Lesson #1
February 12th 2019
Hey Terrance, here’s your summary from our 1st lesson! From face on we can see how your trail(right arm) is functioning on the downswing. Most over the top(steep) shaft swingers swing like that because their right arm throws the club too early. When this happens we have to slow our rotation down and flip our hands to be able to make contact. The lines drawn in the first two frames illustrate your right arm angle at the top vs. into impact.
From down the line we notice your head moving quite a bit towards the ball on the downswing which will cause the shaft to steepen in addition to your right arm movement. Here we can see that when the clubhead is that far outside the ball the only direction it can move is left through the hitting zone. The only way the ball has a chance to go straight is if we compensate that by opening the clubface. Then we see slices and pulls when the clubface stays straight.
Our first key of the day was to improve your right arm positions to improve your swing plane and release. We made some good progress with the right arm only drill. This forces your body to hit the ball with only body rotation and makes it very hard for you to flip your hands at the ball. We have an example of myself doing the very same drill. Only difference I see are the wrist angles(shaft lean) but you did manage to make contact with the ground well after the ball.
The second key of the day was to further improve your swing plane by preventing your upper body from opening towards the target too early in the downswing. You practiced swinging the butt end of the club under your left arm that was extended out barely above your waist height. This helps give you the feeling of keeping your back towards the target longer while the lower body and arms uncoil down into the ball.
The third and final key of the day was getting more lateral weight shift to further improve your swing direction. By putting an object, whether it be a stick in the ground when you’re outside or a wall or chair when you’re inside, that you can “bump” into to start your downswing. This helps bring the hands and arms down from the inside before rotating through the shot.
After working through some drills that addressed our three keys of the day, 1. right arm position, 2. back to the target longer, 3. lateral hip bump towards the target to start the downswing, we can see a major improvement in swing direction and contact.
I think the before and after speak for themselves. But for good measure notice how different your right arm looks in these photos and your back is facing the target more all while your club is staying on plane. Keep up the good work and don’t forget to practice!