Hi Paul. So if I understand you correctly, if I’m not flexible enough to rotate the shoulders complete, I should NOT compensate by lifting the left heel or any similar compensation. This will shorten my back swing but create more spring/ tori effect.
Surely you can rotate your shoulders 80 degress? I am at about 85 degrees. If you are at 70 degrees then turn more. You need the torque for power and consistency. Focus on the helicopter drill and get used to it. Shoulders/legs. Just say it yourself as you do it. Then you will separate the shoulders from the legs going back.
Paul…I know you just gave me instruction, but I’m a little confused. As I coil up on the backswing, do the hips follow a little or do you try and keep them facing forward? You talk about going past 45 degrees with your shoulders… just want to make sure I’m drilling it correctly. Thanks!
The shoulders start the rotation as they are moving the most. They cannot get to 90 without the lower body moving. So the shoulder rotation should be pulling the hips and knees into position.
Greetings Coach. Just a note tonight. For a long time I have been struggling with keeping my head down and not looking for the ball,sometimes even before I meet it with the club. I was so envious of the players that found this not a problem “JUST DON’T DO IT” So i started looking at or staring at one or two dimples on the ball,almost to the point of burning a hole in the ball.It took a lot of concentration that I didn’t know I had, but when it was right, the ball was so much farther out when I found it than it had ever been before, and it was STRIGHT. My last years yardage was back and better and the ball went “STRIGHT”. It is such a great feeling when things like this happen. THANKS THANKS THANKS COACH.PS I know it will not always be as I said above but I think I have made a leap.
HI Paul, I am a newer member and want to make sure I am understanding this lesson. Should I be resisting my shoulder turn with my hips? I feel when I do try and keep my hips still, they do of course turn, just not as far as I was previously turning them. Keeping the hips as stable as possible is the only way I feel any torque at all, but I do have to feel as if I’m holding the hips still. Your lessons have been a huge help and I am making progress in learning the proper swing. Thanks, Mike
You are not purposely turning your hips. As your shoulders turn they will pull your hips and knees into position because your shoulders cannot get to 90 degrees rotation without the hips moving half of that amount. Yes, you have to purposely stop the hips from turning too much.
Here are a bunch of tips on how to stabilize the lower body:
Paul Any chance you have seen Brandel Chamblee’s new book “Lessons from the best golf swings in History”. Chapter 6 says some pretty harsh things about the “coil” and its path to injury even among pros. Any comment? Couldn’t you still fire your hips with powerless arms without the muscle tension? Thanks Tim
Here is my reply to someone who asked this very same question a while back:
We know more about the golf swing now as opposed to 30-50 years ago. You are coiling to get torque. You are not over coiling or hurting yourself. Once you have torque you will uncoil consistently. You do not and will never hit 300-500 balls per day. How, with no torque and trying to hit the golf ball with your arms are you ever going to repeat your golf swing. When you lift the heel your lower body turns too much. This gives you power in the arms to hit the ball with your arms. I did this swing when I was a kid. I hit the ball everywhere. I hit 1000 balls per day everyday for over 2 years and never got it.
I just watch Chamblee’s golf swing. He has not clue what is problem is/was. He changes his grip as soon as he takes the club back. This actives the arms and shuts the face at the top. He then has to slide to square the face which is very inconsistent. He also hangs back way too much on this back foot.
I have always said, never get a lesson from tour pros or rocket scientists. They have no clue.
Paul,
Great stuff. I read some of Chamblee’s stuff and didn’t care for it. Lifting the left heel and still maintaining right knee flex and athletic posture is a difficult thing for me to do. I have had much better results by keeping the left heel on the ground. I see a lot of players that can lift that heel (some guy named Nicklaus for example) but for me I cannot seem to coordinate it properly.
More important for me is the feeling of “comfort” (or discomfort, rather). That resonated more than anything else. I have always stood too tall, almost completely relaxed (thinking tension of any sort was bad). Stood up on a lot of shots but learned to be a pretty good player with my hands and arms.
Consistency however, was fleeting. On days where my hand-eye was good I would shoot 76. Other days, 86 and very frustrated. Lots of high right misses, 1/2 club short of the target. Pretty frustrating.
My question is this. When I feel like I am coiling properly I get more of a sensation in my right inner thigh of tightness. You refer to tightness in the back being more predominant, but for me it’s in the right leg. Of all the changes I have ever made, maintaining the flex in the right knee seems to be the most important.
Can you talk a little bit more about the right knee flex and what you are feeling with your lower body? Am I on the right track here? Working on stability and holding that knee angle seems to be improving my ball striking greatly,provided I don’t abbreviate the turn you referenced.
Thanks for your efforts and keep up the good work.
Standing up in a taller setup is good. Too tall is not. This allows you to coil and uncoil. Now you know that you need this tight coil you should see some incredilbe shots with minimal effort.
High right is you coming out of it. You need to swing a little easier. This will reduce the urge to look early.
The inner thigh would be due to stabilizing the lower body. When I get people who don’t feel it in the left lat I grab their legs to keep them stable then they feel it. I would think you are trying to brace the lower so hard that this is what you are feeling. Work on stabilizing first then start to switch your focus to the tight coil. The only other place anyone has ever said they felt it is just above the lower right hip.
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14 Responses to “Pros Know Its A Tight Coil”
May 11, 2016
RonCalabreseHi Paul. So if I understand you correctly, if I’m not flexible enough to rotate the shoulders complete, I should NOT compensate by lifting the left heel or any similar compensation. This will shorten my back swing but create more spring/ tori effect.
Thanks, Ron
May 11, 2016
Paul WilsonRon,
Surely you can rotate your shoulders 80 degress? I am at about 85 degrees. If you are at 70 degrees then turn more. You need the torque for power and consistency. Focus on the helicopter drill and get used to it. Shoulders/legs. Just say it yourself as you do it. Then you will separate the shoulders from the legs going back.
May 11, 2016
CraigGhelfiPaul…I know you just gave me instruction, but I’m a little confused. As I coil up on the backswing, do the hips follow a little or do you try and keep them facing forward? You talk about going past 45 degrees with your shoulders… just want to make sure I’m drilling it correctly. Thanks!
Craig
May 11, 2016
Paul WilsonCraig,
The shoulders start the rotation as they are moving the most. They cannot get to 90 without the lower body moving. So the shoulder rotation should be pulling the hips and knees into position.
May 11, 2016
johnhoyleGreetings Coach. Just a note tonight. For a long time I have been struggling with keeping my head down and not looking for the ball,sometimes even before I meet it with the club. I was so envious of the players that found this not a problem “JUST DON’T DO IT” So i started looking at or staring at one or two dimples on the ball,almost to the point of burning a hole in the ball.It took a lot of concentration that I didn’t know I had, but when it was right, the ball was so much farther out when I found it than it had ever been before, and it was STRIGHT. My last years yardage was back and better and the ball went “STRIGHT”. It is such a great feeling when things like this happen. THANKS THANKS THANKS COACH.PS I know it will not always be as I said above but I think I have made a leap.
May 11, 2016
Paul WilsonJohn,
Not topping it is a huge leap forward. Kind of hard to fix a swing that can’t get the ball airborne. So good stuff.
Try these too:
Topping: https://ignitiongolf.com/stop-topping-golf-ball/
Stop Topping Your Fairway Woods: https://ignitiongolf.com/stop-topping-fairway-woods/
Topping: Watch for the Blur: https://ignitiongolf.com/watch-for-the-blur/
Stop Thin and Topped Shots: https://ignitiongolf.com/stop-thin-and-topped/
Are You Practicing Looking Early?: https://ignitiongolf.com/practice-looking-early/
You Will Top It: https://ignitiongolf.com/you-will-top-it/
May 11, 2016
MikeWalshHI Paul, I am a newer member and want to make sure I am understanding this lesson. Should I be resisting my shoulder turn with my hips? I feel when I do try and keep my hips still, they do of course turn, just not as far as I was previously turning them. Keeping the hips as stable as possible is the only way I feel any torque at all, but I do have to feel as if I’m holding the hips still. Your lessons have been a huge help and I am making progress in learning the proper swing. Thanks, Mike
May 11, 2016
Paul WilsonMike,
Glad to have you on board.
You are not purposely turning your hips. As your shoulders turn they will pull your hips and knees into position because your shoulders cannot get to 90 degrees rotation without the hips moving half of that amount. Yes, you have to purposely stop the hips from turning too much.
Here are a bunch of tips on how to stabilize the lower body:
Flexed Back Knee: https://ignitiongolf.com/backswing-back-knee/
How To Feel Stability In The Lower Body (back knee flex) https://ignitiongolf.com/lower-body-stability/
How To Stabilize The Lower Body In The Backswing (belt buckle at ball): https://ignitiongolf.com/stabilize-lower-body/
Glad you are improving.
Hips: https://ignitiongolf.com/turning-hips/
Let’s Go Surfing: https://ignitiongolf.com/lets-go-surfing/
May 11, 2016
ThomasLoftusPaul Any chance you have seen Brandel Chamblee’s new book “Lessons from the best golf swings in History”. Chapter 6 says some pretty harsh things about the “coil” and its path to injury even among pros. Any comment? Couldn’t you still fire your hips with powerless arms without the muscle tension? Thanks Tim
May 11, 2016
Paul WilsonTim,
Here is my reply to someone who asked this very same question a while back:
We know more about the golf swing now as opposed to 30-50 years ago. You are coiling to get torque. You are not over coiling or hurting yourself. Once you have torque you will uncoil consistently. You do not and will never hit 300-500 balls per day. How, with no torque and trying to hit the golf ball with your arms are you ever going to repeat your golf swing. When you lift the heel your lower body turns too much. This gives you power in the arms to hit the ball with your arms. I did this swing when I was a kid. I hit the ball everywhere. I hit 1000 balls per day everyday for over 2 years and never got it.
I just watch Chamblee’s golf swing. He has not clue what is problem is/was. He changes his grip as soon as he takes the club back. This actives the arms and shuts the face at the top. He then has to slide to square the face which is very inconsistent. He also hangs back way too much on this back foot.
I have always said, never get a lesson from tour pros or rocket scientists. They have no clue.
May 12, 2016
ThomasLoftusThanks for the details Paul. I had not seen your prior response.
Tim
May 12, 2016
JohnKittsPaul,
Great stuff. I read some of Chamblee’s stuff and didn’t care for it. Lifting the left heel and still maintaining right knee flex and athletic posture is a difficult thing for me to do. I have had much better results by keeping the left heel on the ground. I see a lot of players that can lift that heel (some guy named Nicklaus for example) but for me I cannot seem to coordinate it properly.
More important for me is the feeling of “comfort” (or discomfort, rather). That resonated more than anything else. I have always stood too tall, almost completely relaxed (thinking tension of any sort was bad). Stood up on a lot of shots but learned to be a pretty good player with my hands and arms.
Consistency however, was fleeting. On days where my hand-eye was good I would shoot 76. Other days, 86 and very frustrated. Lots of high right misses, 1/2 club short of the target. Pretty frustrating.
My question is this. When I feel like I am coiling properly I get more of a sensation in my right inner thigh of tightness. You refer to tightness in the back being more predominant, but for me it’s in the right leg. Of all the changes I have ever made, maintaining the flex in the right knee seems to be the most important.
Can you talk a little bit more about the right knee flex and what you are feeling with your lower body? Am I on the right track here? Working on stability and holding that knee angle seems to be improving my ball striking greatly,provided I don’t abbreviate the turn you referenced.
Thanks for your efforts and keep up the good work.
John
May 12, 2016
Paul WilsonJohn,
Standing up in a taller setup is good. Too tall is not. This allows you to coil and uncoil. Now you know that you need this tight coil you should see some incredilbe shots with minimal effort.
High right is you coming out of it. You need to swing a little easier. This will reduce the urge to look early.
The inner thigh would be due to stabilizing the lower body. When I get people who don’t feel it in the left lat I grab their legs to keep them stable then they feel it. I would think you are trying to brace the lower so hard that this is what you are feeling. Work on stabilizing first then start to switch your focus to the tight coil. The only other place anyone has ever said they felt it is just above the lower right hip.
I have a few tips on the right leg here:
Flex Right Knee: https://ignitiongolf.com/backswing-back-knee/
Flexed Right Knee Holding Knee: https://ignitiongolf.com/lower-body-stability/
DRILL: Bounce On Back Knee: https://ignitiongolf.com/drill-bounce-knee/
How To Feel Stability In The Lower Body (back knee flex) https://ignitiongolf.com/lower-body-stability/
How To Stabilize The Lower Body In The Backswing (belt buckle at ball): https://ignitiongolf.com/stabilize-lower-body/
Hips: https://ignitiongolf.com/turning-hips/
Let’s Go Surfing: https://ignitiongolf.com/lets-go-surfing/
November 30, 2016
WillCooperPaul. Right. You say it all in this tip. It takes effort!