Golf Swing Reminders

-2 phase take-out pre-swing
-grip: place ‘in fingers’ – left hand 3 fingers, roll right hand over club
-take away – push away and keep elbow in, left arm straight, wrist hinge at initial takeaway
– left arm straight “HANDS HIGH” as far away as possible. SWING Hard on drive
– Drive the left leg to straightness
– on take-away, weight/strain should be felt in right hamstring and right butt
– slow takeaway
– knees flexed, weight distributed, take-away should put strain on the right knee rotation
– to align, pick a spot a few inches in front of ball that along the target line. Place feet together and split them out carefully.
– new 2005: do not transfer weight to the front to soon. Keep some weight on the back foot until it feels like your about to impact and then
continue the forward motion to the front. I.e. do not abuse this feel and begin to fall off to the back.

Irons/approach
No matter how far you need to dial the shot make sure the weight of your body goes behind the ball. This includes the left shoulder.
Feel as if there is a ‘delay’ at the top of your swing – something to allow that weight to shift to the back
The left arm must be straight at all times – even on the close shots.
follow through at all costs – turning that belt buckle to the target
hands in front of the ball at address. ‘Locked’ feeling. Need to envision hitting down and through the ball with the divot ahead of it
have the ball closer to body on < 100yd shots. could do with a press of the hands such that they are ahead of the ball on take away - start the swing with that forward press. General swing tips: Don't dip in the swing Chips: "LOOSE HANDS" weight to front break wrists in roughs "putt" the ball on chip and runs. Make sure the hozzle is off the ground. Chip with the toe. all motion and power comes from the right hand. The left is merely holding on to the club. take the club on a path directly behind the club you are hitting down onto the ball. Get that feeling that the right hand is slamming the club down onto the ball and hitting it into the ground. SAND: keep the hands "inside" the ball for proper release Open club way way open, make sure aligned to target. Ball close to body, don't sweep, come up steep angle. New to 2007: keep the left arm stiff. and for god's sake shift the weight through. Also, on chips, focus on 'coming down' onto the front of the ball to pop it up. Use the right hand for all the work. Keep fingers and hands loose Putts: ball towards front of stance - stance itself is not wide straight back takeaway wrists enable head to be flat club almost perfect perpendicular to ground do not touch ground - club should strike ball halfway - on equator follow through to the hole align again with a spot a few inches in front of the ball. slow, smooth takeaway like chip - create sensation that you are hitting the ball into the ground do not touch the ground on putts release or 'turn' the putter towards the target. If you leave it 'open' it causes a push grip - bottom wrist such that right hand is pressing towards the cup, index finger down and wrapped around the club Shot-making in general: front shoulder should go past chin on takeaway. "PAUSE AT THE TOP" - get the feeling that everything is behind the head. don't get too flat release the hands through on the followthrough regardless of whether it's a drive, approach or chip! Don't open hips early. Stay parallel to ball as long as possible generate that 'pull' feel which keeps the body behind the ball. When getting the slices, feel that your pushing the ball to right fields. Aug 24/10: On the Moors I shot a 2 under 33 going birdie, birdie, birdie, par, birdie, par, par, bogey, bogey. I achieved my 'Zone' where I was nailing every shot and every putt. In fact, for the entire 18, I had only 27 putts! The only 'mishits' were club selection where I was overshooting the greens because my distances on my irons were 10 yds further than usual. Some thoughts from that round in hopes of remembering the mechanics: Drives: That right elbow MUST be tucked tight to the body. ROTATE around the elbow. Open the back foot 'slightly'. What I was doing that day was setting up perpendicular to the ball, then open back foot slightly, then check for elbow rotation, then swing. When swinging, I was extremely aggressive in the swing. If I was off-balance it was always with momentum moving forward. I was backswinging slowly to the top and then driving hard to the ball with the goal being a high finish to the followthrough. Irons: Same as drives. But making sure to stay down on the ball. I was aiming towards the front of the ball. Regardless of how far I took the club back (i.e. even on 70yd shots) I was aggressively attacking the ball and full followthrough. Putts: I was standing taller in the stance with head over the ball. The 'butt sticking out' with straight back feeling was imperative to balance. Press weight to the balls of the feet. I took the putter low and straight back never touching the ground. I had this sensation that the right hand was pushing the putter through impact towards the target. Never left a putt short. REPEAT: Do NOT leave putts short!!! At all times, I felt that my right hand was doing a lot of the driving through the ball. This feeling wasn't overpowering but it was there. And I was always aiming a bit right of the target. It appears that when I strike well it results in a slight fade. BIG UPDATE! - 'LAG' is the key to everything. The best way to describe this is to envision casting a fishing rod. Start the downswing slowly and then partway through drive/accelerate the hands (with the right hand instigating the action) to impact and finish the followthrough. Except for putts, this approach should be taken for everything from drives to flops to chips. Even at 60 yds take the swing back and then generate the lag. July 2/12 I wrote the following and then reviewed my earlier writings. It seems consistent and I should just keep re-reading this when things go bad: With all swings, make an almost inperceptible pause at the top of the swing to get the weight shift back and then in motion moving forward. Almost like a swaying motion. For short wedges and chips, get the weight forward. "Slide" the hips, do not open them. You need tro get your left should turned in all shots. As if your back were turned away from the target. Then when shift weight forward, do not open your shoulder! Slide it and keep it closed before letting the body naturally flow open. On the short wedges, you need to really cock the wrists and come over top of the ball. Take the backswing extremely vertical. Break the wrists ASAP and hard on the upswing. That, along with the shoulder turn and slide you gain the momentum needed without using your arms. Make sure you apply a confident followthru. This approach has allowed me to start using 60 wedge on tight fairway lies with confidence. In the end, a simple fluid motion should feel effortless and get you the 60 and under yardage you need. For all swings, I now like to really close my right foot and turn the knee in slightly. This has allowed me to get a good athletic stance that is going to give me a drive of my hips and prevent my knee from collapsing. Also I get the sensation of the hip load in the right. Finally, for all shots, and it seems cliche, but sticking the butt out in a 'squatty' type fashion is very important for balance. I use it on putts to really get the quietness down. On short wedges it helps with the rhythm. Last but not least, I now drive with the ball inside my left heel. I slant my shoulders upwards towards the front. Make sure to 'delay' at the top of the swing to ensure all the body weight has loaded behind the ball.

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