Lesson #2
March 4th 2020
In this video we tested how your body’s mechanics work naturally. We found that you have a centered pivot that favors your lead side (left side). The goal here is improve consistency by hitting the ground every time in the correct spot relative to the golf ball. In order to do this effectively, we must create a swing rotates in posture while staying anchored to a single location. Many golfers have excess sliding and swaying in their golf swing and then it becomes very difficult to hit the same spot on the ground every time.
We further tested this by hitting a series of shots with your feet together is 3 different fashions. 50-50, 70-30, and 90-10 weight favoring the left side and we found that the 70-30 is the most ideal for you. Think probably closer to 65-35 at setup. I also recommend this as a drill to improve your rotation and to feel more centered over the ball throughout your swing.
Here we practice walking into the shot with proper club and body alignments. Always set the clubhead behind the ball first before building your stance and taking your grip. This allows for a consistent setup every time. After you set your club, stance, and grip, it’s time sway the hips(pelvis) slightly towards the target (to the left) while keeping our spine angle over the ball. This creates what we call secondary tilt, which is necessary for a proper club delivery onto the ball.
To help your rotation on the downswing we added the Matthew Wolf rehearsal. Before a shot, rehearse what impact should feel and look like a few times to build a good feel. The hips and chest should rotate towards the target while the shaft leans forward and the weight transfers to the left side.
Above these pictures are the corresponding videos that they originated from for reference. From down-the-line, what stands out to me is the lack of lower body rotation and just overall movement during the swing. You can see in the 3rd frame that your clubhead gets well inside the ideal plane line due to lack of rotation on the downswing. The hands and arms really pull the club down instead of the lower body leading and letting the arms and hands follow behind as you rotate. In the last frame I just notice how planted your back foot is at impact. I’d like to see the back foot much more off the ground by this position.
From the face-on view, we can see a more centered pivot compared to before the lesson. Still a little too much lower body restriction in the 2nd frame. I’d like to see that lead knee collapse inward a little more like Jack Nicklaus so that the hips can get a bigger and deeper turn. 3rd frame you can see the trail foot firmly plant still well after impact which tells me not enough weight was transferred forward. Keep practicing and I’ll see you soon!