For center pivot swingers, the golf swing can be thought of as making a baseball swing
tilted down at the ground. To get the feel of this swinging action
practice this drill. (Please note that this drill is described from a right handed perspective.)
- Start from a standing position holding the golf club in front of you, arms extended, clubhead at chin level,
hands slightly lower, so that there is a little angle between your hands and the shaft.
- Your feet should be just a little wider than shoulder width, your left arm
should feel connected to your left pectoral muscle.
- Rotate your upper body away from the target, start the turn with your shoulders,
let your hips and torso follow, and let the arms swing back naturally.
Turn until you feel a full coil between your shoulders and hips. Keep your left heel flat on the ground. You
should feel that you are rotating on a single axis of your spine without much - if any - weight shift to your right foot.
If you have some don't worry about it.
- About halfway back, allow your left forearm to rotate so that when your arms are rotated back to their
fullest, your left palm is facing downward and your left wrist is relatively flat.
- At the full extent of your rotation back, your left arm should be on the same plane as your shoulders.
.
- With your left leg firmly planted, rotate your body aggressively to the left while keeping your arms
relaxed. The hips will lead this movement and the stretch created by the coil against the lower body will
snap the upper body around to the left. The aggressive rotation should commence immediately after you have
centered your weight over
your left hip and leg, keeping your head where it was at address. This is called the weight "bump". If you had
a little weight shift going back, this must occur before you turn through.
If you happened to keep most of your weight on your left side while turning back, it's already there so no
conscious "bump" is necessary. The Key Point is that your weight has to be left when everything turns through.
- The sensation here is one of having your hips rotate back behind you.
Imagine your body rotating back "behind" you while keeping your arms passive and feel how the body can whip the
arms and club through impact with little effort. That is a powerful image!
- One more benefit to this drill is that when you are rotated fully on the backswing, if you bend forward and flex
into golf posture, it should be perfect for an actual swing.
|