question

So i went for some tips with a golf pro and he is a strong believer in using wrist. He was telling me that as soon as i get to the top of my backswing that i should throw down my wrist right from the top. i mentioned to him that i saw on the golf channel that they tell u to keep your wrist cock untl the very last minute. And he said thats incorrect. So i took out my 7 iron and tried his way and ive never had it go so straight and far in my life. I use to hit maybe 155 yards with my 7 iron, Im hitting 170. Added 15 extra yards to it. So it must work.


So then i asked him for some more tips on my driver. So he tells me as soon as i get to the top of my backswing, keep my left hip still do not move it, and drop your right shoulder with your arms and as soon as ur about to hit the ball on the downswing then ur hips come through. It felt different at first. So i started doing some practice swings, and then started hitting some balls. It seemed to get alot more distance but its someting i have to work on. Please leave me some feed back if u like his aproach or not.

I like the "idea" of keeping the left hip still. This would have the affect of not sliding forward and that keeps you behind the ball.

Rotating and not sliding is perfect. But if you slide, rotating AND sliding is going to cause all sorts of problems. Not sure what your problems were to beging with.

(Always trust a visual lesson over a guessed solution from someone intrepeting your swing from a discussion board)

So having you not rotate your hips fixed your slide, and you now are able to freely go at the ball.

(Again, only a guess)

The wrists early release from the top is a new one. This normally would create big outside-in paths, slices, weak pulls....

But not seeing what you were doing before, I can only suggest that if what you were told to do and it worked, then it worked, so keep doing it.

Some pro's will taylor a soltion to your problem. Rather then taking a general idea as gospel and rebuilding your swing to that idea.

Some pros make a living of knowing just what to say to each student and that is only for THAT student...not to be intrepeted by another. You might have found that type here.

If the early wrist release is from the gospel type, then an interesting approach it is.

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Any chance the instructor was an advocate of Mike Austin or Dan Shauger? I've committed this upcoming season to the 21st Century Golf swing. The scores are going to go high with practice - but I expect the mid part of the season will be the best of my life.

I've seen the wrist thing before - the weird part is that those who try it end up 'sustaining the lag' all the same. I vaguely remember a discussion about how centrifugal force plays a part when you actively try to unhinge from the top - something about how you move your body to do it actually creates a proper sequencing. However, there are those athletes out there, very gifted, that can actually have an 'instant' release. Sadly, I'm one of them. I've been compared to a few other higher-level athletes that could do whatever you asked of them - ie 'release early' in an attempt to get a move. Nope, release early. 'aim for a spot 4" in front of the ball' "I'll miss the ball or top it badly" 'no one does. Go ahead' **hits the most god-awful top** 'You're something else'.


The bottom line, really, is that if it works, stick to it.

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Nice one, LP. You would think focusing in front of the ball would help everyone - sure has for me.

I believe if you 'throw down' with the wrists, the pivot of the swing has to be the first move down wouldn't it? If not you're scooping. I've tried recently to think about the throw down and the pivot as a blended movement. So it's step and throw, not step then throw from the top.

That not moving of the hip idea could be something to try though.

The answer for me was to pick a spot no more than 2" in front of the ball - I'm a little prone to sliding, so picking a spot 4" in front was a bit much - it just exaggerated my slide.

The 'turning in a barrel' thing works very well for me (as I like to slide... old baseball habit) I spend plenty of time swinging beside the kitchen table (or workshop chair, or shaft stuck in the ground) making sure I don't bump it with my hip.

There was an article in one of the golf rags, maybe Golf Digest, a few years back by a guy named Marshall Smith who advocated that very concept. He said " When you reach the top of your swing, simply switch directions and swing your hands - not yout shoulders, legs, or hips- down toward the ball. by leading with your hands from the top, you'll be sure to approach the ball from the inside". Isn't this what a beginner would instictively do when he first swings a golf club ? Of course, this advice refutes 99.9 % of all traditional golf instruction and fundamentals. As was said earlier, this might be the right advice for a particular student, but certainly, its not what happens in a good golf swing. Clearly, high speed photography and videos show the arms and hands have a passive and responsive role in the downswing. Jim Flick, one of the popular teaching gurus on the Golf Channel is sold on the idea that the lower body simply provides a support fuction for the arms and shoulders in the golf swing, and is not an initiating or driving force . This is contrary to what Jim Mclean, David Leadbetter, and others teach. But golf instruction has always had its share of contradictions. Just when you know how a golf club should be swung, some guy comes along and tells you that everything that your ever read or heard about the swing is wrong !

There always are, month after month of solutions and new kit recommendations - thats how they sell the rag and the advertising space.

I sometimes think that the simplest way to improve your game is to vow not read Golf Digest or watch the Golf Channel for a full 12 months and just work on what you've got.

Here here.

That reminds me of a Golf Channel Academy Live they had many years ago where they got Butch Harmon, David Leadbetter, Rick Smith, Jim Mclean, Dean Reinmuth, and Jim Flick together on one show. Harmon, Leadbetter, Smith, and Mclean were in constant agreement with one another through out the show while Reinmuth and Flick couldn't agree with anyone on anything.

"Jim Flick, one of the popular teaching gurus on the Golf Channel is sold on the idea that the lower body simply provides a support fuction for the arms and shoulders in the golf swing, and is not an initiating or driving force . This is contrary to what Jim Mclean, David Leadbetter, and others teach. But golf instruction has always had its share of contradictions. Just when you know how a golf club should be swung, some guy comes along and tells you that everything that your ever read or heard about the swing is wrong !"


My experience, research and experience of other folks I have helped suggest the Mr. Flick is flat out wrong with all due respect. Looking at tour players and their superior efficiency in all aspects of the swing could make one think that the lower body is not that important, but anyone who has ever taught an average joe knows otherwise.

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I have very quick hands. That move would be a killer for me but obviously it works for others. I have a trouble with Flick too. His way of looking at the swing just doesn't work for me. Hank Haney makes the most sense to me.