Question:
There is a similar article in this month’s issue of Maximum Golf, pg. 41. It describes the wall/swing practice technique. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I saw this type of drill recommended by David Leadbetter (can’t remember where – either a recent magazine or his Positive Practice book). I don’t believe it would cause too vertical a swing – it just keeps you from taking the club too far inside (an old habit of mine that took a couple of weeks to break). Generally when a golf pro tells you that you are taking the club too far inside, the head of the club is behind your body long before you have completed your shoulder turn and this drill gives you feedback on that aspect. It does nothing to promote a too vertical downswing. My golf instructor tells me the swing plane is eliptical rather than circular as it is often described… I would like to hear any comments on the following golf tip e-mail I received. To me it seems that this drill would instill a swing that is too vertical, but of course I have been struggling for years to find the proper swing path. I realize that proper swing path depends a lot on body build and flexibiltiy, but what about the following e-mail for an average male (say 5′ 10, 180 lbs). Is this e-mail consistent with Hogan’s pane of glass visual? Any thoughts appreciated. The vast majority of weekend players swing too much around their bodies. Generally, they yank the club back too far to the inside to start the swing. Or, perhaps they lift the club up abruptly to start the swing and then loop the club way back behind them at the top of their swings. Either way, with the club too far behind you at the top of your swing, you’ll be likely to spin your shoulders toward the target and throw the clubhead over and across the target line to start the downswing. This is the classic over-the-top move that brings the clubhead to the ball along on outside-to-in path that will lead to a pull hook or weak slice, depending on the clubface’s position at impact. Imagine the swings of Davis Love III or Tiger Woods. At the top of their swings, their hands are extremely high. Sure, they turn their shoulders, but their hands move more in an upward path as their shoulders turn behind the ball. From this “hands high” position at the top, they are able to swing down to the ball perfectly on plane, generating tremendous clubhead speed as the club travels along this wide arc. Try this drill to get a feel for this fundamentally sound, more upright swing plane. With a 7-iron and take your normal address position with your heels and rear end about a foot away from a wall. (Obviously, you’ll want to do this in your garage or basement where you’ll have enough room and where you won’t mind if the clubhead makes a nick in the paint.) Make a few practice swings. Chances are, your club will hit the wall before your hands reach hip high. Keep practicing until you’re able to make a full, slow-motion backswing without hitting the wall. It will feel as though you’re swinging extremely upright, but that’s okay—just make sure you continue to make a full shoulder turn as you make this more vertical backswing. Remember, in a fundamentally sound swing, your shoulders’ (and hips’) job is to move around; your hands’ and arms’ role is to move primarily up and down.
Response:
I saw this type of drill recommended by David Leadbetter (can’t remember where – either a recent magazine or his Positive Practice book). I don’t believe it would cause too vertical a swing – it just keeps you from taking the club too far inside (an old habit of mine that took a couple of weeks to break). Generally when a golf pro tells you that you are taking the club too far inside, the head of the club is behind your body long before you have completed your shoulder turn and this drill gives you feedback on that aspect. It does nothing to promote a too vertical downswing. My golf instructor tells me the swing plane is eliptical rather than circular as it is often described…
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I would like to hear any comments on the following golf tip e-mail I received. To me it seems that this drill would instill a swing that is too vertical, but of course I have been struggling for years to find the proper swing path. I realize that proper swing path depends a lot on body build and flexibiltiy, but what about the following e-mail for an average male (say 5′ 10, 180 lbs). Is this e-mail consistent with Hogan’s pane of glass visual? Any thoughts appreciated. The vast majority of weekend players swing too much around their bodies. Generally, they yank the club back too far to the inside to start the swing. Or, perhaps they lift the club up abruptly to start the swing and then loop the club way back behind them at the top of their swings. Either way, with the club too far behind you at the top of your swing, you’ll be likely to spin your shoulders toward the target and throw the clubhead over and across the target line to start the downswing. This is the classic over-the-top move that brings the clubhead to the ball along on outside-to-in path that will lead to a pull hook or weak slice, depending on the clubface’s position at impact. Imagine the swings of Davis Love III or Tiger Woods. At the top of their swings, their hands are extremely high. Sure, they turn their shoulders, but their hands move more in an upward path as their shoulders turn behind the ball. From this “hands high” position at the top, they are able to swing down to the ball perfectly on plane, generating tremendous clubhead speed as the club travels along this wide arc. Try this drill to get a feel for this fundamentally sound, more upright swing plane. With a 7-iron and take your normal address position with your heels and rear end about a foot away from a wall. (Obviously, you’ll want to do this in your garage or basement where you’ll have enough room and where you won’t mind if the clubhead makes a nick in the paint.) Make a few practice swings. Chances are, your club will hit the wall before your hands reach hip high. Keep practicing until you’re able to make a full, slow-motion backswing without hitting the wall. It will feel as though you’re swinging extremely upright, but that’s okay—just make sure you continue to make a full shoulder turn as you make this more vertical backswing. Remember, in a fundamentally sound swing, your shoulders’ (and hips’) job is to move around; your hands’ and arms’ role is to move primarily up and down.
Response:
I would like to hear any comments on the following golf tip e-mail I received. To me it seems that this drill would instill a swing that is too vertical, but of course I have been struggling for years to find the proper swing path. I realize that proper swing path depends a lot on body build and flexibiltiy, but what about the following e-mail for an average male (say 5′ 10, 180 lbs). Is this e-mail consistent with Hogan’s pane of glass visual? Any thoughts appreciated.
I’ve come across this drill from two different instructors but with a slight variation (more of that later) but both advocated standing closer to the wall than you describe. The drill is intended to do several things which are related. Firstly it does make the swing plane more vertical which seems to be a much better thing for hitting irons, secondly it helps in building up the body’s coil tension. Whether the swing plane is too vertical or not is a bit of a non-issue, at least with the two instructors, since it is used to aid the student to "feel" what its like to have a good swing plane not to develop a mechanical clubs goes from A to B to C type of swing path. This is where the variant comes in. The second of the two instructors suggested that from the top of the swing that the club should be rested against the wall and that during the downswing the club should slide down the wall. This variant gives the downswing a slightly more natural swing path and also prevents throwing the club over the target line. It also helps a lot with transferring weight from right to left leg. Crispin Roche
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I would like to hear any comments on the following golf tip e-mail I received. To me it seems that this drill would instill a swing that is too vertical, but of course I have been struggling for years to find the proper swing path. I realize that proper swing path depends a lot on body build and flexibiltiy, but what about the following e-mail for an average male (say 5′ 10, 180 lbs). Is this e-mail consistent with Hogan’s pane of glass visual? Any thoughts appreciated. Try this drill to get a feel for this fundamentally sound, more upright swing plane. With a 7-iron and take your normal address position with your heels and rear end about a foot away from a wall. (Obviously, you’ll want to do this in your garage or basement where you’ll have enough room and where you won’t mind if the clubhead makes a nick in the paint.) Make a few practice swings. Chances are, your club will hit the wall before your hands reach hip high.
You really have to be taking the club severally inside if you hit the wall from that position. Keep practicing until you’re able to make a full, slow-motion backswing without hitting the wall. It will feel as though you’re swinging extremely upright, but that’s okay—just make sure you continue to make a full shoulder turn as you make this more vertical backswing. Remember, in a fundamentally sound swing, your shoulders’ (and hips’) job is to move around; your hands’ and arms’ role is to move primarily up and down.
The problem I have with this drill is that is doesn’t take the geometry of the swing into consideration. At the top of the swing the hands and club should lie on a plane that passes through the right shoulder. This allows the right shoulder to turn down at the ball giving the hands strong guidance and support towards impact. For a shorter person this plane will be much flatter than that of a taller person but both will still have this same plane passing through the right shoulder. This drill seems to be focused at the taller person and not the shorter since he’s likely to keep hitting the wall at the top even though he’s correctly on plane. David Laville, G.S.E.M. The Golfing Machine Authorized Instructor Contributor of spam free golf advice
Response:
I would like to hear any comments on the following golf tip e-mail I received. To me it seems that this drill would instill a swing that is too vertical, but of course I have been struggling for years to find the proper swing path. I realize that proper swing path depends a lot on body build and flexibiltiy, but what about the following e-mail for an average male (say 5′ 10, 180 lbs). Is this e-mail consistent with Hogan’s pane of glass visual? Any thoughts appreciated. The vast majority of weekend players swing too much around their bodies. Generally, they yank the club back too far to the inside to start the swing. Or, perhaps they lift the club up abruptly to start the swing and then loop the club way back behind them at the top of their swings. Either way, with the club too far behind you at the top of your swing, you’ll be likely to spin your shoulders toward the target and throw the clubhead over and across the target line to start the downswing. This is the classic over-the-top move that brings the clubhead to the ball along on outside-to-in path that will lead to a pull hook or weak slice, depending on the clubface’s position at impact. Imagine the swings of Davis Love III or Tiger Woods. At the top of their swings, their hands are extremely high. Sure, they turn their shoulders, but their hands move more in an upward path as their shoulders turn behind the ball. From this “hands high” position at the top, they are able to swing down to the ball perfectly on plane, generating tremendous clubhead speed as the club travels along this wide arc. Try this drill to get a feel for this fundamentally sound, more upright swing plane. With a 7-iron and take your normal address position with your heels and rear end about a foot away from a wall. (Obviously, you’ll want to do this in your garage or basement where you’ll have enough room and where you won’t mind if the clubhead makes a nick in the paint.) Make a few practice swings. Chances are, your club will hit the wall before your hands reach hip high. Keep practicing until you’re able to make a full, slow-motion backswing without hitting the wall. It will feel as though you’re swinging extremely upright, but that’s okay—just make sure you continue to make a full shoulder turn as you make this more vertical backswing. Remember, in a fundamentally sound swing, your shoulders’ (and hips’) job is to move around; your hands’ and arms’ role is to move primarily up and down.