One Of The Secrets To The Golf Swing

By | on October 18, 2013 | 26 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+

26 Responses to “One Of The Secrets To The Golf Swing”

  1. Hi Paul,
    Once again you have reminded me of a position so important to a great golf swing. I am going back to the basic’s that I have kind of not completed each time. I have always enjoyed telling fellow golfer’s about you and your teaching the follow-through first, but then didn’t ingrain it as I should have. Can it be so simple as to swing “powerless” arms to the correct follow-through position and everything up to that point will pretty much happen on it’s own? Well I am starting right now back to the basics!
    Thank you, Mike
    P.S. I am still trying to make it to Vegas!

    • This is one of the most important positions. I show this to everyone who comes for lessons yet it is quickly forgotten. I find this mind boggling but I will continue my quest to get people to forget the golf ball and think more of the follow through. One day this will become the norm then the great majority of players will start to improve.

      If you totally turned off all power to your arms and turned your body first the club would go to this position. This is because mass will always swing at 90 degrees to the axis if moving its fastest. Unfortunately, most people cannot turn off their arms. This is why I want to you to manually set this follow through position. If you do it for a couple of weeks it should go there on its own.

      Let me know if you can make it here. I would be great to meet and work with you.

    • October 19, 2013

      TomPaterna

      Paul,
      Are there any situations where the finish might not go all the way to touching your head? For example you might be trying to hit a small green with trouble off the back? Is it better to pick one less club and finish to the end?

      Tom

      • October 20, 2013

        Paul Wilson

        Tom,

        This would only occur if you were hitting a knock down/punch shot or shorter pitch shots. Any full swing you make I would like you to hit the follow through positions I teach.

  2. Hi Paul
    Really enjoyed and learned a lot in all your tips. Jus wondering if mantaining the lag in the down swing a key factor in your teaching as well?
    Thank you, kelvin

  3. September 16, 2012

    PaulLucas

    I have a question but having a problem trying to describe it. Following your techniques for several weeks now I’m finding (only on a range) when I’m warm and in the groove hitting happy shots I notice a strange thing happening. No beer honestly that’s afterwards but I seem to extend the length of my downswing/follow though. It’s almost a smooth flick similar i guess to cracking a whip or casting a rod. The result is always a smooth controlled straight long hit. Relaxation for sure but would love to be able to repeat it on the course.

    • September 17, 2012

      Paul Wilson

      Paul,

      Taking it to the course is tricky. People want to hit the ball a lot harder. Below is what I usually send people to help them take it to the course:

      Taking it to the Course

      1. First need to understand the exact positions I teach and the feedback I give to tell you that you are doing them right versus wrong. Do this in a mirror in practice swings on a nightly basis. Make a swing then hold and check the follow through position. If it is not perfect do it again and again until it is perfect. You cannot do my follow through positions unless you make a pretty good swing so hitting my follow through tells you that you did it right.

      2. This is a different way to hit the ball yet you are using your old way to hit the ball. So you must first convince yourself that this is going to be different. It is also not going to work as good as you old swing the first time you try it. This means you have to at least try it no matter how bad you hit it. Most people give up after 3 shots and go back a golf swing that does not work. So stick with it

      3. Next, go out and play a round by yourself with a few extra balls in your pocket. If you play be yourself you are not trying to impress anyone. Plus, you have minimal pressure because you do not care about your score plus you have extra balls in your pocket. Swing at no more than 50% and do not worry about distance or anything else other than hitting the positions. As you play this round you watch your shots. What will happen is that the round will be a disaster but you will hit some good shots that will feel like you put the most effortless swing in the world on it. This tells you that you can do now you just have to get used to swinging at this level. So you can either play another few rounds by yourself or go play your normal game but swing at no more than 50% for the whole day and DO NOT think distance or score.

      4. Next, once you see a few good shots this is the sign of things to come. Understand that you have hit these shots just as far as your normal swing with half the effort. Get addicted to this feeling. Once you are hitting the majority of your shots like this you then speed up the rotational speed of your body a little. Get used to that speed for a while then increase one more time and you will be a top speed with the arms out of the swing.

      5. Do not give up. Keep at it and you will get it.

      This may help too:

      What To Think About When You Play: https://ignitiongolf.com/what-to-think-when-playing/

  4. September 29, 2012

    chrisrasmussen

    Paul, this tip is really excellent; My contact was almost immediately better after getting to this position in the follow-through. Longer shots too; I am watching the Ryder Cup this morning and almost every shot I see, these guys finish with their club parallel to their ears!!

    Very straightforward and very beneficial!

    • October 1, 2012

      Paul Wilson

      Chris, This is my secret sauce. I thought of this years ago. If people get this position alone they will hit it better than they ever have.

  5. October 19, 2013

    geraldlong

    Paul:
    My problem is with those 10-20-30 yd pitch shots, I have a difficult time going that far on such a short shot, when I try I become
    tentative and probably increase grip pressure from a 3 to an 8 or 9.

    Thanks,

    Gerry

  6. October 19, 2013

    WaltZaluski

    Hello Paul
    I took a video of my partner’s swing and there is something strange about the motion of the club head and shaft. At about one third of the swing, the head is behind the shaft. At two thirds of the swing the club has bent the other way so that the head is now ahead of the shaft and stays that way until after the ball is hit. she does not slow down in the swing in going through the impact but is accelerating but still the blade gets ahead of the shaft so the club shaft is bent the wrong way. I think that the shaft is the wrong flex, too whippy.
    Walt

  7. October 19, 2013

    JimMerwin

    10-19-13

    Hi, Paul

    Thanks for this very insightful video. I particularly like your short discussion of the physics behind the mechanics you are teaching combined with your common sense explanation for why you teach this drill: to help us pure the instantaneous swing/release moves by correcting the much slower finish moves. And you do a great job of explaining in detail what those of us who write you need to do to correct the problems we are describing.

    After only a few months your instruction is already morphing my shoulder-driven swing into an effortless hip-driven swing which should help me play very enjoyable golf deep into my 70’s and, hopefully, even longer.

    Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

    Jim

  8. October 19, 2013

    WaltZaluski

    Paul
    I have figured out the problem described earlier. She is starting with the shoulders, not enough hip, which causes the shaft to bend early because of inertia. she does not have the speed to keep this bend so the shaft begins to straighten and the shaft release happens early before the blade hits the ball. She needs to use more hip power which will delay the bend of the shaft and release later when contact happens.
    Walt

  9. October 20, 2013

    JAMESHUNT

    I know this is not a forum, but just wanted to mention that in watching TPC Summerlin, it would appear that Jason Bohn has pretty much the same swing mechanics that Paul teaches at least to my untrained eye. I was watching to see which swing tips I could identify.

  10. October 23, 2013

    RichardGentry

    Paul, for the last month I’ve also gone “back to basics”, slowing my swing down to almost 1/2 speed and concentrating on the finish, knees touching and club 90 degrees touching the back of my head. Amazing what consistancy this has given me. My shots are much straighter, better ball flight and predictable distance. I am giving up about 10yds with my irons and 20 with my driver by swinging so slow…..but for right now I don’t care, I’m loving keeping my ball constantly in play.

    The only problem I’m having is figuring out how to increase my swing speed without losing the perfect finish. Seems like the moment I try to swing faster, I don’t end up with the perfect finish.

    Thanks again for all your help.

    • October 24, 2013

      Paul Wilson

      Richard,

      I’m glad you slowed down and are now seeing the consistency due to hitting my follow through positions. Once you have grooved these positions try powering the swing a little faster with the lower body (take it up a notch). Get used to this. At this point you should be hitting it as far as before. Get used to this then take it up another notch. At this point you will be hitting farther than you ever have. This will take a little time but it will allow you to swing faster without losing consistency.

  11. November 12, 2014

    OtisDouglas

    What do udo if u are a 73 yr old senior and u lift leaf heel off ground on your backswing

  12. Paul ,I found I had bought long ago a device which is the following :a strap is fixed beneath my left foot and is connected on the other end to a loop fixed just underneath the right knee.
    I keep the left foot stuck to the ground ,I don’t lift it at all.
    In the drill I have to keep the strap taught going back and taught long enough going through .
    It helps to create more torque .
    A question :is it better to “delay ” the lifting of right foot going in the throughswing (A la “MOE NORMAN “)or just let it go naturally with the the throughswing ?

    • October 4, 2015

      Paul Wilson

      Raymond,

      The rotation of your hips should be pulling this heel off the ground. So definitely don’t keep it planted no matter what anyone says. Just try it. Turn with it flat. Turn with it coming up. You will quickly see that keeping it down puts stress on the lower back. Plus, I can remember any longer driver I have ever seen flat footed at impact. Just type in Jason Zuback impact and you will see how he was literally on the tip of his back toe at impact (not to say you need to be doing that but why would his back foot be this much up at impact).

  13. Paul I am also making a move back to basics, I am sure it can’t hurt. My biggest struggle by far is trying to keep/hold the club square through the contact zone {I cant say “hitting” zone you might get mad at me !!} This results in a breakdown which I can feel at end of follow through. SO.. going back to chapter one !! Wanted to ask you what you thought about the product on the market “The Swing shirt” ? It seems to me it might help me… and goes with powerless arms.. etc. Any thoughts ?

    • Conroy,

      Call it what you want. I don’t teach or care about impact. It’s not the widest point of the arc.

      Swing shirt would make you too flat. The flatter you get the shorter you will hit it. No long drive guy does this swing. I would only suggest it if you were so upright and couldn’t fix it that you wear the shirt for a while to get it flatter. I tried the flat swing many years ago with terrible results. Keep in mind the day I got my swing back after 10 years of trying everything was when I stopped trying to hit the ball with my arms. I just let the club go where ever it wants to go. This means it swung to its widest point (after impact) consistently.

      I would take the same money and invest it in swing analysis with my assistant. This way he could tell you exactly what you need to be working on.

      Also, you need to start here with the tips:

      https://ignitiongolf.com/start-here

      Follow the lessons precisely and do lots of practice swings. I keep telling everyone this. Not sure if they are listening. This really is the fastest way to get it.

  14. September 11, 2018

    wkalaidjian

    Hi Paul

    I’ve really been focusing on the video showing your right foot, especially your pivot onto the big toe initiating the downswing. When I don’t pivot fully to the left on the big toe and push forward from the right side, I tend to go forward with my right hip, losing my spine angle, coming out of the shot, and push/slicing the ball to the right. Is there another tip in terms of body focus you can provide to help fascilitate a circular hip rotation instead of a push forward (toward the ball) from the right side.
    Better shots are being experienced but this push to the right still effects a lot of my shots.
    Thanks for your insight.

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