Priceless gems from my pro
Now I'm hitting better, straighter, further
Need to get a grip of my swing.
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When you lose confidence it’s always best to have a lesson from a pro. It refreshes the parts of your swing you can’t reach by trial and error.
In recent weeks I have lost confidence in my game – especially off tee in competitions and instead of my handicap tumbling, having got to within a fraction of single figures, it has started to go the other way. A series of poor starts in medals from which I have been unable to fully recover has been my problem.
Sound familiar?
However, Neil Evans one of the excellent teaching professionals at Greetham Valley spotted the problem within seconds.
My self-taught swing of 30-odd years, while compact, had got narrower to the point where I was too reliant on hand-eye co-ordination to square the clubface at impact consistently.
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Arms fold too early.
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It’s a problem many golfers face. When we’re on, we’re almost unbeatable; when the timing’s awry, the swing gets shorter and narrower. A pull hook can quickly be followed with a slice, a top and God knows what else!
Destructive is the word I’m looking for. I needed to get a grip of my swing.
After I’d hit a few 7-irons and a handful of drives in the range, Neil Evans led me (spitting feathers) into the video room to identify the problem.
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The Faults
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Grip – too strong.
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*My grip was ‘too strong’ – that doesn’t mean I was strangling the handle, merely that my left hand in my adequate two-fisted grip was too much on top…the right hand too much underneath
Result: My take-away was too steep, forcing the club back to the ball at too steep an angle. This loads the mid- and long-irons as well as the metalwoods with too much spin.
*Take-away too narrow, inadequate shoulder turn.
Result: Too reliant on hands to achieve perfect square face at impact – lack of width, therefore lack of distance.
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Head-down at address.
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*In my stance I was too crouched. With my head down it tended to encourage my posture to look as if I was sitting down on a shooting stick.
Result: Too much flex in the knees leads to narrow take-away and less width in the back swing.
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The Cures
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*Neil moved my grip to a ‘weaker position’ so that I could only see two knuckles on my left hand at address (instead of three) and brought my right-hand slightly left to be more on top of the grip. The Vs between thumbs and forefingers were now aimed more at my right ear than my right shoulder.
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Better grip – more neutral.
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Result: Less inclination to pick the club up steeply and to leave the clubface open at impact.
My take-away demanded a longer extension away from the ball before cocking the wrists automatically. This in turn would generate a better shoulder turn and a wider arc.
Result: Immediately a little more shoulder turn (though not nearly enough) - and a far better chance of the clubhead returning square to the ball. Less inclination to pull or slice – suddenly I could hit a draw!
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Head up, better posture.
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Standing taller at address (chin up not head down) with a better spine angle and knees less flexed helped create more width in my swing.
Result: I was less inclined to get in my own way and found more room to swing the club through at impact.
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Practice drills
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Neil gave me the following drills to practice…
At Home
*Stand regularly in front of a mirror to practice the wider-takeaway and maintain my height and develop better posture.
On the range
*Practice half-shots with 7-irons and feet together (to establish good balance), using the wider take-away and follow through extension.
*Build in more of a shoulder turn to develop more width and length of shot.
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More width in the take-away.
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*Develop the new grip and wider take-away into my pre-shot routine (similar to US Masters champion Mike Weir, who practises a wide take-way before each shot).
After my lesson (£14 well spent for 30 minutes of priceless gems) I played nine holes with my new but still unfamiliar swing and immediately gained new-found confidence off the tee – struck the ball better, straighter and further.
Apparently this is common but if I want to maintain it and ensure I don’t revert to bad habits under pressure, it will demand more practice to ingrain it and develop the consistency I’m seeking.
Tell us on The Forum what pricelss gems a pro has given you – and at what charge.
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Discuss this story
Bob I found your article fascinating and just a bit spooky! Even though you wrote it some time ago, I only read it today. I have been really struggling over recent weeks and have lost around 10 shots a round and hit a seasons low in a medal on Saturday scoring 96 with one par on the only hole where I hit the green in regulation!!
The list of problems is long, but I lacked distance especially off the tee, lacked height and found it almost impossible to get fairway woods and long irons airborne…. To combat the lack of height, I started exaggerating wrist/elbow action and to an extent this worked but mainly on my mid to short irons.
The revelation came on the range when on a whim I increased the width of takeaway and shoulder turn and decreased wrist/elbow action - bingo started hitting longer, straighter, higher shots and shock horror even my driving improved. On Monday I won a game over nine holes with sixteen points (off 17 handicap) and while my ball striking had improved, I was tending to pull it left.
The following evening I got out with my son with a buggy and a chance of eighteen. I struck the ball better than I have ever done before, scoring 39 for the front nine and 44 for the back with an eight on the par 5 last for 83 +11 equal to my best score.
I have since been to the driving range to try to “groove” my new swing and have done almost everything you mention in your article – the neutral grip, the straight back, the straight arm takeaway. My main problem is the strain it is putting on my back. If I am going to maintain this swing and improve further, I will need a stronger and more flexible back. I am thinking of buying the IZZO Swing and Grip Trainer to help the process – anyone any experience with it?
Maybe someone would like to recommend some exercises to improve flexibility and avoid injury?
Posted: 02/10/2003 16:16
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