My Best Swing Thought

[bronc072]

After struggling through a bad round yesterday (I thought clearing my hips was the solution), I pulled it together by falling back on Martin Hall's advice to swing the club out to the right. This falls in line with past experience striking the ball well when I set my head before swinging. But no amount of conscious effort will allow me to do this if my head keeps moving with my left shoulder as soon as I start the downswing. Swinging the club out to the right seems counter-intuitive (especially with my fairway wood) but my left shoulder always moves independently while my head remains motionless resulting in solid contact.

[nearace]

Mine is down the middle

[bronc072]

Nerd

[4underthru9]

After struggling through a bad round yesterday (I thought clearing my hips was the solution), I pulled it together by falling back on Martin Hall's advice to swing the club out to the right. This falls in line with past experience striking the ball well when I set my head before swinging. But no amount of conscious effort will allow me to do this if my head keeps moving with my left shoulder as soon as I start the downswing. Swinging the club out to the right seems counter-intuitive (especially with my fairway wood) but my left shoulder always moves independently while my head remains motionless resulting in solid contact.

I think you might do a lot better if you get on board with this guy, he's amazing.

[bronc072]

I shared this swing thought because I believe it will help other mid-handicappers improve their game. Scratch golfers should heed Jordon Speith's advice and not listen to anyone.

[Shake99]

Γιατί είναι τόσο περίπλοκο το γκολφ; Ποια είναι η αγαπημένη σου ταλάντευση;

It's all Greek

[SmoothBomber]

I like the swing out to the right thought as well. Here's a little reasoning behind it...

When throwing clubs to learn to swing almost everyone throws left when they intend to throw straight. So to throw the club to 2nd base right handers should aim at the 2nd basemen (lefties aim at SS).
The same feel applies when you hold on to the club and don't let it fly away so feeling like you are swinging out to the right allows the momentum of the club to release down the target line.

I recommend throwing a few (old) clubs once in a while. I'd bet your swing out to the right will fly straight while your intended straight throw will go high left.

[bronc072]

I like the swing out to the right thought as well. Here's a little reasoning behind it...

When throwing clubs to learn to swing almost everyone throws left when they intend to throw straight. So to throw the club to 2nd base right handers should aim at the 2nd basemen (lefties aim at SS).
The same feel applies when you hold on to the club and don't let it fly away so feeling like you are swinging out to the right allows the momentum of the club to release down the target line.

I recommend throwing a few (old) clubs once in a while. I'd bet your swing out to the right will fly straight while your intended straight throw will go high left.

What works well for me now is the image of a boxer throwing an uppercut. The punch comes from his right hand and elbow but he drives it home with his right shoulder and leg. Lots of power moving forward down the line.

[c6abbott]

driving right elbow into your side on downswing (for righties)

[bronc072]

driving right elbow into your side on downswing (for righties)

I'll go one step further on your swing thought: keep pushing your right shoulder, elbow, and wrist further forward across your body. The most common flaw golfers have in their full swings, chips, and putts is hanging back on the right side. Drives end up slicing, fairway woods get topped, chips get skulled across the green, and putts curl away from the hole at the last moment. All these bad shots can be traced back to a snag on the downswing causing the club head to flip up before impact.

One other tip that brings this all together is keeping the butt of the club moving ahead of the golf ball through impact. A popular drill is to tie an alignment stick to shaft of the club so that it extends past your left side at set up. Practise swinging down past the ball before allowing the alignment rod to swing back and touch your left side. This really helps improve pitch shots and chips by making sure the ball gets up in the air consistenly while scratch golfers can improve their ball compression and backspin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcGRE2nrLo0

[sunshiNee]

Is it Swing Thought or Swing Thoughts? maybe best to keep one Thought before a swing or no Thought at all. For me it's about being relax, and that means no tension in the arms. When there's tension in the arms that's where things get crazy, thin and fat shots.

[bronc072]

Is it Swing Thought or Swing Thoughts? maybe best to keep one Thought before a swing or no Thought at all. For me it's about being relax, and that means no tension in the arms. When there's tension in the arms that's where things get crazy, thin and fat shots.

i started the thread with one thought but discussion lead to my rethinking the original post.

[bronc072]

Is it Swing Thought or Swing Thoughts? maybe best to keep one Thought before a swing or no Thought at all. For me it's about being relax, and that means no tension in the arms. When there's tension in the arms that's where things get crazy, thin and fat shots.

If you're having trouble with consistency (I've hit better shots when I dropped my arms on the downswing but the timing with the lower body has to be perfect) focus on your upper body and use your lower body for support. Ben Hogan criticized the average golfer for not using their lower body but moving your right side forward together with the left arm will bring the club into a good impact position equally as well and plays into mid-handicappers' tendency to rely on the upper body during the golf swing.

[laserbeam]

I would always aim for a Zen like concentration.

[cantcountstrokes]

irons: tuck the elbow, head down, clean contact
driver: strike with the forces of king saloman

I've been playing irons off the tee for the past few rounds....