Remember that the goal of golf club manufacturers and golf magazines is to sell you their product. Try not to be confused by all the rhetoric.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Imagine how many words are used by the 10,000 experts in the world of golf and how they would describe what happens in a golf swing. Next, imagine all the rest of the golf world trying to explain to their buddy's what they do and what they just read in "x" publication. Its important in today's world to be able to filter information.
I believe that it is more important to get good at a few things and develop them rather than fish for a swing thought that fixes everything.
The first thing is to look at your golf club as a tool, like a hammer or screw driver, and figure out what the tool is designed to do. The second thing you have to do is recognize that golf is a skill and it needs to be developed and practiced so that you can have a level of consistency when playing.
This is what I do...
I swing right handed and hit little 10 yard chips. I let they club do its job and I pay attention to the ball flight and the solidness of the shot. When the shot starts going like I want: I pay attention to the feel of the shot. After doing this right handed for a while I then use both hands and then try to get the same solidness and feel as I had achieved with only the right hand. All action is the same in solidly hit golf balls whether it be a little swing or a big swing. The feel of the action through the ball just happens more quickly on bigger swings.
Repeat as necessary.... until you can shoot the score that you desire anywhere.
Caution:
Of the 500 or so lessons I have given in my life about 95% of he people have "flipped it" to some degree ranging from extreme to a little. Flipping it is the overuse of the right hand in an effort to help the ball get up in the air or to get the club back to the ball. The evidence of a flip is either a fat or thin shot. The hands are on the club and are used in the golf swing. Most people tend to over use them unfortunately. The hands in the golf swing are more passive than active. A properly hit golf ball requires the club to be moving slightly downward through the ball, leaving a divot forward of the ball. If you cannot make a divot forward of the ball: you probably flip it. The palm of the right hand should feel like it is facing the ground on the downswing before impact.
Skills that are required to hit a solid right hand little shot are:
1) Learn that the golf club has to be working downward through the shot.
1.5) Learn that in the race back to the ball (on the downswing the ball is a finish line) between the club head and the handle. The handle wins every time.--Eddie Merrins
2) Learn to just hold the club--not squeeze it
2.5) Learn to let the loft of the club get the ball up in the air--not your right hand helping it up.
3) Learn to feel comfortable with your right palm facing he ground on the downswing.
4) Learn to allow the club to swing. This includes the right wrist being relaxed and the right arm free to rotate.
5) Learn to hit through the shot and let the right arm follow through.
This is only an attempt to share what I do and how I look at a golf swing after playing for 30 years. I caution myself not to become paternally righteous about this concept. (If you do what I do you can hit it like me) Maybe you can or maybe you cannot. I don't know...
This is just a simple concept I wish to share. Start small and build up.
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Talk more about what it is one is looking for in the ten short shots that are hit with the right hand before using both hands. What club do you use, what kind of ball flight are you looking for, how far are you hitting the ball? Do any of these things matter? How do you know when it's good....?
ReplyDeleteThe reason that I use rt right hand only is because I feel I get an unrestricted release. Sometimes when both hands are on the club I will tend to over control the club rather than let it do its thing. I want the club to do the work--not me do the work. The thing I find amazing about letting he club do its thing is that I dont worry about the clubface being square yet it goes straight with no curve most every time. This leads me to believe that the club head is only square at impact for an instant and to try to keep it square makes me lose the flow of the centrifical force and the good angles and release that are part of the effortless "zippy" power formula.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I do a small 10 yards in the air shot is beacuse it is small enough swing to digest. It is a small enough swing for me to be successfull with also. I like to use a sand wedge for this for two reasons. The first being I like to reinforce the concept of the clubs loft making the ball go up in the air. When the ball is on the ground the club head must be moving down. The other reason I use a sand wedge is I like to play with the feel of the bounce of the club. I like to "thud" the ground on tighter lies and again let the club do its thing and develope it into bigger swings.
I have watched people hitting balls around at BH after a session and they hit a better quality shot just trying to get the balls in a pile when they are hitting them rt handed. This makes me believe that we innately know what to do with a golf club in an athletic way and a little right handed only swing allows one to hit down on it and to release the club in a natural flowing way. These two concepts are the main skillz to develop to hit a golf ball well. So often I feel golfers are concerned with things other than this.
To answer your last question of how do you know when its good is a great question and the reason many people play this silly game.
When you hit it effortlessly solid you will know it--you will feel it--it will be solid and true. We have all hit shots like this and wonder why we don't do it more often. You can do it more often but you have to develop the skill and learn to trust it. This is a technique to develop a skill so start small with a little right handed shot and build up.
What do you suggest for how often someone should practice these short and then full shots to maintain 'the feel'? What is a reasonable goal (expectation) for being able to produce a 'good' hit for us amateurs; 60%, 70%, 80% of the time with practice? Is this something that you would recommend to be worked on at the range to gain confidence in before taking it to the course?
ReplyDeleteThe goal of this drill is: the hands to do less and the club does more. With one hand only on the club flipping it will not make athletic sense. As you learn this skill it will start to convince you what good action is. I've been hitting right handed for 10 years but I could never get that same feel with both hands on the club. So it stayed on the shelf and was just something I accepted. Now I understand that the things that the club wants to athletically right handed only can happen with both hands on the club if I'm really loose and light through impact and allow the true momemtum of the centrifical force to happen. As a guy that was able to shoot par I was still over-controlling the club through impact. It may take a while to fully appreciate just how much effortless power is available to us but the right hand only drill was the gateway for me.
ReplyDeleteSo to answer your question I think it should be a part of every practice session whether you are actually hitting a ball or not. It's the anti-flip drill to me. It reinforces what a golf swing is: emphasis on the swing part of golf swing. This isn't just a shot in a repertoir of 180 shots in your bag. It is a way to hit the golf ball solidly and more effortless more often. Whether it be a putt, chip, 5 iron or drive small swing or big swing. It is the feel of a solid shot.
Simply put, we create energy by creating some angles and balance in the backswing and we need to allow this good energy to get back to the ball without trying to control it. Trying to control it is why the golf world flips it and consequently why most golfers don't hit it very far or very solidly.
Remember, I said that to hit a golf ball solid you only have to be good at a few skills. Allowing he club head to hit downward through the ball is the main skill.
How quickly one can take this to the course is dependent on your ability to trust that the club can do most of the work. Our job after we grip it good and create some good angles is to stay out of the way on the downswing and learn to allow the club to release (rotate) and do it's job. . This can be very challenging for someone who holds the the concept close to their heart that they need to help the club to get through the ball or they need to help the ball into the air. So to start, just allow yourself to hit solid shots in practice right handed only and when you start getting a really solid shot that goes higher than you expected then you are learning the concept of hitting down on the ball and the concept of releasing the club. These are the two most important sliiz to have to develop to hit a golf ball solidly.