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gregorywannabe
18th June 2009, 01:38 PM
Hi All

After nearly 6 months of 0.1 games (ang going from 11 to 13) I've finally committed to a series of golf lessons with the club pro. Lesson 1 was mainly about setup issues, e.g. slight grip change, wider stance, bum out more, etc. and maintaining a stable base on the backswing with limited leg/hip rotation. He did briefly mention about my swing dropping to the inside on the forward swing but no more was mentioned. Current lesson (no.2) he asked if I had intentionally focussed on an inside path downswing. The answer was No, but I originally was a slicer many years ago and maybe developed it to combat this. I guess my swing, before starting these lessons, was an outside takeaway, BIG loop inside, and what I assume must be flippy hands to try and get the clubface squared. Results good when timing was OK but way to many pushed/blocked shots, and strong low draws. Apparently also hands way too forward at address causing a closed clubface on the backswing. All this resulting in too shallow an attack on the ball, not getting proper contact (a couple of grooves too high was his comment), never any divots, etc. So my mission was to have hands more central, don't close clubhead on the way back, and don't drop to the inside on the downswing. A drill was to do this with the back foot slightly back, and produce a slight fade starting slightly left of the target. When it worked it felt great. No wristy feeling, good feeling contact and really nice ball flight. Loop to the inside ALWAYS produced a low push to the right. I have complete faith in him as my coach and am committed to the swing changes. Sorry for the length but also a means for me to try and remember myself!

Back to the original question, my real problem is stopping the drop inside from the top of the backswing. Any other useful drills to help combat this and build some muscle memory?

Thanks.

gw

virge666
18th June 2009, 02:07 PM
1. Lookup the ball strikingn drill.
2. Bring the club down on the downswing with the face open. (Hogan Style)

This is a pretty easy fix if you stay in your posture.

gregorywannabe
18th June 2009, 02:31 PM
Hopefully it is an easy fix. :)

Had a quick search but couldn't seem to find the ball striking drill Virge. Was it on this forum or somewhere else? Thanks.

virge666
18th June 2009, 02:48 PM
http://www.ozgolf.net/forums/showthread.php?t=13882

Enjoy

Russ
18th June 2009, 02:48 PM
Pretty sure he means this one mate:

Best drills to improve ball striking? (http://www.ozgolf.net/forums/showthread.php?t=13882)

gregorywannabe
18th June 2009, 06:01 PM
Thanks guys, will have a read.

gregorywannabe
25th June 2009, 04:31 PM
OK, been at the range a fair bit in the last week and am really getting into the one leg drill. I've been getting some great feeling impacts, ball flights and "proper" divots. I usually alternate with a normal stance and go back to the one-leg drill when I lose the "feel". Amazing how well and how far I can hit it on one leg! In fact some of my "best" shots at the range have been when using the drill rather than a normal stance. Just an indication that I still need to work on the "normal" stance a fair bit yet. This is definitely going to be my "go to" drill.

TheNuclearOne
25th June 2009, 08:15 PM
Take a closed stance on the range and hit loads of balls with a fade. With the closed off stance you really need to be coming over the top. This is one of those go a mile to gain an inch drills. The emphasis on the downswing will be on turning thru the ball (and not letting the club get behind you) rather than sliding.

henno
25th June 2009, 08:21 PM
I'll do you a deal. I'll trade you one unit of way over the top for one unit of way inside downswing.

Two happy campers.

razaar
25th June 2009, 08:26 PM
Something simple for the downswing is to start your downswing along the line of the hips and return your hands through their address position.

henno
25th June 2009, 09:11 PM
Something simple for the downswing is to start your downswing along the line of the hips and return your hands through their address position.

Razaar, isn't that like saying "the key to making money on the stock market is to buy low and sell high". It's easy to say, but much harder to get all of the ducks to line up to actually allow that to occur? :-k

razaar
26th June 2009, 07:28 AM
Razaar, isn't that like saying "the key to making money on the stock market is to buy low and sell high". It's easy to say, but much harder to get all of the ducks to line up to actually allow that to occur? :-k
Henno..if golf was easy, well you know the rest...get control of your backswing and its easy to do. Hell, even I can do it. Much better avatar.
:lol:

solarman
6th July 2009, 11:18 AM
the pro here had me doing the one leg thing and it really helped me and like you said, it is amazing how far and accurate you can actually hit it on one leg.

gregorywannabe
16th July 2009, 01:20 PM
Just an update. Seem to have mostly gotten rid of the way inside downswing. Currently have had lesson 3 of 6 that I have paid for (although I suspect the missus is going to pinch 2 of them). Much of the "fix" has been setting up better in the first place, and getting a better idea (being shown and put into positions) of what should be happening in the backswing. It's been a gradual process with snippets each 1/2 hr lesson, not everthing at once. Feel free to read no further but thought I'd put down the salient points from each lesson so far, so I can try and remember myself.

Lesson #1
Grip - Short left thumb, left of centre. Right hand over top, right thumb extended, does nothing
Stance - Wider, was too narrow. Weight off heels and more central. Knees slightly bowed outwards.
Backswing - Keep lower half steady, don't actively rotate hips/legs, don't slide.

Lesson #2
Downswing - too far inside, too shallow - not good impact. Drill right foot back, swing arms, no deliberate wrist ****, try to start left of target line and fade back.
Setup - hands too far forward at address (and ball too far back), causes clubface to close on backswing.
Setup - address clubhead behind ball (or even slightly off heel) NOT off the toe as I had been doing.

Lesson #3
Wrist action - need more, try for late wrist ****, keep left wrist slightly cupped, fan clubface open on takeaway NOT closed.
Transition - from top of backswing rotate/move hips/chest and arms will follow, can really slam hard.
Backswing - must keep back right leg bent and braced. No lateral movement, no movement onto back right heel. Drill, golf ball under right heel.

Really happy with the changes so far, ball contact, ball flight and distance much better. Also having to get used to ball starting straight and staying straight or with slight fade, rather than starting a long way right and drawing a long way (hooking?) back.

The whole inside downswing mostly isn't an issue anymore, mainly as I'm not taking the club back outside and having to loop back to the inside anymore. Anything starting right now is when I get lateral hip movement instead of rotation.

It's worth remembering that the "adjustments" above in the lessons were to correct MY problems and may not be suitable for others. I'm also finding that a lot of time at the range is necessary to try and ingrain the changes so I can play comps without thinking too much.
Last stroke round played the best I have all year for a net 71 (1 under) :) with a triple, double finish :( (don't ask, 1 bad shot on each that cost dearly).

virge666
27th September 2009, 06:06 PM
Latest ?

gregorywannabe
2nd October 2009, 10:44 AM
Hi Virge

Progressing slowly. Good thing is that I've stopped the bleeding with all the 0.1 games and
am fairly consistently playing to my current handicap. I've been meaning to book another lesson but we've had a really wet winter here in the west and my preferred time of early weekday before work has not been very suitable.

Anyway, I'm glad you asked as it brought this thread to my attention again, and reading my points from the lessons has made me aware that I've fallen back into a few bad habits, e.g. I've gone back to hands too far forward at address causing closed clubface at takeaway, resulting in the return of some looping draws with the long irons and pull lefts with the short. I'm still occasionally getting some bad blocks to the right, and after every one I could feel the hands/club do a big drop to the inside from the top of the backswing. I still really need to work on this as this is usually the big killer score-wise, particularly with the driver. Having said that everything is a lot more consistent and I feel like I'm still hitting my irons much better, getting "good" contact and nice small divots. Now the weather's improving I hope to get to the range a bit more and work harder on the drills, rather than just warming up on the range before playing.

I had found that (as usual) that I had started overdoing the "keep the lower body stable" bit
and had become very "armsy" with no body involvement, as well as having my weight on my heels at address. As soon as I got my weight more towards the balls of my feet, and made sure I got some proper weight shift to the back foot on the backswing and then front foot on the downswing (without lateral hip slide) things began falling into place again.

We'll see how things are going in the next couple of months I guess.

Cheers

gw

razaar
2nd October 2009, 11:02 AM
Hi Virge

Progressing slowly. Good thing is that I've stopped the bleeding with all the 0.1 games and
am fairly consistently playing to my current handicap. I've been meaning to book another lesson but we've had a really wet winter here in the west and my preferred time of early weekday before work has not been very suitable.

Anyway, I'm glad you asked as it brought this thread to my attention again, and reading my points from the lessons has made me aware that I've fallen back into a few bad habits, e.g. I've gone back to hands too far forward at address causing closed clubface at takeaway, resulting in the return of some looping draws with the long irons and pull lefts with the short. I'm still occasionally getting some bad blocks to the right, and after every one I could feel the hands/club do a big drop to the inside from the top of the backswing. I still really need to work on this as this is usually the big killer score-wise, particularly with the driver. Having said that everything is a lot more consistent and I feel like I'm still hitting my irons much better, getting "good" contact and nice small divots. Now the weather's improving I hope to get to the range a bit more and work harder on the drills, rather than just warming up on the range before playing.

I had found that (as usual) that I had started overdoing the "keep the lower body stable" bit
and had become very "armsy" with no body involvement, as well as having my weight on my heels at address. As soon as I got my weight more towards the balls of my feet, and made sure I got some proper weight shift to the back foot on the backswing and then front foot on the downswing (without lateral hip slide) things began falling into place again.

We'll see how things are going in the next couple of months I guess.

Cheers

gw
That's the stuff, seems like you are understanding a few things about the swing.:wink: