Golf Lesson - Learn to Transfer Your Weight

The key to proper footwork is weight distribution throughout the swing. Good golfers play within their feet. In other words, their weight is on the inside of the back foot on the backswing and on the inside of the forward foot on the through-swing. The average player constantly fights the weight-distribution battle, falling to the outside of one or both feet. The result is a loss of balance, control and power.

A grounded approach to power - Brief Article | Golf Digest | Tiger Woods

 

Use Setup Foot Position to Encourage Ball Flights

Here's something I tried today that I think may be far better than using shoulder turn or even the traditional body alignment-club face alignment to encourage a fade or draw.

Stand behind the ball and picture where you want the ball to end up. Then (depending on the desired ball flight) pick a line on which you'd like to start the ball that makes sense (i.e., if you're trying to fade back to a target, pick an aim line to the left of the target). Now, align oneself as if trying to hit a straight shot along the aim line (completely neutral stance). If trying to hit a draw turn the back foot out more and the front foot perpendicular to the target line; for a fade, do the opposite.

This encourages either more shoulder and body turn on the backswing (draw with back foot flared out) or more shoulder and body turn on the downswing (fade with front foot flared out).

I initially read about this in Hank Haney's book, The Only Golf Lesson You'll Ever Need, but it makes complete sense if you think about it. The cool thing about doing this to encourage a certain ball flight is that it seems to give just the right amount of inside-out or outside-in, providing slight draws and fades as opposed to more extreme hooks and slices that can come from the other methods (like the traditional setup method--link above).

For a straighter shot attempt (encouraging an in-out-in path), flair both feet out slightly.

Flare your right foot to 2 o'clock and position your left foot at 12 o'clock. Now swing the club for real and feel the increase in shoulder turn going back and the lessening of it into your follow-through.

As you do this, make sure you maintain your posture and forward tilt. Straightening up through impact only encourages a slice. This tricks also works if you hook the ball. In this case, position your right foot at 12 o'clock and your left foot at 10 o'clock. This will decrease your turn back and increase your turn through. You'll hit the ball more with your body and less with your hands so they can't take over and shut down the clubface through impact.

[From Stop Slices (and Hooks!) with Your Feet | GOLF.com]

To increase your ability to turn back and through the ball, flare your feet between 15 and 30 degrees at address, depending on your flexibility. The less flexible you are, the more a flared back foot will allow you to turn behind the ball and then approach the target line from the inside on the downswing.

The correct amount of flare in your front foot at address makes it easier to rotate your front hip and knee correctly as you swing through the hitting zone. If your swing is too steep, use more flare; if it's too flat, use less.

[From AskMen.com - Golf slices]

 

 

Throw Sand at the Flag

I usually don't have much trouble with two particular shots: fairway bunkers and punch shots out from under trees. And these two shots are very similar: grip down on the club (except in the sand one should dig in the feet as much one grips down), ball back of center, steady lower body, armsy swing. The goal is ball-first contact.

But greenside bunkers have been a problem for me; I've been very inconsistent. A greenside bunker shot is an intentional fat shot--albeit a slightly fat shot. My primary error is to take too much sand with the heel digging, and I fail to get the ball out in one shot. In other words, I hit the ball TOO FAT.

But there's a fairly failsafe method for escaping greenside bunkers. On the backswing, break the cardinal rule and REALLY cup the left wrist!!! This is going to feel so goofy and wrong (because on regular shots from the tee or fairway, it would be), but used with a full swinging motion that doesn't decelerate after contacting the sand, the ball will come out high and onto the green every time! The reason is that this ensures the club face remains open through impact and that the bottom of the club (the bounce) will be used to move sand. You can hit lower shots simply by digging the feet in more to take more sand.

There's also a good tip from Shawn Clement helps me ignore the ball more and get it out more easily. Do all of the traditional setup and swing fundamentals for a greenside bunker (or a pitch shot) but then think of this one thing: Think of hitting the sand a few inches behind the ball to the target. And being exact in WHERE you enter the sand isn't so critical, so long as you hit sand first. So the goal isn't the ball; it's the sand behind the ball that must be put in the hole. This changes the focus, because that image will help splash sand toward the target and take the ball along as an added benefit.

And how to do this (sounds easy, eh)? Setup is so important for bunker shots and high pitch shots. Really exaggerate the forward ball position, open the club face, and assume a weak left hand grip.

Elements of a good greenside bunker setup: I want the club face opened (more open for a higher shot) and club positioned in the middle of my stance; but I want the ball positioned off of my left big toe (in other words, exaggerated really forward). The more forward the ball position, the less sand you'll take and the shot will be longer and higher (go to far and you'll catch it clean and take no sand). The more back the ball position, the more sand you'll take and the shorter and lower the ball will travel. I ensure my left hand grip is very weak so that I won't close the club face coming through. I also really cup or dorsiflex my left wrist on the backswing. Then, I just make a full swing with a complete turn back and then turn through. Making a full turn and normal swing IS important. Also, stay loose through this shot and feel the club head; tension will kill the shot. Done correctly, even a slow tempo will blast the sand and the ball out of the bunker towards the target.

Another way to think of the greenside bunker shot is to setup and swing as if you're hitting a driver. This means the ball is off the front foot and the swing going back and through is shallow (more around the body rather than up-and-down)--the way it needs to be to keep from taking too much sand.

A lot of these same principles will work for pitch shots as well. You can even play the ball off your big toe for pitch and flop shots and not fear hitting fat. With the weak left hand grip and opened club face, you'll usually slide the club along the grass before launching a high piercing and spinning shot.

1) Get good footing: Grind your feet firmly into the sand. This will help promote a solid stance and good balance. It's also a way of doing some detective work, to determine the texture and consistency of the sand. Since the Rules prohibit you from grounding your club in a bunker, you should try to learn as much as possible about the lie as you take your stance. 2) Choke up about an inch on the club: When you grind your feet down into the bunker, you bring your hands closer to the ball, so you need to slide them down the grip. Otherwise, you'll tend to hit well behind the ball and dig too deeply into the sand. 3) Open your stance: Most bunker shots require a steep downward attack on the ball; an open alignment, with the feet, knees, hips, and shoulders pointed well left of the target, will facilitate this type of impact. You'll need to open up various degrees for the different shots, but it's safe to say that 90 percent of bunker shots are played from the open stance. 4) Don't keep your eye on the ball: Instead, watch a spot about an inch to an inch and a half behind the ball, because that's where your impact should be. Since you don't need to hit the ball on this shot, there's no reason to look at it. Again, the precise spot will vary, but suffice it to say that the spot is never on the top of the ball.

From Learn The Basics of Sand Play by Greg Norman

Most amateurs swing the club into the sand, and when they feel the resistance, they quit on the shot. Plus, they're fearful, so they tend to lock their bodies in place and just wave at the ball with their arms. Commit to turning to a full finish, and you'll get the ball out every time.

Hank Haney: How To Hit The Basic Sand Shot: Golf Digest

 

 

Swing Sequencing and Passivity

I've learned that normal instincts and proper swing actions diverge dramatically. Golf is full of these contradictions (i.e., swing left to make the ball go right, hit down to make the ball go up, etc.). Understanding these tenets intellectually is easy; putting them into practice is tough.

The swing instinct of the beginning golfer is to use the hands and arms to hit the ball; that's what feels natural. The resulting swing sequence of that instinct is something well known to frustrated golfers: the upper body leads the downswing, club gets laid off or across the line, the shoulders spin out, the arms are thrown out and away from the body, posture is lost, club casting, coming over the top, the knuckles of the left hand point up, and the ball pulls, hooks, and slices, depending on the club face position at impact.

At some point, with enough effort, the beginning golfer begins to implement the fundamentals that all the great teachers espouse: upper body turn on backswing (lower body resists), arms stay in front of the body, lower body leads on downswing (shoulders and arms resist), hips bump and turn, the club comes from the inside (drops in the slot), lag is maintained (no casting), no flying elbows (chicken wings), full extension, good release, left hand knuckles turn down, square/closing club face, etc. The feeling is described as effortless, passive, and a good impact feels like the ball isn't even there. The ball flight is either straight or a controlled fade or draw in the target direction. Of course, it takes time to implement the elements of a good swing and then to learn the proper order or sequence of those events. At some point, they move from being separate thoughts and actions that may occur asynchronously to a free-flowing, coordinated, sequenced series of moves that result in a passive, effortless swing and great, consistent impact.

The golf swing has vertical movement and horizontal movement movement. The vertical movement comes from the arms lifting up and down in front of the body; the horizontal movement is provided by the turning of the body. The small muscles in the chest, shoulders, and arms ARE NOT INVOLVED in getting the club back to the ball. The golfer must surrender to the quite correct tenet that he is not controlling anything with the arms; he is merely setting up properly (so that the ball is in the way) and then assisting natural physical forces to propel an object; when you feel "out of control" with the arms and small muscles, you're starting to learn the right feeling, which runs counter to intuition to use the arms in order to hit the ball.

• One piece takeaway and backswing, where the arms stay in front of the body in a triangular formation and the right knee keeps the bend established at address.
• Completed backswing has the shoulders turned 90 degrees (back facing target) and loaded into inside of flexed right leg. The arms are extended away from but still in front of the chest in their triangle shape. The right elbow folds naturally and the wrists set naturally, creating a "box" shape at the top of the swing that one should try to maintain for as long as possible. The club is pointing at the target at the top (not laid off).
• Transition has the arms simply dropping (triangle still in front of the body) while the back remains turned and the weight shifts to the left leg and the left hip immediately rotates backward. The shoulders haven't rotated yet, so an X Factor is created between the shoulders and hips.
• Get the feeling that the arms get to the top and stay there while the lower body moves and the arms drop down from the top (maintaining the "box" shape); the arms, hands, and small muscles should be completely passive and make no effort to swing or steer the club!
• Downswing: As the still folded right elbow nears the right hip (from the arm dropping action), the hips rotate fully toward the target. This gets the arms coming from the inside--they cannot be thrown over the top in this manner.

The result is that the ball is hit effortlessly and the arms don't really do anything consciously (they're passive), which is the opposite of what one tries to do when beginning golf. The body can appear to move very slowly but the club head is actually moving quite fast; this is how pros like Ernie Els and Fred Couples can hit the ball far but appear to be moving in slow motion. A good ball flight with good distance results. The finish is natural and balanced (one can easily lift the right leg and remain balanced over the left). In short, it feels good, correct, and easy. Swinging faster is simply a matter of turning the hips faster; swinging harder is out the window, because there's no muscle tension involved. The body is learning to assist gravity and physics to let the club do the work. But the body's gut instinct is to tense up and rip it, which will result--consistently--in looking for one's ball in the trees.

It is important that a golfer understand that Hogan implied in his book that the arms/clubshaft are passively pulled down to waist level as a result of the lower body movement, and that a golfer shouldn't have to actively pull the arms/clubshaft down to waist level as a totally separate/independent action. Ben Hogan stated that his arms/hands "get a free-ride" down to waist level when he shift-rotates his pelvis at the start of the downswing [4].

[From Downswing]

Most amateurs try to help the club toward the ball by pulling on it from the top of the swing. They are, in effect, trying to help gravity—one of the greatest forces in the world. Mother Nature doesn’t need your help. She’ll get it done—if you don’t pull on the club.

When you’re at the top of the backswing in good balance, you literally let (key word even if it’s small) your arms drop through space as you turn your hips left and get your weight onto your left heel at the completion of what’s a lateral turn.

[From Golf Tips - The Fire Drill]

Williams, focusing on the speed of [Bobby] Jones's swing, calculated that from the top of his backswing to the point of contact with his ball Jones's hands and arms were accelerating at a rate of just over thirty-four feet per second per second.

What makes that interesting is that if you were to extend your arm and drop a golf ball, its acceleration rate as it fell to Mother Earth would be just over thirty-two feet per second per second. See where I'm going with this? It means that in the beautiful golf swing that propelled a ball 260 yards with a hickory-shafted driver, the great Bobby Jones did only a little more than let his arms fall out of the sky.

Bobby Jones depended on gravity to build his golf swing.

[From Ruthless Golf: Those Amazing Relaxed Swings]

Transferring your weight to start your downswing is crucial to an "inside" delivery-the key to cracking 90. From the top, you should transfer your weight from the back leg to the front. Resist the temptation to start your upper body or the club first. It's like a throwing or kicking motion.

[From Breaking 100-90-80: A monthly guide to the scoring basics - golf tips | Golf Digest | Find Articles]

Pitching a Fit

The short game has been the bane of my existence (as it is for most amateur golfers). I've struggled with the long game too, but I can at least ADVANCE the ball to within pitching distance. But nothing is more humiliating than to be 50 yards from the green and take a big divot BEHIND the ball and have it go nowhere. Blading or pulling the pitch are just as bad.

I've made some short game strides recently with putting, chipping, and pitching. My pitching and greenside bunker goals are basic: clean contact and hit the green.

A pitch is like a shorter full swing or a longer chip (with a little wrist action); the backswing of a pitch should be like the full swing (vary the length of backswing and followthrough for the length of shot being attempted). A pitch shot is also somewhat like a greenside bunker shot, except the pitch swing might be less vigorous for the same required distance (many of the tips below apply to greenside bunkers). The arms still must stay in front of the body, but they don't travel as high (if they go higher than 9-o'clock you're really probably hitting a full wedge shot).

• Posture is EXTREMELY important; don't setup with an arched upper back and drooping shoulders. Keep a good spine angle with the shoulders back as you would for a full shot. Either bend the knees more or use a more narrow stance to maintain the correct posture
• Open the club face (a little for lower trajectory more for higher trajectory) BEFORE taking your grip; use the bounce…not the leading edge (consider the photo of Anthony Kim's club face--the club has not turned over as in a draw shot); increases margin for error and adds loft to the club
• Go with a neutral to weak grip (grip more in the palm of the left hand with the back of the left hand facing the target, and maybe turn the right hand over the top of the club a bit more); you want to prevent opening and closing the club face and digging at impact--now you're using the BOUNCE of the wedge to glide along the grass and that provides some margin for error--don't use the leading edge (same for bunker shots) unless you have a buried lie
• Grip down on the club ONLY for added control and feel (I use the middle of the grip); gripping down reduces the length of the shot, but use shot length to do this instead
• Use a tension-free swing and feel the weight of the club; think of swinging a weighted rope
• Always consider the lie--if it's tight then consider a chip if there are no obstacles
• Open the stance a little as you open the club face; the weight can be a little more to the left instep; don't shift much going back; turn the left foot out more and make the right foot more perpendicular
• At address, ground the club behind the ball ensuring the arms are straight and elbows close together; then and only then should you raise the upper body slightly to HOVER the club just above the ground and behind the ball; this helps ensure a downward blow and helps avoid fat shots
• Ball positioned well forward (really exaggerate this--especially in a greenside bunker); position the ball off your big toe but set up as if the the ball is in the middle of your stance; you'll think there's no way you'll hit a good shot but WRONG; play ball back a little more for increased spin and lower flight (ball will run more)
• Favor the left leg by pressing into it at address; on the backswing, avoid any great shift into the right leg
• Use a shallow, U-shaped swing (unless the lie is buried--then use V-shape)
• Think of using a longer takeaway; try to keep the butt end of the club pointing at the belt buckle on the backswing
• Set and hold the wrists on the backswing and into impact; use body rotation (think of turning the belt buckle towards the target and letting the arms chase)
• USE THE RIGHT HAND TO PITCH: Think of it as an underhanded throwing motion; the key is to set the wrists and leave them that way through impact--this means the left wrist will be flat but facing the sky during the follow-through, and the right wrist will remain slightly bent back through impact; the more the right palm faces the sky on the followthrough, the more loft that was added--back off from this to flight the ball down (Lanny Watkins); this is especially important for flop shots
• Follow through more around the body instead of down the line, swinging more to the inside after impact; the arm motion should circle around to your left hip on the followthrough
• Make certain to come through with the right shoulder!
• The club will often finish in a verticle position with a slight left arm chickenwing
• Brush the grass in your practice swings; feel relaxed during the motion; the club head should not dig
• Accelerate -- don't start fast and finish slow (do the opposite)
• Turn through and complete the finish (let the right foot come up)
• Watch the ball disappear before looking up! ALWAYS, ALWAYS avoid looking up too early (on all short game shots). This is the first thing to verify if chipping, pitching, and putting go awry. Keep looking down until the club makes ball contact!
• Let the finish mirror the backswing (higher for higher trajectory; lower for lower trajectory)
• For higher shots (lobs) and bunker shots with a high lip, take a wider stance and bend the knees more

When you swing the golf club back the most important aspect of pitching a golf ball, besides for using a sand wedge, is that you open the clubface and you do it with your right wrist more in the open position as opposed to bent back. You don’t need a lot of wrist cock, but you do need to feel that the right wrist is more in an open position, one that will give you loft when you come into the shot. So if you have trouble pitching the golf ball chances are that you bend your right wrist back and take the club to far back into the inside. Open the right wrist as you go back, not a lot of wrist cock, but keeping the club out in front of you with your right wrist more in an open position will make it so much easier for you to pitch the golf ball up in the air and onto the green. Open that right wrist and just let the club slide underneath the ball.

[From Video Golf Tip | Getting a Pitch Airborne]

You don’t have to have a wrist cock in your pitch shot. Watch Steve Stricker hit his pitch shots the next time he is on TV in a PGA tournament. He sets up with an open stance and open clubface but does not have a wrist cock. His club opens and closes to the target line as his arms swing on plane around his body but he avoids wrist action. This method requires a larger swing but I believe it is the easiest method for most golfers to perfect.

[From Golf Instruction by Scott Erwin » The Basic Pitch Shot]

You should feel like your hands are in almost the same relationship to your sternum as they were at address; in other words, a “one-piece” takeaway. The wrists set slightly, but do not make a significant change in angle from where they were at address.

[From Mastering The Basic Pitch Shot]

The big thing for me on pitch shots is getting the clubhead swinging and letting that move my body, not the other way around. I start with the ball slightly forward and my hands centered in front of me. I also play the face a little open for all my pitch shots. Then I hinge the club upward going back, not around my body, with the toe pointing to the sky. Coming down, the club should unhinge the same way it went back (left). I want to feel it swinging down and through. The momentum of the club pulls my body to the finish.

[From Luke Donald: Do's & Don'ts of the Short Game: Golf Digest]

A feeling to key in on is the sense of swinging to the inside after impact (as pictured below). Be sure to keep the face open or looking up while the club tracks to the inside as this will prevent the leading edge from digging.

[From Open Face | Andrew Rice Golf]

One of the ways that the professional golfers add speed to the pitch shot is that they weaken their grip. Their right hand comes to a weaker position on the golf club. This means that the ‘V’ shape that your index finger and thumb make will be pointed towards your left shoulder. This will feel very strange at first. This will allow you to accelerate through the shot and will stop you from closing the club face through the shot. Having the weak grip will help you to open the blade in the back swing (remember, this is only for the pitch shot) and will also allow your to release the club at speed without closing the face of the club at impact.

[From Golf Pitch Shot, Golf Pitching, Golf Swing Basics, Tips]

This is the "brushing of the grass." Take a few practice swings and brush the grass each time. Notice how easy it is if you are relaxed and not "gripping the devil" out of the club. Go back and forth and back and forth like a metronome.

[From GOLF TIP - The 20 to 40 Yard Pitch Shot]

As in chipping, a lot of amateurs play pitches with the ball too far back, causing the leading edge to dig at impact. The pitch is like the sand shot, except you don't swing as hard. Play the ball about middle, and keep your weight slightly forward. The club's bounce should graze the grass the way it slides under the ball in the sand. This is more forgiving than playing the ball back, because the club can actually hit the ground behind the ball and still slide through

[From Zander Golf - Breaking 100 - Don't lean too far left on chip shots]

Try to get the ball up in the air, with a slight cut action and have it land softly. This will give you the sense of keeping the face open and using the bounce of the club correctly. It will also prevent the wrists from being overly active. A feeling to key in on is the sense of swinging to the inside after impact

[From Leading Edge Digs | Andrew Rice Golf]