quick question

i am trying to shorten my swing. are there any drills that will help me do this? i want to come just short of parallel but right now i go way past parallel. and it feels very very awkward to come up short of parallel. in fact it is hard for me to stop the club from going back any farther. any drills to make this easier for me? thanks alot.

BillyB

no drills, just some reasons why a lot of people go past parrallel
Knee flex in rear kneee is lost, keep the rear knee flex,
spine angle is lost
shorten your left thumb on the grip
in your right hand the thumb and the hand stay close together, no gap untill after the knuckle on the thumb
off the top of my head, there are more though

i think a reason people go past parellel is because they let there left hand cup which is a huge powel leak. try to feel as if the club is pushing against your thumb on the way back that makes it alot harder to go past parellel. that heps me also get the proper release by hammering down on the downswing. i don't think it is possible to keep you head still and not cup your left wrist and go past parellell. i know i can't. i have to move my head a little bit (from lack of flexablility to get to parellell but i woudl really have to move my head and spine angle to go past parelell, that takes some flexablitly.

when i cupped at the top (with the left hand) on the downswing i would try to swing under the ball with a horizontal motion, now i don't cup (the left, the right has to cup) and i feel resistance against my thumb and that resistance builds on the way down and then i release it down so that it hit the little ball before the big ball and compress the ball instead of sweeping under the ball.

a swing thought that helped me.... at adress pick the club strait up and throw the club head down by cocking and uncocking the left wrist as if the arms are going directly btween the legs. now memorize that feeling, then backswing as normal and on the downsing fell that same hammering down btween the leggs feeling. if i think about it it doesn't make sense since i am trying to hit the ball down the target line not perpendicular to that (between my legs) but when i cupple that hammering feeling with the weight shift and unwinding of my body it seems to work out great and i get good contact and compression. i find my hands crossing over right after impact whn i do that.

muight not work for you, but it works for me and you are welcome to try it.

Hi Pal
One of the main reasons that wild hitters blast the ball off-line is because they are overswinging. In other words, they take the club too far back so that it goes beyond parallel at the top of the backswing. Keep in mind that when it comes to the backswing, the law of diminishing returns applies -- once you pass a certain point, you cause more problems than you solve: problems like reverse weight shift, poor downswing path, and lack of clubhead control, to name a few.

Breaking the habit of overswinging isn't easy because it makes your swing feel much shorter -- as if you're bringing the club back only halfway. But what you feel can fool you, and to get the club and your shots under control, you have to bring your overswing under control. To do that, focus on making the change of direction from backswing to forward swing happen when your left shoulder touches the left side of your chin. Once you do that, you've made a full shoulder turn, which, coupled with a relatively straight left arm, equals the longest, widest swing arc you need. From that point, you produce good clubhead speed without sacrificing control.

cheers
aft

__________________
the dog wags the tail....the tail dosn't wag the dog

Most people I see that over swing, usually, loose the right arm relationship. Many know about the left arm not bending, but most never look at the right arm, it plays a major role as well, at the top form a 90 angle with the right, where the bottom of the arm (elbow to arm pit) is level with the ground and lower arm (wrist to elbow) is more vertical forming a 90 degree angle. Very hard to over swing like this, this is also what thry call extension, allowing the left arm to bend or right to go beyond 90 allows the hands to move in towards the head, reducing extension and causing overswing. See if this helps.

Here is something that may help:

At address point your leading foot (Left for righties) out towards the target by around 30%, when you turn into your back swing you will feel the coiling resistance against your right knee happens much earlier, this should help you to reduce your over swinging.

The RH Drill is actually brilliant here.

If you spent a couple of hours at the range doing "takeaway - hinge - shoulderturn ... takeaway - hinge - shoulderturn", you'll establish the hand and arm-position that you want at the top very early, and will quite easily be able to feel when you're overswinging.

At our range, every booth has a mirror, so we can quickly check backswing length, clubhead position and alignment compared to target line. Appx every two swings I check my swing in the mirror without actually hitting a ball.

Also tends to counter the dreaded out-to-in swingpath.

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//Mox
2008 bag:
Mizuno MX-500 460cc 10.5* Fujikura Tour Platform 26.3 stiff. (about to be replaced by MP-600 10,5* UST Proforce V2 stiff)
Mizuno F-50 3w 15* Fujikura Tour Platform 26.3 stiff.
Wilson Deep Red 5w 18* Graphalloy Fatshaft stiff
Cleveland HALO 3i hybrid 22* graphite regular
Mizuno MP-60e forged 5i-PW True Temper Dynamic gold R300 steel
Mizuno MP Black OX raw haze 50/6 GW, 54/9 SW, 58/10 LW
Heavy Putter B3-M
Titleist NXT Extreme

I find that when I complete a full shoulder turn I'm parallel or a little off parallel.