A Golf Swing Breakthrough?
My journey to better continues, this time with the guidance of an unlikely source: YouTube.
A could weeks ago I provided an update on my golf game, which at the time resembled something closer to a train wreck. Since then I’ve spent a great time of time and energy on fighting what ailed me, guided by the memory of decent play from my past and a library of YouTube tips.
I’m happy to report my most recent round showed promise, and it all stems from one simple swing adjustment… and a tomato stick.
A Quick Note on Swing Plane
For years I’ve struggled with a flat backswing. I used to attribute this to my baseball playing days as a child, but having played golf for over 25 years now, that excuse is running out of fuel.
For whatever reason, the feeling of a right elbow tucked against my side seemed like the best thing to do. Ben Hogan had a flat swing, for crying out loud! Surely if he — and countless other, less-successful pros — could make a flat swing plane work, I could figure out a way, too.
Over the years I began to convince myself that a single-plane swing was just a fancier way of referring to what you see in the video above, and I stuck to my guns. Unfortunately, my focus on that feeling in my right elbow became an obsession, and over time other aspects of the backswing fell apart. Loose wrists at the top became an exaggerated re-gripping of the club just before transition, which was evident on the wear patterns in my golf glove.
I recall a former playing partner suggesting that this little move — which included a sound that again confirmed I was re-gripping the club at the top — was a modern marvel of hand-eye coordination and timing. But not in a good way.
Perhaps the worst part of my swing was that it actually produced good rounds of golf from time to time. My lowest handicap ever was achieved last summer (6). It’s been a slow, painful climb back up toward double-digits ever since. Yes, it is true that it’s possible to have too much of a good thing.
I knew I needed to adjust something, and the only thing that sprang into mind was the plane of my backswing.
A YouTube Video Tip That Actually Works
Contrary to the advice I have given multiple people myself… I searched YouTube for about an hour on tips to steepen my swing. Despite the best efforts of friends and golf pros alike, I’ve never been able to adequately “feel” what a steeper backswing should be.
Until now.
The above video, filmed in 2016 by a pro I’ve never heard of, was just short enough to provide me the information I needed without being “too short.” It also seemed to make enough sense and was explained in such away that the message resonated. Plus, all it required was a purchase of a $2 tomato stick from my local hardware store to get started.
Working through the drill described in the video was odd at first, but I’d be damned if it didn’t work as advertised. Two range sessions with my newfound tomato stick resulted in what “felt” like a steeper swing, but more importantly, produced crisp contact.
While the results are still early and more testing is needed, we might be onto something here. Stay tuned for more updates as I have them.
What Does a Good Golf Swing Look Like?
What do you think about when you picture a “good golf swing?” We took to Twitter to get your input.
We’ve all seen what we believe to be a “good golf swing.” When we say the phrase, each of us have a swing in our minds that fit that description. But what does that actually look like, and do we all see it the same way?
Most of us may picture a Tour professional when thinking about the perfect golf swing. You can probably jump to YouTube right now, search for that player’s name, and find numerous examples of what you believe to be a good golf swing.
Popular names include Tiger Woods (of course), Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Steve Elkington, Louis Oosthuizen, Michelle Wie, Annika Sorenstam… the list goes on and on. In fact, some of you reading that list may roll your eyes at the names mentioned.
What characteristics does a good golf swing include? We’d all likely agree that qualities like good balance, swing tempo, and perhaps overall speed are consistent across the board. After all, professional players that have successful careers often display those characteristics.
Naturally, the best resource for on-demand reaction these days is Twitter. The question was pretty straightforward to the Golf Unfiltered account followers:
The responses to this question were varied and plentiful, but not too surprising in their content. What was interesting to see, at least for me, was how likeminded many were.
How to Generate Power Like Rory McIlroy
Our writer Adam Tatro visited the 2019 BMW Championship and noticed a few things about Rory’s swing that you can use to better your game.
I have a love/hate relationship with Rory McIlroy’s golf swing.
Essentially, there are two main reasons people hit a golf ball a far: clubhead speed, and quality of contact. That being said, there are two ways to generate the clubhead speed:
The arc of your swing, and/or…
Having your body work as one well oiled machine.
Occasionally (read: constantly), it drives me crazy to watch Rory hit tee shot after tee shot that FLIES 320 yards.
Not because I dislike Rory; I actually really like the guy. It just seems so unfair that THAT distance can come from a man of his stature. I know the guy is in fantastic shape, and I know he’s a strong guy. But doesn’t it just seem impossible that a guy who’s listed at 5’9” can carry the ball 320? You’ve probably thought this before yourself.
I’m between 6’0” and 6’4” (depending on which convenient store I’m leaving), about 200 lbs, a single digit handicap despite what Adam Fonseca and Matt Hackett will tell you, (Editor’s note: on the PLUS side), I played college golf, have given hundreds of lessons and can hit it what I consider to be far. My ball speed is anywhere from 167-171, and I fly it in the 270-280 range, and rolls out to roughly 300, depending on the conditions. I consider that perfectly fine.
But how the hell can it be, that a guy like Rory who seemingly could fit in his own damn golf bag, can FLY IT 50 YARDS PAST ME?
Actually, I can explain.
Swing Arc
The first critical element to generating speed is something you may already know: the bigger the arc you can have in your swing (really, the taller you are) the further the distance the clubhead will travel, and usually the faster the club will travel.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the only reason tall guys hit it far is because of their height, and fully know that the talent of all these players is off the charts whether they are tall or short. Nor am I saying that all tall people should hit it far.
I’m just saying there are two ways to create clubhead speed, with arc being the first. Think of holding a length of string between your thumb and forefinger with a weight attached to it. Now think about swinging it around in a circle. What is traveling faster, the part of the string near your hand, or the weight?
As Ben Hogan described in his 5 Lessons, the weight is the right answer. It has to travel the same distance as you travel in the same amount of time, and thus is traveling faster. This is the type of distance I attribute to guys like DJ, Bubba, Phil, Finau and any other of the taller guys on tour. It’s just basic physics. Combined with their incredible talent, of course.
Rory is shorter than all of those guys, but can fly it past them. Let’s dig deeper.
Timing and Technique
The second way to create the clubhead speed is timing and technique. The best way I can describe how Rory gets the distance he gets is to twist a rubber band up 4 or 5 times, and let it go.
What happened? You’ll see the rubber band quickly untwisted back to its original shape, right? Rory’s coiling motion in his back swing and follow-through is similar. This motion requires an incredible amount of timing to execute perfectly, which Rory does.
Take a look at the side by side picture below. Focus an on a few different aspects of this picture.
Rory McIlroy at the 2019 BMW Championship.
First, the picture on the right is Rory a millisecond before impact on a tee-shot he hit at the BMW Championship that he ABSOLUTELY massacred (I can honestly say I’ve never seen a ball stay I the air that long). He is moving off his right side through impact, and his left side is so perfectly straight you could level a pool table with it.
Now look at Rory’s left shoulder. It went from coiled under him to uncoiled (pretty much straight up at least six inches) in an absolute split second…or from halfway down his swing to impact.
Finally, look at the extension after impact in the photo below. Rory went from perfectly coiled up, to fully extended, in a split second. His technique of driving up and through the golf ball, getting to your left side, extending through the ball, and keeping your left side that straight is pretty much perfection. Timing this perfectly so it all happens that quickly like a rubber band is just amazing.
What Can We Learn?
First, if you can, work on widening the arc of your swing. This is different than taking a longer backswing. Instead, don’t be afraid to get your arms extended a bit on the takeaway, and create a little more distance for the club head to travel from the top of the backswing to impact. You can still do this move and remain short of parallel at the top.
Second, how many times have you heard someone say, “swing easy” or “I know I hit it better when I take a nice smooth swing?'“ More than you can count, correct? When someone tells you to “swing easy” they are trying to tell you to time your swing better, much like we see in Rory’s swing.
Swinging slower doesn’t actually make a golf ball go farther, physics don’t work that way. What swinging slower does is helps you time your golf swing better, and helps all the parts in your body that are working together stay connected to actually make the club head travel faster. This also helps get contact a little more in the center of the club face, thus increasing ball speed and distance.
Use this tip to get a little more distance out of a driver: slow it down a bit, work on getting through the ball, and time your swing right. You might not hit it as far as Rory, but that extra 10 yards you’ve been looking for are definitely already in your body.
(Adam Tatro is a former collegiate golfer and club professional.)
Fix My Swing: Current Golf Swing (June 2017)
In this installment of the #FixMySwing video series, I give an update on my current golf swing and what I'm currently working on to improve.
In this installment of my #FixMySwing series, I give an update of my current golf swing as of June 2017. The video was recorded at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club.
What I'm Working On
In this video you will see me hit a few shots with my wedge, 7-iron, and 3-wood. I'm still working on the Square to Square swing method but with some small adjustments. I am focusing on keeping the clubhead in front of my body throughout the swing, especially during the downswing and into impact.
What's Going Well
I really like the feel I get at impact when the clubhead stays in front of my body. The divot is shallow and I seem to compress the ball better. I actually spun a few range balls back a bit as a result of my hands being ahead of the ball at impact.
Carry distance remains consistent from one shot to the next, taking the guesswork out of my game. If I need to carry a ball 150 yards, for example, I know a smooth 7-iron will get me within 3 yards of that number (+/-).
What I Want to Improve
My hook continues to rear its ugly head every so often, but far less frequently than before. When on the course I notice my hook to become more prevalent late in the round. I attribute this to fatigue and lack of focus.
I still struggle with thin shots, especially on my wedges. This is probably due to a postural flaw through transition.
I'd love to hear your feedback. Leave your comments below or email me at golfunfiltered@gmail.com.
Fix My Swing: Pulling the Rope
In the third installment of the Fix My Swing video series, I focus on a new sensation during my downswing.
In the third installment of my #FixMySwing video series, I focus on ingraining a feel of pulling my hands down during my downswing and transition. The sensation I am looking for in my downswing is as if I was pulling a rope down from the sky. Sergio Garcia, among others, also looks for this sensation or pictures in his mind pulling down on a rope or a chain. I found this helps me make crisper contact with the ball, as well as helping me keep the club in front of my body throughout the swing.
Comments on my swing? Feel free to email me at adam@golfunfiltered.com.
Path to Better: How to Fix the Shanks
There is no worse golf swing ailment than a case of the shanks. Here are some of the best drills to fix your golf shanks forever.
There is no worse golf swing ailment than catching a case of the shanks. Understanding why the "dreaded 'S'-word" can creep up in your game is the first step to curing them, followed by quality time on the practice tee.
What is a shank?
A shank is when a golf ball is hit off the hosel of your golf club, or the lower-most extension of the club shaft. There is little to no impact on the actual clubface, and the ball often shoots off to the right (or left, depending on your dominant hand).
Here I am demonstrating this position. No, this wasn't on purpose.
If you look closely, you can see both the dreaded impact position described above and my dreams of a pleasant day at the driving range shatter. You can also see an overall horrible spine angle, crippling posture, and horrific basketball shorts.
What causes the shank?
95 percent of the time the shanks are caused by your hands moving away from your body. In my case above, my balance shifted toward my toes (among other postural issues). A backswing on an extreme inside path can also eventually lead to poor downswing transition that results in a shank (see Zach Allen's video below).
Moral of the story: the club is moving perpendicular to the target line. That's bad. Real bad.
Never fear. They can be fixed.
How do you fix the shanks?
There are a multitude of drills from some of the best golf instructors in the world available on YouTube. Any of them can help cure your shank ailment, but here are some of the best drills I've found.
(Note: All of these videos give different takes on the same concept. This reinforces the point that the root cause of the shanks is almost always the same!)
The David Leadbetter Drill --
Mark Crossfield Drill --
Zach Allen's Explaination of 3 Types of Shanks and Drill --
My Swing Evolution: Hogan Drill, Grip Adjustment, Best Ball Striking Ever!
Christo Garcia from My Swing Evolution shows a great golf swing drill invented by the great Ben Hogan.
My Swing Evolution is an instructional golf channel on YouTube and partner of Golf Unfiltered. Founded by Christo Garcia, MSE features a comprehensive examination of the classic golf swing made famous by Ben Hogan. Videos and descriptions featured on GU are taken directly from the MSE YouTube channel with permission.
In this video Christo demonstrates a drill from Mr. Hogan himself and talks about how much better his ball striking has become.
