When you get to the top of the backswing, and your left arm is connected to your chest, and you initiate the down swing with your trigger, do you feel that your hips are ahead of your arms all the way to the finish? Or, do you feel the arms getting slung ahead of the hips at some point after impact.
Yes, you feel the leg drive into the follow through when they are touching. This is all you are thinking about other than not hitting or helping the shot in any way with your arms. They are going along for the ride.
Hi Paul, in the backswing, you say to stop when you feel tension but because I’m too flexible I feel no tension at all. In a video I see that my shoulders are so turned that my hands are behind me and at my left shoulder, so way past the point they should be.
My club is parallel and I use only my hips, no arms and get great shots. But what should I do about the too big turn, try to change it or not? Thank you . Michelle
If you cannot feel the tension you need to go back until you cannot go back anymore. This is with the weight still fully loaded on the instep/heel of the back foot without swaying or lifting the forward foot. Do this and you will be fully coiled. If you are turning excessively you will be out of position which will cause all sorts of bad shots and inconsistencies. Use your judgement. Coil to the point you see great golfers coil and to the point you can repeat it.
Paul, Love your tips and I have really improved my golf game. My one problem is that I have tendency to pick the ball instead of taking a divot. Any suggestions?
If you are picking it you are using your arms to hit the ball. In doing so they are buckling a little which is pulling the club off the ground through impact.
If you want to take a divot you need to start letting the arms extend fully. I have tons of tips here on powerless arms. This is my whole concept. Int he red nav bar hover over SWING TIPS and scroll down to the section called POWERLESS ARMS. I have a bunch of tips specific to turning the arms off there.
Paul ,Question 1Is your “Wiggle “THE same preliminary movement as BEN HOGAN famous “Waggle “?
2,Do you think THE ” impact bag ” or “Smash bag “is a useful training aid to find out If you are correctly releasing THE club with enough Speed .If so ,what kind of drills should I perform?
I shot beautiful shots this morning on THE Golf Course with your teaching :POWERLESS ARMS -FROM POINT A TO POINT B -TOUCH YOUR LEGS,TOUCH YOUR NECK -FAIRWAY WOODS SWING AT 80% -SAND SAVE :Dig your feet in THE sand and rotate around left leg .All these small improvements put together really shave off shots from my score and enable to,avoid costly errors .
The waggle is not Hogan’s waggle. The waggle was around long before him. I reference the waggle in this tip saying this is NOT the waggle and I am referring to it as a wiggle. You are doing this back and through. A waggle is just back. So this is a variation of the waggle allowing you to feel the clubhead and keep the wrists loose. That is all there is to it.
NEVER, EVER, EVER hit an impact bag. FORGET IMPACT. IMPACT is not the widest point of the swing arc so who cares about impact? If you are using physics the mass (club) needs to swing to the widest point of the arc. At impact there is an angle between the shaft and the lead arm. This means IMPACT IS NOT THE WIDEST POINT OF THE ARC. So who cares about impact. If you allow the club to get the to the widest point of the arc (which is approx. 2 feet after contact with irons and 3 feet after with woods where both arms are again perfectly straight in the swing) impact has to occur. Focus on the release point after impact and you will be fine.
Well understood and accepted,,Paul ,I”ll never use m’y impact bag again (Why is it THE other golf teachers -among THE best known -recommend using it ?).
About THE “Wiggle “which is meant to loosen you up ,do you recommend or disapprove THE ancient “waggle ” of which BEN HOGAN had a sp
I really don’t see that big of a deal with the Hogan Waggle. I guess it is kind of like the drill I just want you to go through a to half way then back. It was just meant as a drill not to do forever. If you want to do the Hogan waggle you can or just stick with yours. Try my drill to get the loose feeling but keep it as a drill only.
Paul, the wiggle drill really helped me to loosen my wrists and arms. I kind of lost my train of thought and my swing. I was swinging very hard with my arms. For the first time, I could really feel my hips doing the work. Thanks for the tip!!!! Dan Sebena
Paul ,I already commented on this interesting tip two years ago.To complement what I said at the time ,I add a “body,legs and arms wiggle “by moving my entire body like a snake writhing when you pick it up .It’s all the body who has to be loose before you go into the swing .This preparatory move works marvels for me
I am starting to get the coiling feeling on course now, for me it’s a real spring sensation at the top of my backswing. To get this feeling, Its almost like I am starting the lower body drive slightly before the top of my backswing to get that final coil, is this correct? I can’t feel the coil unless I do this.
It’s like I almost need to start the leg drive to complete the coil if that makes sense, if I get it right the ball explodes off the face with no effort from the arms which is amazing, but sometimes, perhaps I am driving too quickly , this makes me unload too quickly and I miss hit.
Am I on the right track ? , do I need to still feel the coil spring at the top but work a bit on slowing or fine tuning the leg drive? Or back the coil off?
Very good. Yes, it is a tight spring-like sensation. To many people try to avoid this. I am using this tightness to hit my shots. I am thinking about uncoiling even as I am going back. Once I feel the tightness I immediately apply my downswing trigger to uncoil.
You need to keep doing what you are doing. It is a very simple move into the backswing but simple is difficult because it is tight.
Wow a different feeling alright , however I just can’t seem to do this slow at the moment , it feels a bit quick because I feel that I’m using the weight of the club as momentum going back to make the coil, then firing……. … Perhaps it’s all a bit quick but it’s defiantly working ….It’s taken me some time to recognise / feel this coil…
I’ll think I’ll work now on trying to slow it a little without losing the cool feel…….agree?….. Gee I never thought I’d get so excited overshooting greens….so I’m racking them up a bit around the greens but I couldn’t care less …for now
Paul , This wiggle is very useful before you launch your swing Too loosen up the wrists, I find useful also to practice the 3 ” finger drill ” where you let go of the thumb and index of the right hand ,the handle is then held in the three last fingers of the right hand .I make sure at the same time that the end of the lifeline of the right hand is “stuck ” or very close to the base or “V” of the left hand so the two hands work in complete unison
Paul I added this to my pre-shot routine yesterday, but I added one more thing. After doing two “wiggles” as you showed, I added my hip rotation and delayed my arm movement to the last wiggle or two. It seems to sequence my real swing at the ball. It worked for me. Thanks for continuing my instruction.
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20 Responses to “DRILL – Wiggle the Club Above the Ball”
July 22, 2013
JaySchwarzPaul,
When you get to the top of the backswing, and your left arm is connected to your chest, and you initiate the down swing with your trigger, do you feel that your hips are ahead of your arms all the way to the finish? Or, do you feel the arms getting slung ahead of the hips at some point after impact.
Thanks!
July 22, 2013
Paul WilsonJay,
Yes, you feel the leg drive into the follow through when they are touching. This is all you are thinking about other than not hitting or helping the shot in any way with your arms. They are going along for the ride.
July 22, 2013
MichelleRichardsonHi Paul, in the backswing, you say to stop when you feel tension but because I’m too flexible I feel no tension at all. In a video I see that my shoulders are so turned that my hands are behind me and at my left shoulder, so way past the point they should be.
My club is parallel and I use only my hips, no arms and get great shots. But what should I do about the too big turn, try to change it or not? Thank you . Michelle
July 22, 2013
Paul WilsonMichelle,
If you cannot feel the tension you need to go back until you cannot go back anymore. This is with the weight still fully loaded on the instep/heel of the back foot without swaying or lifting the forward foot. Do this and you will be fully coiled. If you are turning excessively you will be out of position which will cause all sorts of bad shots and inconsistencies. Use your judgement. Coil to the point you see great golfers coil and to the point you can repeat it.
July 22, 2013
RonRojasPaul, Love your tips and I have really improved my golf game. My one problem is that I have tendency to pick the ball instead of taking a divot. Any suggestions?
July 22, 2013
Paul WilsonRon,
If you are picking it you are using your arms to hit the ball. In doing so they are buckling a little which is pulling the club off the ground through impact.
Watch:
Divot: https://ignitiongolf.com/divot
If you want to take a divot you need to start letting the arms extend fully. I have tons of tips here on powerless arms. This is my whole concept. Int he red nav bar hover over SWING TIPS and scroll down to the section called POWERLESS ARMS. I have a bunch of tips specific to turning the arms off there.
July 22, 2013
RaymondCHASTELPaul ,Question 1Is your “Wiggle “THE same preliminary movement as BEN HOGAN famous “Waggle “?
2,Do you think THE ” impact bag ” or “Smash bag “is a useful training aid to find out If you are correctly releasing THE club with enough Speed .If so ,what kind of drills should I perform?
I shot beautiful shots this morning on THE Golf Course with your teaching :POWERLESS ARMS -FROM POINT A TO POINT B -TOUCH YOUR LEGS,TOUCH YOUR NECK -FAIRWAY WOODS SWING AT 80% -SAND SAVE :Dig your feet in THE sand and rotate around left leg .All these small improvements put together really shave off shots from my score and enable to,avoid costly errors .
July 22, 2013
Paul WilsonRaymond,
The waggle is not Hogan’s waggle. The waggle was around long before him. I reference the waggle in this tip saying this is NOT the waggle and I am referring to it as a wiggle. You are doing this back and through. A waggle is just back. So this is a variation of the waggle allowing you to feel the clubhead and keep the wrists loose. That is all there is to it.
NEVER, EVER, EVER hit an impact bag. FORGET IMPACT. IMPACT is not the widest point of the swing arc so who cares about impact? If you are using physics the mass (club) needs to swing to the widest point of the arc. At impact there is an angle between the shaft and the lead arm. This means IMPACT IS NOT THE WIDEST POINT OF THE ARC. So who cares about impact. If you allow the club to get the to the widest point of the arc (which is approx. 2 feet after contact with irons and 3 feet after with woods where both arms are again perfectly straight in the swing) impact has to occur. Focus on the release point after impact and you will be fine.
July 23, 2013
RaymondCHASTELWell understood and accepted,,Paul ,I”ll never use m’y impact bag again (Why is it THE other golf teachers -among THE best known -recommend using it ?).
About THE “Wiggle “which is meant to loosen you up ,do you recommend or disapprove THE ancient “waggle ” of which BEN HOGAN had a sp
July 24, 2013
Paul WilsonRaymond,
I really don’t see that big of a deal with the Hogan Waggle. I guess it is kind of like the drill I just want you to go through a to half way then back. It was just meant as a drill not to do forever. If you want to do the Hogan waggle you can or just stick with yours. Try my drill to get the loose feeling but keep it as a drill only.
August 27, 2013
DanSebenaPaul, the wiggle drill really helped me to loosen my wrists and arms. I kind of lost my train of thought and my swing. I was swinging very hard with my arms. For the first time, I could really feel my hips doing the work. Thanks for the tip!!!! Dan Sebena
August 28, 2013
Paul WilsonDan,
That’s great. I liked that drill when I did it. It really made you feel the club. Keep at it.
June 6, 2015
RaymondCHASTELPaul ,I already commented on this interesting tip two years ago.To complement what I said at the time ,I add a “body,legs and arms wiggle “by moving my entire body like a snake writhing when you pick it up .It’s all the body who has to be loose before you go into the swing .This preparatory move works marvels for me
June 7, 2015
Paul MacHi Paul
I am starting to get the coiling feeling on course now, for me it’s a real spring sensation at the top of my backswing. To get this feeling, Its almost like I am starting the lower body drive slightly before the top of my backswing to get that final coil, is this correct? I can’t feel the coil unless I do this.
It’s like I almost need to start the leg drive to complete the coil if that makes sense, if I get it right the ball explodes off the face with no effort from the arms which is amazing, but sometimes, perhaps I am driving too quickly , this makes me unload too quickly and I miss hit.
Am I on the right track ? , do I need to still feel the coil spring at the top but work a bit on slowing or fine tuning the leg drive? Or back the coil off?
Great site and lessons,
Regards
Paul
June 7, 2015
Paul WilsonPaul,
Very good. Yes, it is a tight spring-like sensation. To many people try to avoid this. I am using this tightness to hit my shots. I am thinking about uncoiling even as I am going back. Once I feel the tightness I immediately apply my downswing trigger to uncoil.
You need to keep doing what you are doing. It is a very simple move into the backswing but simple is difficult because it is tight.
Coiling: https://ignitiongolf.com/learn-coil-backswing
Shoulder Rotation – Learning To Coil: https://ignitiongolf.com/learning-to-coil/
The Right Way To Turn Your Back to the Target: https://ignitiongolf.com/back-to-target-right-way/
Move Head: https://ignitiongolf.com/move-head-back/
June 8, 2015
Paul MacThanks Paul ,
Wow a different feeling alright , however I just can’t seem to do this slow at the moment , it feels a bit quick because I feel that I’m using the weight of the club as momentum going back to make the coil, then firing……. … Perhaps it’s all a bit quick but it’s defiantly working ….It’s taken me some time to recognise / feel this coil…
I’ll think I’ll work now on trying to slow it a little without losing the cool feel…….agree?….. Gee I never thought I’d get so excited overshooting greens….so I’m racking them up a bit around the greens but I couldn’t care less …for now
Your the guru ….
June 8, 2015
Paul WilsonPaul,
Very good. It really is different but that goes away after you are used to it.
Yes, do it slow. I would rather you do things right at 1mph than wrong at 100mph.
Watch:
DRILL: Do It Right at 1MPH https://ignitiongolf.com/right-at-1mph/
April 1, 2017
RaymondCHASTELPaul , This wiggle is very useful before you launch your swing Too loosen up the wrists, I find useful also to practice the 3 ” finger drill ” where you let go of the thumb and index of the right hand ,the handle is then held in the three last fingers of the right hand .I make sure at the same time that the end of the lifeline of the right hand is “stuck ” or very close to the base or “V” of the left hand so the two hands work in complete unison
April 2, 2017
PETERMCMULLENPaul I added this to my pre-shot routine yesterday, but I added one more thing. After doing two “wiggles” as you showed, I added my hip rotation and delayed my arm movement to the last wiggle or two. It seems to sequence my real swing at the ball. It worked for me. Thanks for continuing my instruction.
April 3, 2017
Paul WilsonPeter,
That’s great. Do what you need to do to loosen up and get ready. So many people are so tight they have no chance to hit perfect shots.