Hi Paul,
When one is just beginning to learn your swing, do you think one should be hitting more balls with irons, woods, the driver, or does it matter? I have been concentrating on the driver. My percentage of decent to good shots is up to about 25%. Some times it is frustrating, but I believe in your approach because it is basically simple, very logical, and the presentation is terrific and easy to understand. This is, I know, a silly question, but if one is reasonably athletic, what time frame can be expected to become comfortable with this new approach? Also, considering some of us have a limited amount of time we can spend on the practice tee, how many balls should we be hitting weekly?
People working on swing positions should be hitting most of their balls with a 6 or 7 iron. This is a mid range club so going up or down in clubs is not that drastic.
You can learn fast or slow. I have done tips on this in the past. It is about repeating the new move(s) more than the old. I like at least a 3:1 ratio new to old. To get this ratio just do 3 practice swings to 1 ball making sure you are doing the practice swings right. If you do something 3 times one way and 1 time the other way you will learn the way you do more than the old. If you want to speed it up you do it 5:1. Or you do constant repetitive movements without doing it wrong at all. I did a tip on this here:
You don’t have to hit any balls at all. If you do practice swings there is no ball to hit. This means you can clearly focus on the movement instead of hitting the ball. Once you change the movement add the ball later.
I don’t know if you heard but I took a student from 95 to 75 in 2 months and he never hit one practice ball. He did work on his short game and he was allowed to play but he could hit no practice golf balls. In doing so he made the changes and looked like he could shoot 65 so he shot 75. It works. Try it. I know you won’t though. It’s tough to stop hitting golf balls.
If you do actually want to try it just focus on the swing positions I teach. Do 25-50 practice swings at home looking for the feedback. I would also use a mirror to check them. Then every night just keep repeating them. Seems like a small price to pay.
Great tip Paul, but how am I to know if I’m turning too fast or if I’m sliding? I hit couple of shots with my driver today, and it felt like I was turning but my shots went straight but to the right. Is there a way to tell if I’m sliding or turning to fast? Keep up the great work!
This was what the whole tip was about. You know you are doing these things by watching your ball. If you felt like you were turning and the shot still started right you were turning too fast. This caused disconnection under the led armpit and got you way ahead of the club. So slow down. Focus on turning until you see the ball go down the middle.
Paul,
Thanks for this tip. I am still at the stage of learning to trust my powerless arms technique and I still feel some tension in my arms.My downswing trigger and body turn has improved so much and my bad shot is the pull to the right. This tip is definitely for me Paul and explains very clearly what I must do to eliminate the pull.
Thanks once again. No problem with the new server by the way.
regards
Alan
Paul, thanks for another great tip and I am glad that I have followed you from Revolution golf to your new site. My problem is that my golf shop either goes straight right ( right handed golfer) or if I turn over my wrists, goes left with a draws or hook. This tip will give me something to work on. At Revolution Golf you did a tip on the three ways of crossing the line with your club at the top of the swing. Could you kindly do a similar tip on your new site. Again thanks for your assistance. Regards Alan
You are a slider. Sliding with right wrists hit the ball straight right. Rolling it over produces a duck hook. For you neutralizing your grip is the first step. This will stop it from turning over but you will hit it straight right due to sliding. Once you fix the slide the ball with then start down the line. This is tricky and hard to do. Sliders never like fixing the slide.
Hi Paul. I am currently devouring your book and dvd’s right now, great stuff. A quick question. I understand in this tip, that by sliding and having a tilt away from the ball will encourage the ball to go right. Also from your dvd’s, you mention 85% of ball direction is dictated from the club face, and meaning an open club face will also send the ball to the right.
Now to my question. If I am about to tee off, and I HAVE to go RIGHT as the club champs are resting on this next shot…..what is your advice? From a collection of your tips on “pulling” I have concluded i need to a) start swing with lower body b) dead arms c) stay behind the ball d) open club face e) tilt away from ball……BUT if I had to choose one to save my life, which would you recommend to ENSURE I hit the ball right?
Or would you suggest I just aim right side of the green, and practice powerless arms, and initiate swing with lower body?
The reason I am asking is I have a particular par 3 hole i battle with, and there is out of bounds on the left, and 50% of the time, under pressure, I send the ball left!
Glad you are liking my book and DVDs. Just make sure you don’t work on too much too fast. Focus on each position and try to master them in the order they are presented. There is method to my madness.
Jack Nicklaus called the Fade his bread and butter shot so this is the shot you should be trying to hit. It is easy and it is dependable. You just have to know how to do it. I did a tip on it here:
I can’t find an answer to my question. When aligning my feet to be parallel to my target line, my shoulders are naturally set up left of that target line. This is because my right hand is below my left on the club, therefore pulling my right shoulder further forward than my left. How do I prevent this from constantly causing a mild pull to the left, even on well-struck shots? Do I rotate my rump around to the left to square my shoulders up somewhat or do I drop my right foot back a few inches to square up my shoulders to the target line? Thanks!
When you grip on with one hand lower this would tilt your shoulders so your back shoulders is slightly lower than your forward one but this would not affect your alignment putting you in an open stance. When you look at the setup from down the line you would see the back arm and the forward forearm just slightly above it (kind of hard to explain). Just set up with a mirror off of your back hip. Then tuck your back elbow a little. When you do, you will see the tip of your forward forearm above the back forearm.
If your back arm is above the forward arm I would think your grip is too weak. Back it off a little and you should be dead square. Also, you can just tuck this back elbow a little until they square up. Again, do it in a mirror so you can check it.
Hi Paul. I want to achieve the accelarator feeling that you talk about even more on my shots. Tried In some practice swings and feels like a good trigger to think “accelarator car” i.e. you start with the lower and the upper body tilts back as a result.
This lower body move takes effort. I can’t count how many people I have come out for lessons. I show it to them. They try it and it’s not even close. I am driving super hard. I know it doesn’t look like it but I am. This means I put over 80% of what I have into the leg drive on every shot. It is crystal clear I am doing this because my right toe/leg is pulsating after every shot. I tried to explain how much effort this is in this tip:
When I do this I don’t feel my upper body hang back. Maybe this is because I have done it so many times but I know it happens because I see it on video. Back in the day I got that backwards tilt by watching the ball of the ball as I hit the ball. This was simple and over time it just became part of my swing. So maybe this will help you too. Then you can be clearly thinking of the lower body and not both that and staying back. Might be easier this way.
Hi Paul,
I think one of my problems is the conflict of proper weight transfer with rotation. When I throw a ball I have a lot of lateral movement first and then the rotation. When try to minimize the lateral movement and rotate. I either feel like I have no weight transfer, or that I am falling back ever so slightly. I follow your procedure of allowing my head to move back in the takeaway, but turning as I try to shift my weight forward seems to be a problem. I have watched the two axis tip till I have it memorized, but pushing off with my right foot and turning is, I think my flaw. As I have said before, my distance sucks considering my physical fitness for my age.
thanks,
ter
Try throwing the ball again with a narrower stance and not lifting your feet as you take your arms back. If you slide laterally with this throwing motion you would throw the ball right or target. From the narrower stance and not lifting and throwing it on target I would think the legs would come together. I do this will people all of the time without issue.
Hopefully, you are allowing your head to move 3-5 inches as you coil all the way to the top )not just the takeaway). As you do, you also feel the weight load 80% to the back instep. Coil and load. From there you are only thinking turn. The shift will occur on its own (without you thinking about it if you get to the touch the legs position). I get the feeling you are thinking about shifting which is not what I want you to do. They keep to getting this is the locking of the lead leg. If you are sliding the kneed is still bent through and past impact too much. So from the top you are thinking turn. The back of the left knee is starting to go back. At impact it is locking not locked. As you continue through to a point just past parallel to the ground with the back arm the left knee is locked of close to being locked. It stays locked to the end.
I get to about hip height and the club cannot hold this angle any longer so it releases. This is mass (the club) wanting to swing to its widest point (2 feet after impact with irons and 3 feet after with Driver). In no way am I doing this. I am allowing the club using physics to swing to this point. Mass will always want to swing to its widest point 100% of the time if you let it. So let it go and it will release.
Paul, I am really benefitting from your instruction. My most common miss is still a pull. I’ve watched all the cures, so I know when that happens I’m hitting with the arms and my upper body is leaning left. Working on that. But I was wondering if there is a downswing trigger out of the ones you teach that has helped more than others for your students who tend to pull. Thanks.
There is not one that is better than the other. This is why I give a choice. What you are not doing it getting the backwards tilt in the downswing. So you need to manually tilt. So forget the trigger for now. Work on manually tilting then go back to the trigger. This is how I got it many years ago:
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22 Responses to “How to Cure the Direction”
March 4, 2013
LenKoblenzHi Paul,
When one is just beginning to learn your swing, do you think one should be hitting more balls with irons, woods, the driver, or does it matter? I have been concentrating on the driver. My percentage of decent to good shots is up to about 25%. Some times it is frustrating, but I believe in your approach because it is basically simple, very logical, and the presentation is terrific and easy to understand. This is, I know, a silly question, but if one is reasonably athletic, what time frame can be expected to become comfortable with this new approach? Also, considering some of us have a limited amount of time we can spend on the practice tee, how many balls should we be hitting weekly?
Thanks for your time and wonderful tips.
Len
March 5, 2013
Paul WilsonLen,
People working on swing positions should be hitting most of their balls with a 6 or 7 iron. This is a mid range club so going up or down in clubs is not that drastic.
You can learn fast or slow. I have done tips on this in the past. It is about repeating the new move(s) more than the old. I like at least a 3:1 ratio new to old. To get this ratio just do 3 practice swings to 1 ball making sure you are doing the practice swings right. If you do something 3 times one way and 1 time the other way you will learn the way you do more than the old. If you want to speed it up you do it 5:1. Or you do constant repetitive movements without doing it wrong at all. I did a tip on this here:
11 In A Row: https://ignitiongolf.com/change-golf-swing-fast
Here’s another:
How Long To Make Swing Changes?: https://ignitiongolf.com/make-swing-changes/
Here’s another good one:
Work On The Movement: https://ignitiongolf.com/work-on-the-movement/
March 5, 2013
Paul WilsonLen,
I forgot the last part.
You don’t have to hit any balls at all. If you do practice swings there is no ball to hit. This means you can clearly focus on the movement instead of hitting the ball. Once you change the movement add the ball later.
I don’t know if you heard but I took a student from 95 to 75 in 2 months and he never hit one practice ball. He did work on his short game and he was allowed to play but he could hit no practice golf balls. In doing so he made the changes and looked like he could shoot 65 so he shot 75. It works. Try it. I know you won’t though. It’s tough to stop hitting golf balls.
If you do actually want to try it just focus on the swing positions I teach. Do 25-50 practice swings at home looking for the feedback. I would also use a mirror to check them. Then every night just keep repeating them. Seems like a small price to pay.
March 4, 2013
GeorgeNordhaugGreat tip Paul, but how am I to know if I’m turning too fast or if I’m sliding? I hit couple of shots with my driver today, and it felt like I was turning but my shots went straight but to the right. Is there a way to tell if I’m sliding or turning to fast? Keep up the great work!
Thanks Tony!
March 5, 2013
Paul WilsonGeorge,
This was what the whole tip was about. You know you are doing these things by watching your ball. If you felt like you were turning and the shot still started right you were turning too fast. This caused disconnection under the led armpit and got you way ahead of the club. So slow down. Focus on turning until you see the ball go down the middle.
March 4, 2013
AlanFrancePaul,
Thanks for this tip. I am still at the stage of learning to trust my powerless arms technique and I still feel some tension in my arms.My downswing trigger and body turn has improved so much and my bad shot is the pull to the right. This tip is definitely for me Paul and explains very clearly what I must do to eliminate the pull.
Thanks once again. No problem with the new server by the way.
regards
Alan
March 5, 2013
Paul WilsonAlan,
Good stuff. I like hearing about improvement.
Here are some more tips on the pull:
Pull: https://ignitiongolf.com/cure-pulled-shot
Pull 2: https://ignitiongolf.com/cure-pulling
Remembering How Cure Pulled Shots: https://ignitiongolf.com/remembering-cure-pulled-shots/
March 5, 2013
AlanDohertyPaul, thanks for another great tip and I am glad that I have followed you from Revolution golf to your new site. My problem is that my golf shop either goes straight right ( right handed golfer) or if I turn over my wrists, goes left with a draws or hook. This tip will give me something to work on. At Revolution Golf you did a tip on the three ways of crossing the line with your club at the top of the swing. Could you kindly do a similar tip on your new site. Again thanks for your assistance. Regards Alan
March 6, 2013
Paul WilsonAlan,
You are a slider. Sliding with right wrists hit the ball straight right. Rolling it over produces a duck hook. For you neutralizing your grip is the first step. This will stop it from turning over but you will hit it straight right due to sliding. Once you fix the slide the ball with then start down the line. This is tricky and hard to do. Sliders never like fixing the slide.
Watch:
Hooking: https://ignitiongolf.com/cure-hooking
Here are the crossing the line tips:
Crossing the Line: https://ignitiongolf.com/cure-crossing-the-line
I have one more fix I thought of a few months ago. I did shoot a tip on it and will post it next week. Stay tuned.
March 15, 2013
AndrewMahHi Paul. I am currently devouring your book and dvd’s right now, great stuff. A quick question. I understand in this tip, that by sliding and having a tilt away from the ball will encourage the ball to go right. Also from your dvd’s, you mention 85% of ball direction is dictated from the club face, and meaning an open club face will also send the ball to the right.
Now to my question. If I am about to tee off, and I HAVE to go RIGHT as the club champs are resting on this next shot…..what is your advice? From a collection of your tips on “pulling” I have concluded i need to a) start swing with lower body b) dead arms c) stay behind the ball d) open club face e) tilt away from ball……BUT if I had to choose one to save my life, which would you recommend to ENSURE I hit the ball right?
Or would you suggest I just aim right side of the green, and practice powerless arms, and initiate swing with lower body?
The reason I am asking is I have a particular par 3 hole i battle with, and there is out of bounds on the left, and 50% of the time, under pressure, I send the ball left!
thanks in advance
Andrew
March 15, 2013
Paul WilsonAndrew,
Glad you are liking my book and DVDs. Just make sure you don’t work on too much too fast. Focus on each position and try to master them in the order they are presented. There is method to my madness.
Jack Nicklaus called the Fade his bread and butter shot so this is the shot you should be trying to hit. It is easy and it is dependable. You just have to know how to do it. I did a tip on it here:
Should You Hit a Draw or a Fade?: https://ignitiongolf.com/hit-draw-fade/
I also did a tip on it here:
http://swingmachineblog.com/how-to-hit-a-fade.html
Good luck
June 28, 2016
JosephHi Paul,
I can’t find an answer to my question. When aligning my feet to be parallel to my target line, my shoulders are naturally set up left of that target line. This is because my right hand is below my left on the club, therefore pulling my right shoulder further forward than my left. How do I prevent this from constantly causing a mild pull to the left, even on well-struck shots? Do I rotate my rump around to the left to square my shoulders up somewhat or do I drop my right foot back a few inches to square up my shoulders to the target line? Thanks!
June 28, 2016
Paul WilsonJoseph,
When you grip on with one hand lower this would tilt your shoulders so your back shoulders is slightly lower than your forward one but this would not affect your alignment putting you in an open stance. When you look at the setup from down the line you would see the back arm and the forward forearm just slightly above it (kind of hard to explain). Just set up with a mirror off of your back hip. Then tuck your back elbow a little. When you do, you will see the tip of your forward forearm above the back forearm.
If your back arm is above the forward arm I would think your grip is too weak. Back it off a little and you should be dead square. Also, you can just tuck this back elbow a little until they square up. Again, do it in a mirror so you can check it.
September 24, 2017
StianOttersenHi Paul. I want to achieve the accelarator feeling that you talk about even more on my shots. Tried In some practice swings and feels like a good trigger to think “accelarator car” i.e. you start with the lower and the upper body tilts back as a result.
September 25, 2017
Paul WilsonStian,
This lower body move takes effort. I can’t count how many people I have come out for lessons. I show it to them. They try it and it’s not even close. I am driving super hard. I know it doesn’t look like it but I am. This means I put over 80% of what I have into the leg drive on every shot. It is crystal clear I am doing this because my right toe/leg is pulsating after every shot. I tried to explain how much effort this is in this tip:
How Much Legs (jump): https://ignitiongolf.com/jump-feel-legs/
When I do this I don’t feel my upper body hang back. Maybe this is because I have done it so many times but I know it happens because I see it on video. Back in the day I got that backwards tilt by watching the ball of the ball as I hit the ball. This was simple and over time it just became part of my swing. So maybe this will help you too. Then you can be clearly thinking of the lower body and not both that and staying back. Might be easier this way.
March 10, 2018
terrybadgerHi Paul,
I think one of my problems is the conflict of proper weight transfer with rotation. When I throw a ball I have a lot of lateral movement first and then the rotation. When try to minimize the lateral movement and rotate. I either feel like I have no weight transfer, or that I am falling back ever so slightly. I follow your procedure of allowing my head to move back in the takeaway, but turning as I try to shift my weight forward seems to be a problem. I have watched the two axis tip till I have it memorized, but pushing off with my right foot and turning is, I think my flaw. As I have said before, my distance sucks considering my physical fitness for my age.
thanks,
ter
March 11, 2018
Paul WilsonTerry,
Try throwing the ball again with a narrower stance and not lifting your feet as you take your arms back. If you slide laterally with this throwing motion you would throw the ball right or target. From the narrower stance and not lifting and throwing it on target I would think the legs would come together. I do this will people all of the time without issue.
Hopefully, you are allowing your head to move 3-5 inches as you coil all the way to the top )not just the takeaway). As you do, you also feel the weight load 80% to the back instep. Coil and load. From there you are only thinking turn. The shift will occur on its own (without you thinking about it if you get to the touch the legs position). I get the feeling you are thinking about shifting which is not what I want you to do. They keep to getting this is the locking of the lead leg. If you are sliding the kneed is still bent through and past impact too much. So from the top you are thinking turn. The back of the left knee is starting to go back. At impact it is locking not locked. As you continue through to a point just past parallel to the ground with the back arm the left knee is locked of close to being locked. It stays locked to the end.
Exactly How To Do Touch The Legs Position: https://ignitiongolf.com/how-to-touch-the-legs-position/
It’s a Turn Not A Jump: https://ignitiongolf.com/turn-not-jump/
Do this drill to get a feel for it:
Lean On Club to Touch Legs: https://ignitiongolf.com/drill-lean-on-club
Left Leg Impact: https://ignitiongolf.com/leg-position-impact/
Lock the Lead Leg at Three Quarters Through: https://ignitiongolf.com/lock-lead-leg/
So hopefully, this clarifies it. I would also be doing a swing analysis with Pete to double check it.
May 28, 2018
EarlBourdeauwhen do you release the wrist action….when the shaft reaches the right leg thigh or right at the bottom of the swing ?
Earl
May 28, 2018
Paul WilsonEarl,
I get to about hip height and the club cannot hold this angle any longer so it releases. This is mass (the club) wanting to swing to its widest point (2 feet after impact with irons and 3 feet after with Driver). In no way am I doing this. I am allowing the club using physics to swing to this point. Mass will always want to swing to its widest point 100% of the time if you let it. So let it go and it will release.
July 29, 2018
BryanBeasleyPaul, I am really benefitting from your instruction. My most common miss is still a pull. I’ve watched all the cures, so I know when that happens I’m hitting with the arms and my upper body is leaning left. Working on that. But I was wondering if there is a downswing trigger out of the ones you teach that has helped more than others for your students who tend to pull. Thanks.
July 29, 2018
Paul WilsonBryan,
There is not one that is better than the other. This is why I give a choice. What you are not doing it getting the backwards tilt in the downswing. So you need to manually tilt. So forget the trigger for now. Work on manually tilting then go back to the trigger. This is how I got it many years ago:
Watch Back of The Golf Ball: https://ignitiongolf.com/watch-backside-golf-ball/
Another Way To Stay Behind It: https://ignitiongolf.com/another-way-to-stay-behind-it/
Fat While Staying Back: https://ignitiongolf.com/cure-hanging-back-impact/
February 15, 2019
JamesSandersPaul, do you have a tip on how to properly ground the irons. especially short irons.
Jim