The First 45 Degrees

By | on July 3, 2018 | 21 Comments |


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Paul Wilson is the creator of Swing Machine Golf and founder of Ignition Golf. Paul's golf swing technique is based on the Iron Byron swing machine. YouTube Channels: Paul Wilson Golf and Ignition Golf Tips. Please Join me on Google+

21 Responses to “The First 45 Degrees”

  1. Paul… Wondering what the symptoms of the over rotation you describe. Recently I have been making great contact but a push, straight at 10 to 15 degrees ??????? Wondering if it could be due to over rotation.

    • Hi Jeffrey,
      I have time on my hands to read these comments and talk golf! I’m not Paul, but I do have lots of experience in teaching and playing this game.
      To answer your question (not to take Paul’s place but to help you from another point of view from someone who has been there before), you will PUSH the ball if you over-rotate. Trust me – I did and sometimes still do.

      To correct the push, do several things:
      1. Check alignment: parallel left.
      2. Check grip: neutral
      3. Once these are right, loosen up the wrists and hit some awesome hooks to work the ball from right to left, or just left to left.
      4. You might also check position of club at top. It should point at the target with fully cocked wrists with a 90 degree shoulder turn.
      5. Now, hit your shots at 50% distance and turn your hips slowly at first. See what the ball does. If it doesn’t go dead straight, loosen up the wrists more, check alignment, and check that you are not hitting “at” the ball in any way.
      6. If you rotate and coil tight in back swing, you will have an easier job hitting the ball consistently straight. You will get to the point where downswing is automatic reaction.
      7. The ball should fire out there on a low trajectory with a ridiculously “easy” swing. That is, if you hit the ball dead solid in the middle of the club face. (If this is a problem, use impact tape to verify, then review fundamentals: set up, spinal angle, free handing arms, loose arms, etc.)

      You can DO this. What Paul will probably say is that practicing your swing around the house (in the air) will do wonders for your fundamentals: touch your knees, touch your head, torque up the backswing to 90 degree shoulder turn and 45 degree hip turn, 22 degrees of knee.

      When you GET these fundamentals exactly right, you will NOT PUSH the ball, unless you want to. There is no mystery why you are pushing the ball. It’s physics. Simple physics.

      Sliding is what I used to do – and sometimes still do. You have to constantly check your fundamentals. Don’t go searching for “quick fixes” whatever you do. Been there, done that. LISTEN TO PAUL. He has given you all that you need to hit great, awesome shots.

      The consistency achievable with this swing method is phenomenal. I got to the point where I could land my driver in the same spot. My driver! Let the club swing freely, don’t guide it, line up straight. It becomes that simple after thousands of reps done perfectly.

      Remember, only practice perfect positions. Don’t hit until you have these down. Then swing 3 times perfectly before you hit each ball, and then swing exactly and as freely as your practice swing.

      YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE HOW FAR THE BALL WILL GO WITH AN EASY SWING. IT’S RIDICULOUS! I am living proof. I can hit a 7 iron 150 yards with a very SLOW swing. And I mean slow turning hips. But the wrists are very loose and free so that the club face goes wherever it wants to.

      Don’t give up. It will happen one day that all these fundamentals you are working on will “click,” and the ball will go dead straight. This will impress your friends and yourself more than distance!!!!!! Keep hitting the ball down the middle and hitting greens and the sky is the limit. Work on putting, too!

      Consistency will beat anyone, even on the pro level. Short hitters, long hitters – they all need to get the ball into the hole in the fewest strokes. Consistency is the path to great golf. Not distance. I learned the hard way.

      Hope this helps. Let me know how it works out for you. Paul will help big time. Just DO what he says. Even if he keeps repeating the same stuff. This is what makes his teaching so brilliant. You can’t change physics (gravity).

      Best,
      John

    • Jeffrey,

      The over-rotation would be in the backswing I highly doubt you are turning them too fast in the downwing but it can be done. If so you would hit pushes and push fades. Sounds like you need to watch this tip:

      DRILL: Golf Swing Timing For More Distance: https://ignitiongolf.com/timing-more-distance/

      Maybe this one too:

      Advanced – Driving Hips Check: https://ignitiongolf.com/driving-hips-check/

  2. Paul, great tip. Clear and concise explanation of the principal you’re trying to teach. I believe you did an earlier tip where you put a golf stick through your front belt loops to illustrate the degree of hip turn. Perhaps adding the stick to this drill will help identify the actual amount of hip turn since you can match it up to the golf club on the ground.

  3. Hello Paul. Happy Fourth of July to all my American friends. Is it possible that even though I may be turning my hips first that I can still be coming over the top. Sometimes I am sure that I have turned first but I will hit an straight hook. I always check my grip and stance before every shot.
    Don

  4. Excellent explanation.

  5. Happy 4th Paul!

    Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! We hope to meet you in person in Viva Las Vegas and have you check out our hips.

  6. Paul as u know I have been following your teaching for a couple of years.
    The first move is to turn shoulder, shoulder will turn hips, hips will turn knees.
    Question: DO I turn my shoulder tilted downward or flat like a baseball swing. HELP

  7. I do both of those moves
    straight back knee in coli
    hit the ball square , almost flat footed

    This looks like a great drill to get that move

  8. Sorry Bob I don’t think u are watching Paul. I don’t want to have a straight back knee and also hitting the ball without knees touching.
    Am I receiving different lessons from the ones you are re eiving?

  9. Paul: Could you please comment on the “speed of the hips” throughout the downswing. Specifically, do you see the hips as accelerating evenly through the entire downswing, or do the hips stall or slowdown after the initial 45 degree move back to square and then a more gradual move to the 45 degrees open of the contact position. Maybe you could comment on the feeling you experience with your hips in regards to the rate of acceleration of the hips, ie:
    gradual acceleration, fast acceleration throughout, fast acceleration followed by slower acceleration after back to square.
    Thanks…w kalaidjian

    • Kalaidjian,

      From the top they hips are changing direction so they would be starting at zero mph and accelerating as fast as you can until they are around 454 degrees open into the through swing (the second 45 degrees). This is when the club is just past impact. At this point the hips and every swing actually come to a complete stop until the arms catch up. Then they level out and complete the turn to the follow through.

      I am moving hard and fast between 80-90% of how hard I can move them. I know it doesn’t look like it but I am really moving. This hip action get the upper body uncoiling. You body mass is heavy so it takes a lot of energy to turn it fast.

      Impact Hip Rotation (at camera): https://ignitiongolf.com/impact-hip-rotation/

      If you are looking to increase this speed you need to constantly and consistently do this drill:

      DRILL: Listen to Club Swinging: https://ignitiongolf.com/drill-listen-to-club/
      DRILL: How To Really Increase Power: https://ignitiongolf.com/how-to-really-increase-power/

      Do it every night with driver until you know for a fact you are using your legs and hips to power the swing not your hands and arms.

  10. July 25, 2018

    RickEgan

    Great drill! Roger Fredricks was the first person I heard talk about the ‘two cheeks’. Thanks for the tie-in with his flexibility ideas.

    • Rick,

      Roger is a great friend of mine. We talk all of the time. I think remember him talking about that. Vital.

  11. Paul,

    My back heel rises as soon as I start the rotation because my downswing trigger is “push on back foot”. Is it ok to rise the heel when doing this drill or it must stay in place?

    Thank you for your comment.

    Frederic

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