1) Some days when I try to get this taller feeling I feel as though my arms can’t swing as freely and like they crash into my body at times. I’m sure the issue is with setup and possibly crowding the ball?
2) Also with this taller feeling I feel like I need to activate my arms at times to get the club to the top……otherwise I feel flat. The risk I find though is that when I activate the arms I overdue the backswing & lose connection which is catastrophic.
I shot an 80 on a very tough course this weekend and my “bad swing” days are occuring alot less now. I still just battle the 2 things above sometimes with this higher setup stance. Thanks!!
Hi Paul,
My question is about the shoulders as you are coiling. The left shoulder seems to go back almost on level, however does the right shoulder dip as you un-coil? Sometimes I feel as though my right shoulder is so level it leads to an over the top start. I hope this makes sense, as I know we are at an angle but with rotation it appears our shoulders are pretty level.
Thanks Mike
Mike, the right shoulder is lower than the left in the downswing because you are firing the lower body. When you do, your whole body tilts right (behind the ball). in doing do your right shoulders is lower than the left. You do not have to try to do this you just have to uncoil properly.
Keep in mind that the shoulders are only level when you are standing up. I am saying it is a feeling of the shoulders turning level. This is not reality because you tilted your body at address.
Going back to your Ernie Els video, you repeated a statement he made and I noticed he said he had got a nice pause at the top. As I am still capable of the pull when trying to get my knee around I thought I would try a pause when next playing and it seemed to work a lot better. As you never expounded on this pause to you not subscribe to it?
Cheers
Your suggestion to me to stand taller and feel like sitting on the edge of a stool to combat my lifting of my head on the backswing was more important to getting a better result then I could have imagined. I feel a flatter backswing with a corresponding distance increase especially with my driver. THANK YOU!
Jim, That’s great news. Remember, I still want the lead arm slightly above the shoulder line. Don’t get too flat. Also, be careful when you get lots of power people keep trying to hit harder and harder and they end up losing their swing. If you want more power that’s fine. Just find it with the legs.
Greetings Coach Our northeastern ohio golf season is nearly at a close would this drill help keep and maintain the proper swing through the winter using your weighted swing trainer/I am concerned about loosing what i have learned through the winter Thanks
Winter is the best time to practice. There is no ball which means are not trying to hit anything. You do practice swings mastering the positions. Once next season rolls around you should be playing great golf.
You may want to consider having my assistant Pete check your swing. He would be able to keep you on track.
Paul, I may be mistaken but it seems that the very start of the coiling involves the shoulders taking the club straight back very slightly followed by the rotation completing the coil. Or, does the coiling process start immediately? I enjoy your work a lot an advertise your services to everyone I meet who has an interest in golf.
Everything is still connected in the downswing. I am thinking legs and hips so I am not thinking upper body. It is 1/4 of a second to impact. If you are coiled tightly and you fire the lower body you should be connected in the downswing.
In the downswing your hips would be ahead of the shoulders until the release point which is after impact. At this point the hips stop, everything catches up then they continue their rotation to the Follow Through.
Thanks for this drill Paul. After practicing this drill over and over again, I really had a breakthrough with my swing. My drives have gone from zero to hero. thanks! Love this drill.
Carl
My biggest breakthrough came from the start high get lower drill. When I uncoil and let the arms fully relax and hang outstretched it feels like a “runaway” club going on its own path and I’ve never hit the ball so well.
I recently discovered the golf channel and they have lots of instruction and all these guys talk a lot about timing the swinging of the arms and coordinating the arms with the hands, and controlling the club etc etc. It gets really complicated. Just the opposite for me, “Letting go” has done more for me than anything. What am I missing? Are they talking to more advanced players on another level?
I like that description “runaway club.” This is exactly what I am trying to describe.
No, they are not talking just to advanced players. This is how they teach and this is what is holding people back. It is way too complicated and it causes manipulation of the face. If you only have a few degrees room for error how are you going to square it consistently with your hands? You would have to be hitting 300-500 balls per day and even then there is no guarantee you are going to be able to do it. If you use forces they repeat 100% of the time in life. So letting the club swing wherever it wants to swing stops the manipulation of the clubface allowing it to repeat consistently but you have to focus on not hitting anything and trust it is going to work. After you see a few good shots doing this it should dawn on you that it will work so the trust soon follows. Problem is golf is someone hits 2 good shots with the arms and hitting and they think they’ve got it. Then 30 years later they are still scratching their head wondering why they shoot 95. Guess they didn’t have it after all. Until the person turns the arms off they will sit there forever trying to become consistent.
Glad you see it and will keep letting it go wherever it wants to go.
First ever message on here! I would like to start with saying you lied to me. I brought your swing machine golf book and dvd series. In the ‘what to expect’ section you said that after practicing your methods you could expect to play a string of rubbish games to begin with and that you would not expect to see any progress until around round 6 and no score improvment until around round nine.
well i have been practicing constanly on your teachings for a month now and have played four games in that time. I saw improvment in round one added two shots on to round two, then dropped 13 strokes in round three and then dropped a further 2 shots in round 4 (finally breaking 100 for the first time eved in my lousy 2 year golf career). So suffice to say im very happy and appreciative of you! I just wish id started with you two years ago before id ever picked a club up and started all my bad practices!
Good work and great video. Im one happy fan, im not sure of my wife though ive seemed to have been living in the garden for the last month!
That’s a good lie! I love hearing it. Now stick to doing lots of practice swings working on the positions. I can get exciting playing better golf so people forget it is a better swing that allowed them to improve. So keep working on it at home, range and even when you play and you will continue your ipmrovement.
I was actually gonna ask afew questions there and just got carried away.
Sometimes with my driver i hit it fat if i tilt back. So i try to not tilt back as the tilt back should happen naturally if i initiate with my hips and legs,however i find if i dont force a bit of a body tilt i suffer with i bit of an out to in club path.
Also im finding the wieght on the front of my left foot on my follow through position which feels a bit off balance.
Things im really working on are obviously powerless arms, initiating the swing with hips and legs. A taller stance, circular shoulder roation on the backswing, not getting my hips or head ahead of the ball on the dowswing and finishing with club parralel to ears and legs touching.
Any thing else im missing???
So keep tilting but get the weight off the back foot.
The weight should end up on the outside of the forward heel when you are doing. Check your weight distribution at setup to make sure you are not on your toes before you start. As drill you may want to hit some easy shots on your heels. Get used to it then roll the weight into the middle of your feet at setup.
The things you are working on are good for now. Don’t forget your grip. Once you get these things a little more solidified then move into the backswing positions.
Cool will try your advice. Thanks for the quick reply, i had a great range day today, i think i found a root cause to alot of my problems. Ive been seesawing my shoulders in the back swing which was making me sway my hips and not geting any torque.
Once i stared incorporating your helicopter drill in to my swing every thing else seemed to just come together, i felt like i was taller coming through, my club was coming in so much shallower and i felt more in balance in my follow through position. Oh and my shots were nearly all as straight as arrows!
Thanks for finding time to reply on a weekend! Your a good egg.
Paul ,This is one of the most basic lessons of your method .
I implement it fully with a “refinement ” you don’t insist enough upon ,though you demonstrated in one of your earlier lessons
– 1 Stay as tall as you can ,don’t look down ,just see the tips of your feet, but with both knees flexed and keeping them flexed during the backswing .
– 2 Pull the left shoulder as far back as you can UNDER YOUR CHIN ;your head stays high
– 3 Your right instep is locked into the ground
– 4 Your left arm goes back straight up and high as far as you can .
Then the downswing starts with your belly button turning towards the target
The “refinement” -as I call it- is point number 2. the top of the left shoulder gets fully under the chin. .
When I do this ,I have plenty of time to swing ,I generate more torque and the ball goes farther
Yes, I should do more on this. I was going through past tips and found this one. I like your bullets. I should use them. Will put it on the list for the next time we shoot. Thanks.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. AcceptRejectRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
27 Responses to “DRILL – Start High Then Gradually Get Lower”
August 22, 2012
BryanRhoadesAwesome tip Paul…I have 2 follow up questions:
1) Some days when I try to get this taller feeling I feel as though my arms can’t swing as freely and like they crash into my body at times. I’m sure the issue is with setup and possibly crowding the ball?
2) Also with this taller feeling I feel like I need to activate my arms at times to get the club to the top……otherwise I feel flat. The risk I find though is that when I activate the arms I overdue the backswing & lose connection which is catastrophic.
I shot an 80 on a very tough course this weekend and my “bad swing” days are occuring alot less now. I still just battle the 2 things above sometimes with this higher setup stance. Thanks!!
August 22, 2012
mikeplummerHi Paul,
My question is about the shoulders as you are coiling. The left shoulder seems to go back almost on level, however does the right shoulder dip as you un-coil? Sometimes I feel as though my right shoulder is so level it leads to an over the top start. I hope this makes sense, as I know we are at an angle but with rotation it appears our shoulders are pretty level.
Thanks Mike
August 22, 2012
Paul WilsonMike, the right shoulder is lower than the left in the downswing because you are firing the lower body. When you do, your whole body tilts right (behind the ball). in doing do your right shoulders is lower than the left. You do not have to try to do this you just have to uncoil properly.
Keep in mind that the shoulders are only level when you are standing up. I am saying it is a feeling of the shoulders turning level. This is not reality because you tilted your body at address.
August 22, 2012
MartinRyanGoing back to your Ernie Els video, you repeated a statement he made and I noticed he said he had got a nice pause at the top. As I am still capable of the pull when trying to get my knee around I thought I would try a pause when next playing and it seemed to work a lot better. As you never expounded on this pause to you not subscribe to it?
Cheers
August 22, 2012
Paul WilsonMartin, I must have forgot this. I do want a slowing down/pause at the top.
Watch:
Pause At Top: https://ignitiongolf.com/pause-top-backswing
August 24, 2012
jimmarlowPaul
Your suggestion to me to stand taller and feel like sitting on the edge of a stool to combat my lifting of my head on the backswing was more important to getting a better result then I could have imagined. I feel a flatter backswing with a corresponding distance increase especially with my driver. THANK YOU!
August 25, 2012
Paul WilsonJim, That’s great news. Remember, I still want the lead arm slightly above the shoulder line. Don’t get too flat. Also, be careful when you get lots of power people keep trying to hit harder and harder and they end up losing their swing. If you want more power that’s fine. Just find it with the legs.
October 4, 2014
johnhoyleGreetings Coach Our northeastern ohio golf season is nearly at a close would this drill help keep and maintain the proper swing through the winter using your weighted swing trainer/I am concerned about loosing what i have learned through the winter Thanks
October 4, 2014
Paul WilsonJohn,
Winter is the best time to practice. There is no ball which means are not trying to hit anything. You do practice swings mastering the positions. Once next season rolls around you should be playing great golf.
You may want to consider having my assistant Pete check your swing. He would be able to keep you on track.
October 4, 2014
JamesChapleauPaul, I may be mistaken but it seems that the very start of the coiling involves the shoulders taking the club straight back very slightly followed by the rotation completing the coil. Or, does the coiling process start immediately? I enjoy your work a lot an advertise your services to everyone I meet who has an interest in golf.
October 4, 2014
Paul WilsonJames,
It appears it is going straight back because it is a slight arc. If you are coiling the club should be following this rotation.
October 4, 2014
JaySchwarzPaul,
Two questions about this:
After you are fully coiled, do you feel even tight coil as your downswing trigger initiates?
During the downswing, do you have a sense for what point the tight coil starts to loosen up?
Thanks!
October 4, 2014
Paul WilsonJay,
Everything is still connected in the downswing. I am thinking legs and hips so I am not thinking upper body. It is 1/4 of a second to impact. If you are coiled tightly and you fire the lower body you should be connected in the downswing.
In the downswing your hips would be ahead of the shoulders until the release point which is after impact. At this point the hips stop, everything catches up then they continue their rotation to the Follow Through.
Watch
Impact Hip Rotation (at camera): https://ignitiongolf.com/impact-hip-rotation/
Shoulders At Impact: https://ignitiongolf.com/impact-shoulders
October 10, 2014
CarlFuchsThanks for this drill Paul. After practicing this drill over and over again, I really had a breakthrough with my swing. My drives have gone from zero to hero. thanks! Love this drill.
Carl
October 10, 2014
Paul WilsonCarl,
Very good. I love hearing it.
October 16, 2014
CarlFuchsPaul,
My biggest breakthrough came from the start high get lower drill. When I uncoil and let the arms fully relax and hang outstretched it feels like a “runaway” club going on its own path and I’ve never hit the ball so well.
I recently discovered the golf channel and they have lots of instruction and all these guys talk a lot about timing the swinging of the arms and coordinating the arms with the hands, and controlling the club etc etc. It gets really complicated. Just the opposite for me, “Letting go” has done more for me than anything. What am I missing? Are they talking to more advanced players on another level?
October 16, 2014
Paul WilsonCarl,
I like that description “runaway club.” This is exactly what I am trying to describe.
No, they are not talking just to advanced players. This is how they teach and this is what is holding people back. It is way too complicated and it causes manipulation of the face. If you only have a few degrees room for error how are you going to square it consistently with your hands? You would have to be hitting 300-500 balls per day and even then there is no guarantee you are going to be able to do it. If you use forces they repeat 100% of the time in life. So letting the club swing wherever it wants to swing stops the manipulation of the clubface allowing it to repeat consistently but you have to focus on not hitting anything and trust it is going to work. After you see a few good shots doing this it should dawn on you that it will work so the trust soon follows. Problem is golf is someone hits 2 good shots with the arms and hitting and they think they’ve got it. Then 30 years later they are still scratching their head wondering why they shoot 95. Guess they didn’t have it after all. Until the person turns the arms off they will sit there forever trying to become consistent.
Glad you see it and will keep letting it go wherever it wants to go.
November 8, 2014
JamesRuffHi Paul,
First ever message on here! I would like to start with saying you lied to me. I brought your swing machine golf book and dvd series. In the ‘what to expect’ section you said that after practicing your methods you could expect to play a string of rubbish games to begin with and that you would not expect to see any progress until around round 6 and no score improvment until around round nine.
well i have been practicing constanly on your teachings for a month now and have played four games in that time. I saw improvment in round one added two shots on to round two, then dropped 13 strokes in round three and then dropped a further 2 shots in round 4 (finally breaking 100 for the first time eved in my lousy 2 year golf career). So suffice to say im very happy and appreciative of you! I just wish id started with you two years ago before id ever picked a club up and started all my bad practices!
Good work and great video. Im one happy fan, im not sure of my wife though ive seemed to have been living in the garden for the last month!
November 9, 2014
Paul WilsonJames,
That’s a good lie! I love hearing it. Now stick to doing lots of practice swings working on the positions. I can get exciting playing better golf so people forget it is a better swing that allowed them to improve. So keep working on it at home, range and even when you play and you will continue your ipmrovement.
November 8, 2014
JamesRuffI was actually gonna ask afew questions there and just got carried away.
Sometimes with my driver i hit it fat if i tilt back. So i try to not tilt back as the tilt back should happen naturally if i initiate with my hips and legs,however i find if i dont force a bit of a body tilt i suffer with i bit of an out to in club path.
Also im finding the wieght on the front of my left foot on my follow through position which feels a bit off balance.
Things im really working on are obviously powerless arms, initiating the swing with hips and legs. A taller stance, circular shoulder roation on the backswing, not getting my hips or head ahead of the ball on the dowswing and finishing with club parralel to ears and legs touching.
Any thing else im missing???
November 9, 2014
Paul WilsonJames,
Hitting behind with your driver is called a drop kick. I did a tip on it here:
Drop Kick: https://ignitiongolf.com/cure-drop-kick
So keep tilting but get the weight off the back foot.
The weight should end up on the outside of the forward heel when you are doing. Check your weight distribution at setup to make sure you are not on your toes before you start. As drill you may want to hit some easy shots on your heels. Get used to it then roll the weight into the middle of your feet at setup.
The things you are working on are good for now. Don’t forget your grip. Once you get these things a little more solidified then move into the backswing positions.
November 9, 2014
JamesRuffCool will try your advice. Thanks for the quick reply, i had a great range day today, i think i found a root cause to alot of my problems. Ive been seesawing my shoulders in the back swing which was making me sway my hips and not geting any torque.
Once i stared incorporating your helicopter drill in to my swing every thing else seemed to just come together, i felt like i was taller coming through, my club was coming in so much shallower and i felt more in balance in my follow through position. Oh and my shots were nearly all as straight as arrows!
Thanks for finding time to reply on a weekend! Your a good egg.
November 9, 2014
Paul WilsonJames,
See sawing in not good. Glad you see it and are working on fixing it.
October 14, 2017
RaymondCHASTELPaul ,This is one of the most basic lessons of your method .
I implement it fully with a “refinement ” you don’t insist enough upon ,though you demonstrated in one of your earlier lessons
– 1 Stay as tall as you can ,don’t look down ,just see the tips of your feet, but with both knees flexed and keeping them flexed during the backswing .
– 2 Pull the left shoulder as far back as you can UNDER YOUR CHIN ;your head stays high
– 3 Your right instep is locked into the ground
– 4 Your left arm goes back straight up and high as far as you can .
Then the downswing starts with your belly button turning towards the target
The “refinement” -as I call it- is point number 2. the top of the left shoulder gets fully under the chin. .
When I do this ,I have plenty of time to swing ,I generate more torque and the ball goes farther
October 15, 2017
Paul WilsonRaymond,
Yes, I should do more on this. I was going through past tips and found this one. I like your bullets. I should use them. Will put it on the list for the next time we shoot. Thanks.
October 14, 2017
SusanEcclesPaul
Have you got any tips re: keeping my head still. Just showing a friend a lot of yr tips and he was wondering about this
Sue
October 15, 2017
Paul WilsonSusan,
I do. You do know you never keep your head still right?
Move Head: https://ignitiongolf.com/move-head-back/
How Human Nature Affects The Head Position: https://ignitiongolf.com/human-nature-head-position/
Drill: Watch Your Head Move in the Backswing: https://ignitiongolf.com/head-move-mirror/
Where Should Your Head Be Throughout the Swing?: https://ignitiongolf.com/head-position-setup/
Stop Fat Shots When Working On Moving Your Head: https://ignitiongolf.com/fat-shots-moving-your-head/