Hitting the ground behind the ball

Cliff

For his age, he is very fit and active with no problems.

Thanks

That’s great news, now we can re-build without any fear.

Let's recap on what he is doing here, from the ground up.

1, He is to far away at set up.

(Grip test) procedure.

A great way to check set up is by gripping the club with both hands and set up to the ball ready to make a swing as you would normally.

Then for the right handed player release the right hand from the club, just let the right hand relax in the downward position from the right shoulder, the arm and hand should just freely hang without being pushed away or towards your legs.

Ok so this is now the grip position that will show you were you should be at address! Staying in the set position with the left hand on the club, bring the right hand back to grip the club but don’t make any effort to push the hand over the left hand to re-grip. (best thing is to close the eyes and allow the balance of the right arm to swing under the chin without any tension, you will find as your hand starts to meet up with the club that you will be gripping over the left hand (that’s if you are to far away from the body at address) (conversely you will find that when you start to re-grip you will grip half way down the shaft if you are standing to close). Now you can move the club back to its neutral position, that’s the position your posture will set for your hands.

Sorry about the long winded way I have written it but I can assure you this process will show up any fault in any poor set up.

2. I would like to see his posture a little more bent over the ball from the hip/waist and his butt/bottom pushed back out a little to counter balance the feeling of falling forwards. Above all we must not try and change his feeling of momentum in the hitting area, but by changing the odd position then practicing it until he is confident (without having to think about it) we can then move on a gear. In changing the posture the (grip test) procedure will change automatically. Test it again if you are changing the posture of your body. It does not matter what club in the bag you use the grip test stays true to all postures/clubs.

3. He has a poor follow through, rather restricted due to balance/timing in the swing this will be sorted as we work on one step at a time.

This is on going 3.

But can be used by any golfer that has found balance through impact a problem of timing.

Many players old and young have trouble from time to time with balance/transfer of weight through impact . So your Dad is not alone on this trust me on that.

My cure when I had that same fault was to build a platform to stand on that would show me my fault while I practice.

This platform is 30 inches wide x 20 inches deep. If you are right handed then set up the platform like this.

1st under the right edge place a dowel say ¼ inch diameter and tape/screw it down the right edge.

2nd under the centre of the platform screw another piece of dowel all the way down the centre.

As you stand on the platform (that needs to be ¾ inch thick so it won’t bend) you will transfer your weight to the right as with a normal swing but just prior to the down swing try and transfer you weight with a move back towards the target with your hips and back. In doing so you will feel the platform drop very slightly to the left and you will feel the MOVE that needs to be made to set you up for a great follow through the ball.

Practice the move then take your feelings to the range/course. Remember the MOVE is not excessive prior to and through impact and can be over accentuated (the old saying of swinging inside a drum comes to mind) would suit many a player.

Many Thanks for that, Cliff.

I will pass on your advice.

Try kepping the chin higher at address and through swing!
bobby

The best piece of advice I can give in the transition is to move the lead knee over the lead foot as you get to the top of the back swing

Hi BrianW hope all is well.

I think you will find that gives you the reverse C, doing the above maybe I’m wrong!

I know Nick Faldo promotes the above in his video, but he also moves the whole of his upper body in sync while retaining the top of the back swing and keeping a level head you could say.

Did you mean transferring the full body mass towards the left foot at the top or just the left knee over the left foot!

Hi Cliff, I am well thanks.

With that move I would assume that you have stayed pretty centered on the backswing. If your feet are at around shoulder width and you are at the top, your leading knee will be leaning in towards the trailing, it would be a very difficult move to put the lead knee over the lead foot without allowing the hips to slide a little with it. I would keep the head just behind the ball while maintaining the slight spine tilt to the rear as at address, this would now give around 80% of your weight favouring the lead foot. I should add that I have a one plane swing.

I hope this clarifies my previous simplified suggestion.

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Best Regards
Brian

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Funny o'l game!

We must show/type a full explanation of any change/move when trying to give advice to members of this forum. Some are only starting out and some have forgotten all they have learnt.


I am the latter due to my old age!

It also would be nice to hear back from ThePuttKing65 to see how things are going.

Regards Cliff

You and me Cliff More so in my case though

Can you beat 54, that's not a gross score! I wish

Sure can by around 6

Check ball position, don't let it get too far forward. Wherever you center of your body is...that is where the bottom of your swing arc is. If you are too far forward..you will be placing the ball way ahead of where you "tend" to come down into the ground (near the center of your body) also keep in mind that during the downswing...we should shift slightly laterally so the center of your body moves a little towards the target as you come down...this places optimal ball position somewhere slightly forward of center for irons and a little more forward for woods. Check pops ball position :-)

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