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I think I may have another drill that may help both of us here................what do you think?


Try placing a ball under your right heel at set up..................agreed not much use for the backswing and only a hit a 3 with, 3 without drill, I notice most pros with this hip rotation have the right heel approx a balls height of the deck going into impact.

food for thought.


Ian.

"well make a pro out you yet boy" (must be spoken with a country accent)

I'll try anything mate!

Seriously that does sound like a good way of getting the rotation going but at the risk of being anal, I like to feel more like i roll off the inside of my foot than push off the toes. I guess with a ball under my heel that would be more difficult

I need some way of making sure that I start the hips rotating. I think there would a natural move forward when you did that anyway, so rather than even think about a tiny shift forward I want to feel like its a natural reaction to moving the right hip/knee toward the ball and getting the weight on the left side. If anything I think i get my weight on my left side too early and then tend to sort of over balance and have to compensate

The old swing in a barrell isnt it, its just trusting that once my hips clear early (and are pointing left of target) I can pile in with the right hand. As I said my computer says no :-)

That whole push and pull thing sounded interesting so i just went grabbed a club

Lets define push as a push off the right foot, right knee/hip towards the ball, and pull as the pulling motion of the hands through the ball

I found if i ONLY pushed or pulled (i.e. one but not both) I couldnt get to that impact position without an open clubface, however doing both of them together at the same time, I could find that position very easily and it felt powerful


Of course I can go weeks probably doing this without thinking about it but its when I start pushing a lot again I need to know why. I'll try this in my practice swings during my game sunday. In the real thing I make sure i think trarget not mechanics for the obv. reasons

I was just reading an article by Leadbetter who was talking about the Hogan fundamentals. He suggests that there is more of a lateral movement foward prior to the hip turn than Hogan realized or talked about. It would seem to make sense to me that you need to shift weight to the left side prior to hip rotation.

Be careful there, because conscience lateral shifting easily generates into a slide. Just rotate, stay behind the ball, and the weight is distributed naturally to your left side, and you will see (in the camara frame by frame) a slight move forward and inch or so...

...Don't worry, if you feel the weight on the front foot at timact AND in your finish, you did not reverse pivot (what everyone who just read this was thinking...but what about worrying about the reverse pivot).

Tha move was not CONSCIOUS, but rather AUTOTMATIC, enabled by a proper back swing. The transition is so mysterious and avoids so many people for one reason and one reason only, the do not have a proper back swing which will ALLOW this "magic move" to happen. All this emphasis and focus gets put on the effect rather then the cause. Load the back swing up properly and THEN you be in a position to make the move properly. If golfers keep looking past the importance of the back swing, this move will always evade them

Thanks Shooting4par,

At least I have that part right with a slight lateral shift at the start of the downswing.

Went to the range last night, tried the ball under the right heel and it does really work with a short swing, also tried Gregs advice with feet almost together, this is a shot I play quite regular with my wedges holding the face off, but not with the hips pointing more down the target line which is a great feeling.

All in all the session was very very successfull, this must be something I have slipped into while concentrating on a new move (sound familar?).

Thanks for everyones imput,


Ian.

__________________
Once you learn the swing, your next step is mastering golf psychology................

Glad to hear it went well Ian. Did you feel the hips clearing better then? Didnt feel un-natural? I was watching the pros' take practice swings last night at the TPC and it was interesting how they all swung left through impact. In fact on their practice swings, many of them sort of stood open if you like

I need to work on NOT thinking about shifting weight at all on the forward swing. When I do that i tend to lunge or bump forward and lose all my balance. I need to just let the turn of the knee/hip naturally shift the weight I have transferred on the backswing naturally. This is a hard move for me though, im constantly fighting it

The feeling of kicking in the right knee/hip towards the ball until the club is back parallel to the ground and along my target line is a key one for me. From there Im in an open position with hips clear and can then swing 'left'

If you look at Ernie's transition and release for example here

http://www.golfswing.com/proswings/els.htm

You can see how from the top theres this push off the right side and then pull through to the left with the arms (watch the path of the clubhead). I think I get caught up in trying too hard to come from the inside and extend down the target rather than opening my hips up and swinging up and around, which is where my problems start

At least now I think I have a reference point to go back to when this happens again (which it will, probably soon!)

Ian - sounds like you are making great progress there, i thought your swing looked good.

Just curious if Mr Langer ever replied back! He did OK at the players yesterday!

nick

Hi Nick,

My pro said it was near perfect (bighead) but I have worked hard, he said that i need to speed up a little through impact, my mate said it was a little slower................I think it is when you have a lesson or work on something you slow down naturally, took a clip yesterday and it was fine.

Langer, for me is one of the best mental players ever, at his age and with a distinct lack of distance compared to the 'young guns' he relys completley on mental strength which he has an abundance of. I didn't send the clip off just incase he asked for a picture of impact............lol

Just waiting for the weather to get better now great clip of Ernie, he turns more than me into impact too so I know what I have to do.


Thanks

Ian.

p.s I thought it looked great too, Ricky is mad.


Ian.

__________________
Once you learn the swing, your next step is mastering golf psychology................

Wasnt Bernhard hitting the ball great yesterday, watched him nail a beauty off the tee at the 18th last night and thought of you Ian!

Hi,

If only mate, yes he plays well really every week, he never gives up just gets left behind by more aggressive younger players who take more chances.
I thing he will be a great asset to the seniors tour in a few years, he was a great Ryder Cup captain too, I think alot of tour players from both sides of the pond have a lot of respect for him and his ability.

I always model my swing on him because he is the same height, weight and build as me.

He just handles pressure better..........at the moment.......watch this space.


LOL


Ian.

__________________
Once you learn the swing, your next step is mastering golf psychology................

LOL, good one. Wondering now whether to rush to the bookies and lamp a fiver on Langer to win the TPC! Im probably built more like someone like Davis Love, tall and moderately built (ectomorph?)

One of the guys at my work is a 2 handicapper and i was mentioning this thread to him about clearing the hips. He said to go look at Tiger and see how he does this by effectively pushing his backside out as he starts down. This move clears the hips and allows his arms to drop

And voila!
http://www.golfswing.com/proswings/woods.htm

Perhaps something else to try as a 'feeling'

Paul,

Tiger clears his hips more than any other player I have ever seen, clearly something he learned as a child.

P.s this is my son just before impact, obviously nothing like his dad........


Ian

He'll obviously be challenging my lad for the open in 2020 then

and then his dad can retire ... if only ...