Picture this, you have arrived at the range and are ten minutes into your practice. So far you have hit the ball great and are really getting into the groove that you thought you could. And it sure feels good to get that confident feeling on every shot. Right?

Ok .. so all of a sudden, out of no where, you can’t seem to repeat the earlier move. You are now stink’n up the joint with one bad swing after another. And you know that if this keeps up you won’t be worth a crap. But you keep at it. Swing after swing after swing. Results? You ****!

In total disgust and anger at this point you ponder what the next move is. Go home. Stay and work it out. Go putt. Chip? Maybe hit some mini swings with full swing fundamentals.

And, yes, people are looking at you. Making you feel even more useless and exposed. This is not what you came here for. So, go home. That’s right go home. Go now before you change your mind and start the foolishness all over again. Go on!!

Or……….. you could try and figure out what the heck happened to your swing. Thinking that this could happen while you were playing, you should find a way to fix it.

Ok, I agree. Good idea to fix the thing while you are there. No time like right now. Going home is the sissy way out and will leave a bad taste in your mouth and a bad swing on the range.

Bad ideas, both.

So here is what we all should do.

First go get a drink of water or take a short walk and take three deep breaths, exhaling slowly.

And believe this, it happens all the time. Even some of the best players have this exact same issue from time to time. It’s no wonder golf is such a brain twister.

So what to do.

It always gets back to basics. I know that sounds kinda cope outish. But it is the most realistic comment that anyone could make in this instance.

Re-check your grip. Double check your alignment. Triple check your ball position.

Is your posture still good? Spine angle still strong and straight. Sometimes there is a leaning toward getting a tad lazy with the little things and it gets a bit too comfortable, forgetting that all the little things in your set- up are precursors to a good solid swing.

Miss one and you mess up all the rest.

Once you have checked all of these, time for the first move. Make sure you set your angles and keep them through out what you are about to do. ( I assume you are using a lofted iron)

Now with good angles, move to the half backswing position, but make sure your shoulders turn fully. That would be 90 degrees to the target line. Or left shoulder under your chin.

The chest moves the arms and hands as they are now not active. Just let them go along for the ride. Remember to maintain your angles. This is a half swing with the arms and hands.

Your move to the golf ball is filled with objectives, but we will only be using one.

Keep you angles intact all the way through impact. However you have to do this, you must do this.

Some find that they can mentally connect the arms to the shoulders and just turn the shoulders and of course the arms go with them.

This is a minny move, you are not trying to hit the ball anywhere. You are trying to get sequence and timing, along with a sense of control back to where you are in charge of yourself.

Tempo, sequence and timing will start to come back to you as you just lazily, but correctly, muddle through this drill.

Maintaining angles is what this is about.

The golf ball should be getting off the ground crisply and may have a slight right to left movement. That is just fine. But if it is moving left to right you will need to pay attention to clubhead path. Make sure you are hitting the inside of the ball.

You are entitled to a slight weight shift with this drill if you like, but it isn’t really necessary.

A very fast review on angles, there are two we are concerned with. The angle of the right wrist to the right forearm. This is the ” trayed” right wrist position. That’s one.

note: the left wrist should not be in the awful “cupped” position.

And two is the angle that is formed by the shaft and the right forearm. That’s two.

The latter, in this drill, will be about 90 degrees as the left arm is parallel to the ground and the shaft is pointed straight up in toward the sky.

Keep this angle.

Take it casually here as you work out the stress of being the driving range laughing stock. In a matter of moments your swing will be back and you will shut them all up.

Nice feeling right?

Oh .. if you read the article on what lag is, you would have read about the drill, bump and drop.

This is an excellent drill to work on your angles and know what they are and how they feel. And the neat part of this drill is that you will never get negative feedback as you will not be hitting any golf balls.

Happy now?

If there is a magic move it’s in this bump and drop move. Harvey Penick knew it and wrote about this exact move in his ” Little Red Book”

So let me be clear that I did not make this one up. Harvey did. Try it. It works.

By: Paul Macleod

About the Author:

54vi0rarm asked:

tinyurl.com Simple Golf Tips – Lengthen Your Drive and Shave 7 Strokes off your Next Round Golf tips, golf instruction, golf video from World Long Drive Champ Eric Jones. Golf swing consistency relies on maintaining a consistent spine angle. What is a consistent spine angle, and how to you maintain it? Shoot lower scores more consistently with a better golf swing.

The concept of plane confuses some players. It also confuses some players that come to me for golf lessons. Many are unclear about what it is and what its impact is on your golf swing. Whether you understand the concept of plane or not, swinging off plane is never good.

Focusing on two points–spine angle at address and the position of the left arm on the downswing–clears up the confusion about swing plane and explains its effect on your golf swing and your golf handicap.

Several reasons exist for swinging off plane. Picking the club up with your hands or rolling the clubface open during the swing are two. The most common reason for swinging off plane is adopting the wrong spine angle at address, as I’ve often pointed out in my golf tips,

Spine angle forms the natural axis around which your shoulders should turn at a 90-degree angle. The spine angle you set at address is critical because it decides the shape and plane of your swing. It’s the reason why I focus on adopting the proper spine angle in my golf instruction sessions.

If a player tilts too far over at address, the flatter spine angle causes the shoulders to “tilt” during the swing. As a result, your left arm comes off your chest during your swing, your backswing becomes upright, and your swing plane too steep. Fat shots, deep divots, and pulls and slices are symptoms of a steep plane.

If a player leans too far back at address, the more erect spine angle causes the shoulders to flatten during the swing. As a result, your left arm squeezes too tightly against your chest, your backswing becomes flatter, and your swing plane too shallow. Hitting behind the ball, thin shots, and loss of power are symptoms of a shallow plane.

Keep in mind that a taller player has a naturally steeper swing plane than a shorter person does, and a shorter player has a naturally flatter swing plane than a taller person does.

While your shoulder turn and arm swing are related, a good backswing requires a left arm swing that’s on a slightly higher plane than your shoulders. This arm angle allows your shoulders to have more of a free passage to the ball on the downswing. If your left arm swing is off, you’ll automatically be on the wrong plane with your swing will be off.

Here’s a test I use in my golf lessons to tell if a player is on plane with his/her swing. Take a club, assume your normal posture, and swing to the top. Hold that position for a second. Now, loosen your grip and let the shaft fall.

If the shaft hits you on the top of the right shoulder, your swing is on plane. If it hits you on the head or neck, your swing plane is too steep. Conversely, if it falls behind your back without hitting your body, your swing plane is too shallow.

Employing a simple move at the top of your backswing ensures that you’re taking the right swing plane as you start into the downswing. As you begin your downswing shift your weight onto your left foot while, at the same time, bringing your right elbow back down to your body. Remember to retain the angle of your wrist as you complete this move. It’s the seat of power and the key to maximum distance.

As the weight shifts to the left and the elbow drops down, the club falls automatically into the right slot for the correct swing plane. This movement flattens the swing ever so slightly. It’s the ideal position from which to swing the club down at the ball, delivering the clubhead squarely to the ball.

In essence you’re actually employing two swing planes to hit the ball correctly, one slightly different than the other. The first comes from executing the correct take away. The second from dropping down your right elbow just before the downswing.

That slightly different swing plane is crucial. It runs right through the correct angle of your spine, the natural axis around which your shoulders should turn, enabling you to deliver a clean crisp blow to the ball with a square clubhead and good power. And that’s the goal of all golf instruction on swing plane.

I hope this article clears up the confusion about swing planes. If you work on taking the club back on the right plane and on dropping your right elbow down during your swing, you’ll see results. That, in turn, will help you lower both your individual golf scores and your golf handicap.

By: Jack Moorehouse

About the Author:

Ok.. make believe, for a second, that this is you.

Last week you took a golf lesson, it was a really good one and your golf instructor gave you some great thoughts to keep you on the right track.

This, you thought, was the best golf instruction you have ever had. So, to take this golf lesson to the course was going to take some practice on your part.

So off to the range you go. With the following thoughts in your head from your very best golf lesson ever.

Thoughts for setup:

1. feet shoulder width apart at the heels

2. feet, knees, hips, and shoulder all square to each and to the target line

3. Chin up

4. knees bent

5. bend at the hips

6. back straight

7. **** out

8. good grip

9. right elbow pointed at right hip

10. weight even on both feet

11. tilt the spine to the right, just a bit

12. feel athletic

13. look athletic

14. arms hang straight down from the shoulders

These, you think, are not bad. You feel like you can do all of these and then just forget about them.
You have confirmed in your mind, once again, that this was the best golf instruction you have had yet.

Now see if you can get some movement into this whole affair.

thoughts for the takeaway, or backswing:

1. use a forward press to get it started

2. move the chest first taking the arms with the chest

3. use this as the one piece takeaway

4. keep the clubhead low and long

5. take the clubhead down the target line

6. keep the clubhead outside your hands

7. shift your weight to the right side

8. turn your left shoulder under your chin

9. keep your right leg bent

10. keep your spine angle the same throughout

11. keep the club on plane

12. keep the club on the correct path

13. **** your right wrist

14. get behind the ball

15. turn your back to the target

16. keep your right elbow pointed down

17. keep you left arm straight but not stiff

18. keep your left heel on the ground

19. your left knee should point at the ball

20. your right hip should turn away from the target

21. your shoulder should turn twice as much as your hips( almost)

22. the club shaft at the top should point down the line ( target line)

23. your left arm should stay very close to your upper chest with very little separation

24. you should not sway

25. you should not turn outside of your right leg with your upper body.

26. the back of your left hand should be flat not cupped backwards

With these in the back of your head, you have decided that perhaps the golf lesson was a bit too comprehensive and you will need to parry this list down to one or two that will work for your swing. Too bad the golf instruction didn’t include an edit program. Because this is going to take months.

But, being that you have a match coming up, you decide to do the best you can and even with all this in your head, you somehow, finish your back swing.

And your exhausted! ” Nice backswing” someone yells.

But you know the dreaded downswing looms large in front of you. For you know that a half swing is not a swing at all. So off you go once more .. re-living the golf lesson from hell. Once thought of as the saving grace. Now appears to be more than you bargained for.

Thoughts for the downswing:

1. first move slight bump to the left side

2. drop the right elbow to the right side

3. maintain the angle between your right arm and the clubshaft

4. maintain the right wrist angle as long as possible

5. push the right arm hard toward the ball

6. keep the club head on an inside path

7. begin to clear the left hip

8. hit down on the ball

9. maintain your spine angle

10. keep your left arm close to your chest

11. fire the whole right side

12. the right shoulder goes lower than the left shoulder

13. head stays back behind the ball

14. it is a down and under move

15. keep the clubhead in front of your chest

16. maintain your angles as long as you can

17. stay focused on hitting the ball

18. make sure you finish the swing completely

19. do not force the finish position

20. get a match

21. that means the chest on finish should point to where the ball went

22. pose

Alas! You have done it.. you know that you didn’t think of all the swing thoughts that you learned in your golf lesson, and , of course you feel a tab bit guilty. No worries. If you got that many you will never really want to play again anyway.

Note that you do remember that these are not in the exact order of things and that may cause you some troubles if you thought this is the correct sequence of events. It’s close but no exact.

Sometimes a small thought is enough to keep you on track. I like to take the right arm and clubshaft angle that I have at set up, and move it as a unit on the moveaway. This keeps my angles good for at least the beginning of the golf swing and then I have a better chance of maintaining them throughout the swing. It’s an important move. It is a power position. Try it!

By: Paul Macleod

About the Author:

Let’s take a stroll down memory lane, just for a moment. How many of you have ever read Harvey Penick’s “The Little Red Book” or how many have ever read Ben Hogan’s “Five Lessons The Modern Fundementals of Golf”?

If there ever were golf swing instructions that struck the nail on the head , these two books did the trick. Now, don’t get me wrong here, I am not selling these books, but you can still get them if you want at almost any book store.

But for golf swing instruction these gave some insight as to what actually works.

Here is an example of how to get a visual of the proper club head path and almost automatically get on the correct plane.

In Hogan’s book he talks about swinging under the plane. The Plane is a sheet of glass with a hole cut into it so that your head can go into the hole. The glass then extends down to the target line, the bottom of the glass sits on the target line while the other end sits on your shoulders with you head through the hole.

This visual gives you the exact plane you should have based on how you are set up, that is your spine angle that will ultimately set the swing plane angle.

Now you must swing under the glass so that you don’t break it.

This simple thought and visual coupled with knowing that proper club head path leads to excellent attack angles to the and through the golf ball.

Another excellent thought is the position of the right elbow both on the backswing and on the downswing. On the backswing the right elbow should point exactly down to the ground, this puts the right forearm in a perpendicular position to the ground and at a right angle to your bicep. Your upper arm or bicep should be parallel to the ground.

While this is happening you have to make sure that you are getting a good shoulder turn. It won’t help to have the right arm in a perfect position and not have a good shoulder turn.

Now the downswing – start the downswing be literally slamming your right elbow directly into your right hip. Straight down and do this hard and fast. Push with the right hand or pull with the left hand , either will work. While you are slamming your right elbow into your right hip , you will be bumping forward with your left hip. This is a lateral move and is one of Harvey Penicks ” Magic Moves” He suggests that you actually start the swing with this bump to the left and that this move will help bring your right elbow into it’s proper position.

Try it both ways… see what kind of results you get. And use what works for you.

If you do it right your swing plane and path will improve instantly as you will hit the ball crisply and very very solid.

By: Paul Macleod

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