Fixing the Handsy Golf Swing

Sunday, December 29, 2013

 Some golfers have less rotation of their body and swing too much with their arms. When you do that, you'll have less weight shift. You won't hit it very far from there. The reason why you forget to turn your body and shift weight may be different from person to person. Some golfers have too much tension in their grip. Some golfers get too quick at the start of their takeaway. To prevent you to use too much hands during the backswing, you can try what Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman were doing.

 

Hover the Club

At address, Jack and Greg were not resting their clubhead on the ground. They were holding it just above the ground. Greg Norman said there are two reasons why he was using this technique. First, it kept his grip pressure constant. If you rest your clubhead on the ground, you tend to regrip the club. But holding it above the ground will prevent you from doing it. Second, this technique was letting him to promote very smooth takeaway. By hovering the club,it will let you rotate your body in connection with your arms.

 

So if you feel like you have handsy golf swing, try this technique. It should help you rotate your body. At address, you should think about "Turning your body" instead of swinging your arms. If you correctly rotate your body on the backswing, you will have a plentry of room to swing your arms on the downswing.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/index.htm

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Practice Swing and Real Swing

Do you take a practice swing before hitting a shot? Why do you take practice swings? Are there any benefits for it?

 

Tiger Woods was Wasting Practice Swings

Tiger Woods said he was wasting  his practice swings even after he turned pro. He said he didn't realize the importance of it and thought that his practice swings were mostly wasted motion. There are 2 benefits for taking a practice swing. First, it makes you relax before the real shot. Second, it's a good rehearsal for the real swing. I think Tiger wasn't treating it as a rehearsal.

 

Tiger said that lots of players make practice swings that don't fit the intended shot. He wanted to point out that if you try to hit a draw, your practice swing has to be the one that lets you hit a draw. If you treat your practice swing as a rehearsal, you can focus on the shot and not worrying about the swing. I can tell what kind of problems they have if I see their practice swings. So treat your practice swings like a real swing. If you don't think anything during the practice swing, you are rehearsing your weakness or just wasting your time.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/practice-swing-real-swing.htm

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How to Hit it 300 Yards like Adam Scott

Adam Scott is often compared to Tiger Woods. Their golf swings are alike. Like Tiger, Adam has a very flexible body and big turn on the backswing. Adam has a little stronger grip than Tiger. Adam also positions his ball little more forward. At one time, he was averaging 299 yards off the tee. Let's see how he hits it 300 yards.

Adam's Secret for Distance

To hit it further, Adams said that he widens his stance which allows him to go at the ball little harder without losing control. He also said that wider stance will tilt his spine more at address, which helps him stay behind the ball at impact. If your spine tilts more to the right at address, it will position your head further away from the ball at address. This will make it much easier to stay behind the ball at impact for more power.

 

Do You Care How Your Golf Swing Looks like?

Most of golfers probably care how their golf swings look like. Have you ever checked your swing in a mirror? But Adam really doesn't care how it looks but worries about how it works instead. I know lots of golfers who tried to copy their idol's swing. But that didn't help them improve. It's not a bad thing to copy tour players' golf swing. But I want you to make sure it suits your body type. When you do copy someone's swing, make sure you have the same grip, ball position, posture and alignment. Without them, you will just waste your time.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/adam-scott.htm

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Golf Swing Plane Drill

Take a look at your grip, ball position, posture and alignment first before trying to change swing plane.

 

Here is a good swing plane drill.

1. Grab 7 iron and grip it as usual
2. Take your right hand off and grip down the shaft
3. Take practice swings

When you grip down with your right hand, grip down more than 10 inches with your right hand. Keep your left hand at its original position. By separating your hands like this and swinging it, it will teach you how your swing plane should look like.

 

Because  your right hand is much lower than your left, it makes it easier to swing with your right hand on a correct plane. Whether you are using too much or not using enough of your right hand, this drill will help you use your right hand correctly during the swing.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/golf-swing-plane-drill.htm

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Which Club Should a Beginner Use for Practice

If you are a beginner or high handicapper, which club should you use for a practice? To learn the basics of golf swing, I think you should use 6 or 7 iron for a practice.

 

4 Reasons to Use 6 or 7 Iron for Practice

 

1. You can use the same swing with other clubs

Basically, you should have one swing for all clubs. But with your wedge and short irons, you will hit it more with descending blow. With your fairway woods and utilities, you should sweep the ball. With middle irons, you still want to hit it with a slight descending blow but the swing is not different than the one you make with your driver.

 

2. Build your game around your 7 iron

If you have a confidence in certain club, you can build your game around it. Middle irons are used often on the course especially for beginners and high handicappers. On a par 5, your second shot should be with your middle irons and not with your fairways woods.

 

3. You will improve faster with 7 iron

You need to have fun if you want to improve. Instead of using longer clubs (including driver), try to hit ball with clubs  that are easy to hit. You need to take one step at a time. It's critical improvement.

 

4. Short irons won't tell you the ball flight

Short irons will put lots of back spin on the ball and less side spin. So it's easy to hit it straight. Some golfers hit it really straight with their short irons but slice a lot with longer clubs. They start to think what they are doing different with longer clubs.

 

In fact, their swing is basically the same. But longer clubs have less loft and puts lots of side spin. That's why you slice more with longer clubs. Short iron hides the real problem. So I don't recommend beginners or high handicappers to use short irons for practice. Of course, it's important to practice with all clubs you have. But when learning the basics golf, you may want to stick with your 6 or 7 iron.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/beginner.htm

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Why Golf Swing Sequence Pictures won't Help You

I know lots of average golfers who always check golf swing sequence pictures or videos of pros but don't improve much. I think it's a good idea to copy tour player's golf swing. But there is a rule to follow when copying golf swing. I probably have read more magazines and books about golf than anybody else in college. I was checking tour players' golf swing sequence closely. I spent a lot of time studying their swing. I tried to copy good players' swings but didn't go well at all. The reason is because you have to copy their grip first before copying swing positions. I failed to do so. I never cared for their grip because it's hard to copy someone's grip by looking at the picture. But for instance, if you like to swing like Tiger Woods, you need to have the same grip.

 

Before Copying Golf Swing

So make sure you copy grip first. Generally, most teachers will tell you to copy the swing of a player who has similar body structure. If you are tall, try to copy the taller player's swing. But I think that the ideal golf swing differs from person to person. I told you to copy the grip first. But even if you do that, it might not suit you.

 

David Duval is known to have a very strong grip. His father was also a professional golfer and David's only coach. He didn't try to fix David's very strong grip. David Duval came on tour with that grip and started to win. His very strong grip was a neutral grip for him. So copying is a good thing, but you need to find what suits you at the end.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/golf-swing-sequence-picture.htm

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Difference in Weight Shift between Pros and Amateurs

As you know, correct weight transfer is necessary to hit the ball far. If you are lacking distance, you may have incorrect weight shift during the swing. When you look at pros and amateurs, there is a big difference in weight shift. The study done by the researchers from University of Pittsburgh Medical Center shows a big differenve between pros and amateurs.

 

1. At the top of the backswing

Pros: 90% of the weight is on their right foot

Amateurs: Only 50% of weight is on the right foot

 

2. At the start of the downswing

Pros: 110% of weight is on left foot

Amateurs: 65% of weight is on left foot

 

3. At impact

Pros: 25% of weight is on both feet

Amateurs: 50% of weight is on both feet

 

At the top of the backswing, pros have 90% of the weight on their back foot. But the amateurs only have 50% of their weight on the back foot. So this means that the amateurs have lots of potential for more distance because they are not taking advantage of their weight shift. At impact, you will notice that the pros only have 25% of weight on both feet. Where did the rest of their weight go? Pros were using 75% of their weight to add power to the ball. That's a secret to more distance. Pros can hit it much further than amateurs because they have correct weight transfer. To check your weight transfer, try to lift your left foot completely off the ground at the top of your swing. If you can't do this easily, you are not shifting your weigh to your right foot.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/golfswing/weight-shift-pros-amateurs.htm

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