Worst Swing Tip Ever

I was going to reply to the thread entitled 'Best Swing Tip Ever', but then thought we needed a new category (bear with me here).

First, under best swing tip, I was going to write that when I had just started playing the game, a club pro gave me my single best tip to date. Basically, he said the biggest problem he came across in his students was getting them to understand the proper weight shift in the swing. In his view, a lot of these problems stemmed from the idea that you shift your weight to the right foot and then the left. For most people, this thought, or image, leads to swaying. He told me that the correct way was to actually settle into the right hip on the backswing. He demonstrated this by holding out a club towards me at about waist height and telling me to hold the end in my right hand and then pull straight back (against his resistance at the other end). When you pull back like this, you automatically move the right hip back as well. That's the correct motion for the swing. I've done that ever since and have to say it is a great way of loading up the right side. Instead of feeling your weight on the right foot (which is what I would have been looking for in the traditional weight shift explanation), you really feel settled into the hip which gives you some resistance, stability and balance. Keep the right knee flexed , of course, and give it a try. It's a really powerful feeling once you get used to it and your weight is certainly on the right side.

Now, this leads on to the worst tip ever. I think this is the one where you're told to shift the weight to the right foot so that you can raise your left foot off the ground (the next step is, of course, to transfer the weight to the left and raise your right foot). Just try this yourself in front of a mirror and see how much lateral movement that causes. The only way you can stand on one leg like that is if your centre of gravity is right over that leg (in fact, right over the foot as well). I don't see people setting up with narrow enough stances to be able to do this action without swaying. For that reason, I nominate this as the worst swing tip ever.

Lateral movement is not such a bad thing. Most golfers with good pivots laterally move onto their left leg at transition rather than "turning" their hips first.

Of course, too much lateral movement is not good, but I think swaying is overused as an identified swing fault.

That's a fair point. I think the real problem is the backswing, which is where you can sway off the ball if you concentrate on getting the weight on to the right foot. Loading into the hip prevents swaying off the ball and actually helps a more complete turn of the shoulders.

I could have added in the original post that, having loaded into the right hip, I do transfer my weight on to the left leg with some small lateral shift in the hips on the downswing.

Loading into the right hip is a good thought.

WORST SWING TIP: "Slow down your swing". Deceleration is the worst thing you can do to any strike on the ball. Acceleration is essential...even in a bad swing. If you see someone out racing any part of the swing, they are disconnected, and will be off balance. The proper statement would be to say, "Swing in a better balance". This has a nice cadence and is easy to remember. It conjures up the idea of a connected sequence of actions that work together to allow a stronger attack on the ball that looks and feels effortless.

Keep your head down has to be up there for worst tips. Golfers usually stop shifting their weight and don't follow through.

Hi Greg,

I often see young guys at the range swinging the club at such a fast rate that they almost fall over, the result is normally a ball that dribbles out a few yards or takes a boomerang flight path. I have seen the odd one that takes a running swing at the ball with terrible results.

I normally ignore it but if they ask what is going wrong or how do you hit the ball that far I suggest they just try and hit the ball 100 yards with a full follow through. This quite quickly creates a slower more balanced swing that although is still a bit ugly creates much better results that puts a smile on their faces.

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Best Regards
Brian

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Funny o'l game!

Great drill...trying hitting a drive with a FULL backswing and FULL follow-through different yardages. Start at 50, then 100, then 150, then 200 and then your normal swing. Hitting it 50 yards is actually pretty hard to do

I love it when people at the range ask me questions. My usual response...."I don't hit the ball well enough to tell anyone else how to hit it, but I tell them anyhow!"

right here you answered why this tip wont work, it is not the tip but the set up.

Lateral movement isn't such a bad thing if you have a two plane golf swing, but if you have a one-plane golf swing lateral movement is a big no-no.