Re: Take lessons for more should turn on the swing

Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 17:15:04 GMT
Newsgroups: rec.sport.golf
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On 14 Jul 2003 11:43:35 -0700, email-address-deleted (Dave) wrote:
>I have been playing for about 2 yrs now. I am about 6'1 195LB and my
>swing is mostly a arm swing with a slight shoulder turn. I play in
>the low 90's to high 80's all the time. My irons and drives are
>straight, but I was told that I can get more distance if I incorporate
>more of a shoulder turn in my swing. I am serious about golf but
>unsure whether I should take some lessons to incorporate more shoulder
>turn. I believe that everyone's swing is different. Should I take
>some lessons to work on more of a shoulder turn to get some extra
>distance??. I am 24yrs old right now and I would love to play on the
>local tour and tournaments when I get better
Reading your post made me feel like it was deja vu all over again.
I've been playing for 20 yrs, but only on a regular basis (both days
off/week if weather permits) for the last 6 yrs.
I've ALWAYS had an all arms swing, and just like you, was able to get
away with it when it came to the shorter clubs, but not the longer
ones. Any club with a metal wood head was a "slice-on-a-stick."
I had taken lessons sparingly. The times I did, I was given what
amounted to quick-fixes, which did not help me develope a proper
swing. In defence of the teachers, only one time did I take a series
of 5 lessons, and the teacher pretty much helped my swaying and
standing up problem, but that was it. The other times it was just
single lessons, and a quick fix was probably what I was after anyway.
I finally decided to do something serious once and for all. For years
I had seen the pictures of the pros in the various golf mags, where it
looked like their lower bodies were already practically facing down
the fairway as they were making contact. What were they doing that I
wasn't?
I went to the local pro (I got good and poor reviews of him) and
IMMEDIATELY he had no reservations about telling me that while I had a
fundamentally sound backswing, it was my downswing that was screwing
everything up, because I my downswing was being performed
ass-backward! Instead of initiating the downswing with my arms like I
was doing, it was supposed to be started with the lower body, pulling
the upper body along with it.
That is the basis of torque, and why it is important to make a full
shoulder turn. You wind up the body and uncoil it from the bottom up.
The full shoulder turn was the second lesson. I think I'm now
stretching mucles that haven't been stretched since I was 12.
I'm sure you've realised that when you make a full shoulder turn, your
lower body is wound back too, about 45 deg closed if you make a 90 deg
shoulder turn. Now, when you unwind from the bottom (my teacher has me
doing it by firing the left knee towards the target), when the hips
and shoulders both turn 90 deg back (with the hips leading the
movement), 90 deg hip turn to 45 deg open has your shoulders turn 90
deg to square at impact.
While I pretty much always swung out of my shoes on every shot, I now
find that the simple act of firing the knee (on backswing it moves
behind the ball) and getting the hips moving FORCES the arms to start
dropping down, as if by themselves (teach says it is part of
centrifigal force). The swing is beginning to seem much more
effortless. I'm losing just a little distance, but the swing seems
simpler. Once the knee starts the only thing to be concerned with is
squaring the club, as the swing seems to develope and progress
on its own! I feel like I don't even have to think about the actual
swinging, which of course leads to nothing but brain freezes anyway.
Sadly, I haven't been able to translate this into the woods yet, but
working on it. Gave up going to the range and think it's better just
to hit whiffle balls, to stop giving too much of a crap where the ball
goes until I develope a feel for the swing with the longer shafts.
Keep it up. Like you, my scores range from high 80s to low 90s. And
that's about as far as an improper swing will take you. You're making
that shoulder turn not only for distance, but to make it more sound
and consistant, which will make it more accurate.
Joe Perez