Very good reminder ,Paul ,of the basics ,thank you ;
When something goes wrong in your shot ,always revert to the basics .
I utilize a simpified version of the points to go through,I name it GASP=Grip-Alignment-Stance- Posture .
Of course there are the 12 other points you mention ….
I’ll have to find a key to remember them.
You don’t seem to have covered fully the role of the hands in the golf swing :I ‘ve just come across a golf book entirely devoted to the subject ,written 70 years ago by ERIC PRAIN .
Could you please cover the subject more in depth in a next video (Apart from the Grip you’ve already elaborated on)
If you’ve already done it ,please excuse me for the question and give me the address to find it in your Library
This tip is on the list. I will get it to it shortly. Not sure what more I can say. I just did what the body does and what the hands and arms do a couple weeks ago here:
Great tip as I notice when I hit a bad one I have usually had a bad setup. This occurs when I am nervous over the ball.
A good swing begins with a good grip. Ben Hogan has spoken. I have also noticed my spine angle has to be right to get good contact. Now if you could tell ma a secret on how to relax over the ball I would be fixed.
Paul ,
In the “POWERLESS ARMS “system you promote,the speed of the downswing is very much correlated with the speed of the right elbow falling towards the right side .
Question :do you do something to have the right elbow falling quicker than by the effect of gravity ,for example by pulling the right elbow down?
In no way am I teaching or thinking about the right arm in the back and downswing. This should be tucking because your arms are powerless and you are using your body to hit the ball. If you force the elbow down you would be moving your arms and club (mass) before the axis (body). In physics, this wouldn’t work too well.
Paul ,Do you really mean that the complete and complex movement of both arms and wrists in the downswing is automatic ,provided you keep the arms “POWERLESS “.
Surely ,here’s some training to be done to have them work the proper way !
At the top of the backswing ,if you mark a “pause ” before dropping the arms ,you “load “the shaft better ,isn’t it ?
Yes it is. You are seeing them as arms and wrists. I am seeing it as mass swinging around and axis with your arms being the connection to the mass. Do nothing to mass and it will stretch out to its widest point 100% of the time. This means the plane would flatten, the arc would widen, the club would release, the face would square, the club would re-hinge all on it own. People are trying to hit with their arms. In doing so they are moving the mass without the axis which will not work anywhere near as well.
Do you want to get this stuff fast? If so, I want you to feel your arms and manually work on all of these positions. Once you get them you turn them OFF. I have said this many times in the past.
You load the shaft by changing directions with the lower body. In doing so the mass would be the last thing to move so the shaft would load.
Paul ,
To better understand the full sequence of the downswing ,it would help to have your own downswing seen in slow motion .
I see at least three different parts in the downswing
-Top of the backswing
-Uncocking
-The “unleashing” of the club at the bottom (What’s usually called the “release “)
Maybe I’m too analytical but this would explain how a normal sized guy like RORY Mc OITOY hits it as far as huge BUBBY WATSON !
The frame rate on the cameras are not fast enough to catch all of the positions in the downswing.
Difference in swings is rotational speed of the center/length of arms/body mass that is turning etc. etc. Smaller guys can turn faster than a 6’4″ Ernie Els.
Paul ,The entire movement is a bit more intricate as what you describe :there are two axis :
-The first one is the one you mention :the spine (or body)
-the second one is the axis passing through the wrists and at right angles to swing plane .
The two angular momentums add up in succession and have to smoothly blend together at the proper moment .
The angular momentums are IxOmega (Rotational speed ).
You can’t do anything about “I “(Moment of Inertia:which is related to your weight and your build )but you can improve speed (Omega ):this means speed of the body and speed of the arms (around the wrists )
This means that arms strength,or better arms speed , is a factor to take into consideration .
Another factor is the distance between the axis of rotation of the body and the axis of Inertia of the swing :they have to be as close as possible from one another ,if not there is a loss ,therefore there should be no forward shift of the hips but an immediate rotation of the body around the left leg ,which entails the left leg around which the movent is made should be slightly “outside “of the left shoulder as you move silghtly forward with the right foot instep push .
Sorry to be pedantic,but I have an advanced Mathematical and Physics background (which served me nothing in my extensive career of CEO of US Multinationals ), but did help quite a lot initially when I was a Young and distinguished Naval architect and engineer of submarines :I nearly lost my life several times in these marvelous but dangerous “toys”,out of ignorance how they worked (We had gotten several GERMAN U Boots ,as “damage of war “benefits ,but all the instructions were written in German ! )
I think the best way to improve is to work on each part of the the swing in slow motion ,then blend everything together .
Last ,there intervenes the theory of shocks,between the face of the clubhead and the ball,how MV (Mass x Speed ) is transmitted from one to another:clean strike or glancing strike ,aerodynamics ,gravity ,spin and air drag …
you are making this way too complicated. The Iron Byron has 2 moving parts and a 3rd element. You can make it complicated all you want. I will stick to those 3 things so I and everyone else can make it simple. I suggest you do the same.
Paul ,it may seem complicated ,but I have comme to réalize That moSt of the speed résults from what happens between the “loading “of the shaft at the top ,the downcocking in the early downswing ,keeping the shaft back ,the halfway downswing with the right elbow pulling down ,th en finally the uncocking of the wrists latest possible (i have nô contrôll over this ,only a ” Feeling ” ) and the striking the ball with the left wrist ahead of the ball ( No flicking at the ball )
I work on thèse MOVES in slow Motion .
It seems to improve my ball striking !
Let’s see the end résults !
I made notes and only came up with 15 (and added my own brief summaries and a guess at #16)
1. grip (hard to summarize)
2. club face alignment (square to your intermediate target)
3. soul the club properly (front to back not toe to heel)
4. ball position (zero, one or two balls relative to inside front heel)
5. width of stance (sync with #4)
6. foot position (slight flaring out of both feet)
7. weight distribution on feet (athletic, ready position with even weight distribution)
8. hand position from front view (above mid thigh of front leg)
9. distance hands from the body from rear view (6 inches or so)
10. knee flex (athletic until tension in upper leg muscles)
11. angle of your chest (chest points 6 to 8 feet beyond the ball)
12. extension of arms (fully extended but not creating tension in forearms or wrists)
13. alignment from rear view to target (feet, hips, shoulders parallel to target line)
14. chin position (natural, not too down) [shouldn’t be on the list in my opinion]
15. elbow rotation (neutral with elbow pits facing up 45 degrees) [also questionably on the list, just natural]
From other videos, I would say that the 16th should be:
16. spine tilt (small due to lower hand being lower than top hand)
If there are better very short summaries I would appreciate your clarification.
Hi Paul,
This is a great list to work on. i will work on it at the driving range, where hopefully it will become a habit. When i play i tend to rush so as not to make the group have to wait too long for me to hit. Probably if i took the time at the start i would hit better and far fewer shots which would speed things up considerably. Is there any differences setting up when you are not on a flat surface? Uphill, downhill, sidehill lies and the combinations of the are common on the hilly courses i play (plus i’m not in the flatter fairway as often as i would like to be).
thanks,
ter
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17 Responses to “How To Fix Your Own Swing”
June 18, 2014
RaymondCHASTELVery good reminder ,Paul ,of the basics ,thank you ;
When something goes wrong in your shot ,always revert to the basics .
I utilize a simpified version of the points to go through,I name it GASP=Grip-Alignment-Stance- Posture .
Of course there are the 12 other points you mention ….
I’ll have to find a key to remember them.
You don’t seem to have covered fully the role of the hands in the golf swing :I ‘ve just come across a golf book entirely devoted to the subject ,written 70 years ago by ERIC PRAIN .
Could you please cover the subject more in depth in a next video (Apart from the Grip you’ve already elaborated on)
If you’ve already done it ,please excuse me for the question and give me the address to find it in your Library
June 18, 2014
TIMADAMSRaymond That sounds like Jon jacobs golf school to me they teach GASP(went there in “91”)
June 18, 2014
RaymondCHASTELProbably also Jim Mc LEAN :i went there in THE early ’70’s
June 30, 2014
Paul WilsonRaymond,
This tip is on the list. I will get it to it shortly. Not sure what more I can say. I just did what the body does and what the hands and arms do a couple weeks ago here:
What To Work On With Your Arms: https://ignitiongolf.com/what-to-work-on-with-arms/
What To Work On With Your Body: https://ignitiongolf.com/what-to-work-on-with-body/
June 18, 2014
LouisBondGreat tip as I notice when I hit a bad one I have usually had a bad setup. This occurs when I am nervous over the ball.
A good swing begins with a good grip. Ben Hogan has spoken. I have also noticed my spine angle has to be right to get good contact. Now if you could tell ma a secret on how to relax over the ball I would be fixed.
July 16, 2014
RaymondCHASTELPaul ,
In the “POWERLESS ARMS “system you promote,the speed of the downswing is very much correlated with the speed of the right elbow falling towards the right side .
Question :do you do something to have the right elbow falling quicker than by the effect of gravity ,for example by pulling the right elbow down?
July 16, 2014
Paul WilsonRaymond,
In no way am I teaching or thinking about the right arm in the back and downswing. This should be tucking because your arms are powerless and you are using your body to hit the ball. If you force the elbow down you would be moving your arms and club (mass) before the axis (body). In physics, this wouldn’t work too well.
July 17, 2014
RaymondCHASTELPaul ,Do you really mean that the complete and complex movement of both arms and wrists in the downswing is automatic ,provided you keep the arms “POWERLESS “.
Surely ,here’s some training to be done to have them work the proper way !
At the top of the backswing ,if you mark a “pause ” before dropping the arms ,you “load “the shaft better ,isn’t it ?
July 17, 2014
Paul WilsonRaymond,
Yes it is. You are seeing them as arms and wrists. I am seeing it as mass swinging around and axis with your arms being the connection to the mass. Do nothing to mass and it will stretch out to its widest point 100% of the time. This means the plane would flatten, the arc would widen, the club would release, the face would square, the club would re-hinge all on it own. People are trying to hit with their arms. In doing so they are moving the mass without the axis which will not work anywhere near as well.
Do you want to get this stuff fast? If so, I want you to feel your arms and manually work on all of these positions. Once you get them you turn them OFF. I have said this many times in the past.
You load the shaft by changing directions with the lower body. In doing so the mass would be the last thing to move so the shaft would load.
July 18, 2014
RaymondCHASTELPaul ,
To better understand the full sequence of the downswing ,it would help to have your own downswing seen in slow motion .
I see at least three different parts in the downswing
-Top of the backswing
-Uncocking
-The “unleashing” of the club at the bottom (What’s usually called the “release “)
Maybe I’m too analytical but this would explain how a normal sized guy like RORY Mc OITOY hits it as far as huge BUBBY WATSON !
July 18, 2014
Paul WilsonRayond,
The frame rate on the cameras are not fast enough to catch all of the positions in the downswing.
Difference in swings is rotational speed of the center/length of arms/body mass that is turning etc. etc. Smaller guys can turn faster than a 6’4″ Ernie Els.
July 18, 2014
RaymondCHASTELPaul ,The entire movement is a bit more intricate as what you describe :there are two axis :
-The first one is the one you mention :the spine (or body)
-the second one is the axis passing through the wrists and at right angles to swing plane .
The two angular momentums add up in succession and have to smoothly blend together at the proper moment .
The angular momentums are IxOmega (Rotational speed ).
You can’t do anything about “I “(Moment of Inertia:which is related to your weight and your build )but you can improve speed (Omega ):this means speed of the body and speed of the arms (around the wrists )
This means that arms strength,or better arms speed , is a factor to take into consideration .
Another factor is the distance between the axis of rotation of the body and the axis of Inertia of the swing :they have to be as close as possible from one another ,if not there is a loss ,therefore there should be no forward shift of the hips but an immediate rotation of the body around the left leg ,which entails the left leg around which the movent is made should be slightly “outside “of the left shoulder as you move silghtly forward with the right foot instep push .
Sorry to be pedantic,but I have an advanced Mathematical and Physics background (which served me nothing in my extensive career of CEO of US Multinationals ), but did help quite a lot initially when I was a Young and distinguished Naval architect and engineer of submarines :I nearly lost my life several times in these marvelous but dangerous “toys”,out of ignorance how they worked (We had gotten several GERMAN U Boots ,as “damage of war “benefits ,but all the instructions were written in German ! )
I think the best way to improve is to work on each part of the the swing in slow motion ,then blend everything together .
Last ,there intervenes the theory of shocks,between the face of the clubhead and the ball,how MV (Mass x Speed ) is transmitted from one to another:clean strike or glancing strike ,aerodynamics ,gravity ,spin and air drag …
July 18, 2014
Paul WilsonRaymond,
you are making this way too complicated. The Iron Byron has 2 moving parts and a 3rd element. You can make it complicated all you want. I will stick to those 3 things so I and everyone else can make it simple. I suggest you do the same.
July 19, 2014
RaymondCHASTELPaul ,it may seem complicated ,but I have comme to réalize That moSt of the speed résults from what happens between the “loading “of the shaft at the top ,the downcocking in the early downswing ,keeping the shaft back ,the halfway downswing with the right elbow pulling down ,th en finally the uncocking of the wrists latest possible (i have nô contrôll over this ,only a ” Feeling ” ) and the striking the ball with the left wrist ahead of the ball ( No flicking at the ball )
I work on thèse MOVES in slow Motion .
It seems to improve my ball striking !
Let’s see the end résults !
July 25, 2014
charleshillPaul,
I made notes and only came up with 15 (and added my own brief summaries and a guess at #16)
1. grip (hard to summarize)
2. club face alignment (square to your intermediate target)
3. soul the club properly (front to back not toe to heel)
4. ball position (zero, one or two balls relative to inside front heel)
5. width of stance (sync with #4)
6. foot position (slight flaring out of both feet)
7. weight distribution on feet (athletic, ready position with even weight distribution)
8. hand position from front view (above mid thigh of front leg)
9. distance hands from the body from rear view (6 inches or so)
10. knee flex (athletic until tension in upper leg muscles)
11. angle of your chest (chest points 6 to 8 feet beyond the ball)
12. extension of arms (fully extended but not creating tension in forearms or wrists)
13. alignment from rear view to target (feet, hips, shoulders parallel to target line)
14. chin position (natural, not too down) [shouldn’t be on the list in my opinion]
15. elbow rotation (neutral with elbow pits facing up 45 degrees) [also questionably on the list, just natural]
From other videos, I would say that the 16th should be:
16. spine tilt (small due to lower hand being lower than top hand)
If there are better very short summaries I would appreciate your clarification.
Thanks
August 27, 2015
terrybadgerHi Paul,
This is a great list to work on. i will work on it at the driving range, where hopefully it will become a habit. When i play i tend to rush so as not to make the group have to wait too long for me to hit. Probably if i took the time at the start i would hit better and far fewer shots which would speed things up considerably. Is there any differences setting up when you are not on a flat surface? Uphill, downhill, sidehill lies and the combinations of the are common on the hilly courses i play (plus i’m not in the flatter fairway as often as i would like to be).
thanks,
ter
August 27, 2015
Paul WilsonTerry,
I have these tips in the dashboard under shots.
Uphill: https://ignitiongolf.com/uphill-lies
Downhill: https://ignitiongolf.com/shot-downhill-lie
Ball Below Feet: https://ignitiongolf.com/shot-ball-below-feet
Ball Above Feet: https://ignitiongolf.com/ball-above-your-feet