New Golf Instruction

The start of the downswing is an athletic unwinding from the ground up sequence. It is mandatory that there is more weight on the front leg to start this sequence. You can not start to unwind with more weight on the back foot. Traditional golf instruction has been sliding and loading up the back side and causing the need to recover from this problem so they created the “Bump and Turn” recovery technique that fixes the fact that you slid your weight to the back foot to start with. This all has to go! If on the backswing you maintain at least 60% of your weight on the front foot, it creates much more potential power because the shoulders can wind up against a firm lower body. Then on the downswing since your weight is already on the front foot, the small muscles in the knees can easily start to unwind the larger thigh muscles in the legs, that engage the hips to unwind the torso and shoulders. The arms & club just go along for the ride. This also fixes many miss hit shots once all the sliding is gone. When you don’t slide, you get Wind up, then Unwind … not slide and wind up, then slide back and unwind. Welcome to the middle of the club face almost every time!
Now, what generally upsets this natural, easy and athletic movement, is the impulse to hit at the ball with the hands. Learn to keep your hands passive with constant grip pressure and the Large Muscles will control your Backswing, Downswing … Golf Swing… Ross

Record your golf swing at the range, on the course or in the backyard using the New iPhone/iPad App Golf Swing Analysis and have your swing video analyzed by PGA Professional Ross duPlessis. Now available in the App Store.

What is a Chicken Wing anyway? What happens? Why is it wrong?

First of all, The Chicken Wing can occur on the backswing and/or the downswing.

The Elbows work kind of like “Supports” under the shaft. At the top of the backswing, the back arm is folded under to support the club shaft. Then on the downswing, once the body is finished rotating, the front arm is folded underneath supporting the shaft again. All this happens naturally if the arms and hands are passive during the swing.

Now a Chicken Wing look on the backswing will have the back elbow actually pulling the arms and club behind the golfer. Instead of being underneath the shaft, it has been lifted up as much as 90 degrees (from being underneath) and is now in line with the shaft. This is not a repeatable or productive position.

Now the inverse of this is the Chicken Wing on the downswing, that usually occurs at impact and just after. Again you have the elbow (this time the front elbow) actually pulling the arms and club across the body. This Chicken Wing look after impact usually means your body rotation stopped and the hands and arms took over. The way the front elbow should work on the downswing is, the front elbow will point back at the front hip at impact and later on in the swing folds underneath to support the shaft at the finish.

This is what the arms and elbows should look like during the swing… At the top of the backswing, the front arm is straight with the back elbow bent (*about 90 degrees) underneath… then on the forward swing after the body is completely rotated, the back arm is straight with the front arm bent and elbow underneath.

The Big Key: THE ELBOWS ALWAYS STAY CLOSE TOGETHER DURING THE ENTIRE SWING. If they come apart it is usually because you are pulling and trying to use them. Keep the arms passive and let the shoulders and body turn move them.

*Really great players help maintain their radius and extension during the swing by not allowing the elbows to bend in towards the arm less than 90 degrees). This keeps the width of the swing arc constant for a more reliable swing.

Another question from a student that I’m sure many of you would like to know the answer to.

Q. How do I get more backspin on the ball?? Every time I get it on the green it rolls further than i want.

There are a couple of ways to look at this:
1. Spin happens when the shaft of the club leads the club face at impact. Meaning the handle is way ahead of the club face (or leaning forward). This creates a descending angle of attack causing backspin. Most golfers are flipping the club head into the ball or hitting with their wrists throwing the club head at impact. This wrist action has the opposite affect on the ball making it skull or roll too far. So if you want spin, keep the shaft in line with your front arm and don’t let your hands change… use your body rotation for the source of power. Also the amount you open the club face before you setup adds more spin (but you sill can’t flip… just turn)

2. Really good players do not rely on spin because it is not constant from green to green. It looks cool but you are never sure what the results will be. Learning to control the roll (like just tossing a ball short of the hole and letting it roll up to the hole and stop) is by far the best way to play golf. You will score better over the long run. This too is about having the shaft in line with the front arm and not flipping but not as much “lean” or not as much ahead of the club face with the shaft. Just pick a landing spot and anticipate the roll to the hole… takes a little practice but pays off big.

3. Very advanced players know how to use “Gravity” to stop the ball. Make it sit down like it is stuck to Velcro. This technique is all about the angle of descent or the angle the ball impacts the green. Nothing to do with spin. For example, if you throw a ball straight up and it comes down and hits the green, it doesn’t roll very far does it?… hummmm. You get it. If you can hit a shot high and imagine the trajectory coming down into the green, you can stop the ball almost anywhere. Learn to picture the ball falling out of the sky and use gravity for great results… Thanks for listening… Ross

Hint! : Look at your hands at your finish to see what you did through impact. They should look exactly like setup if you actually did keep your hands from flipping. Practicing this and learning to control the shaft will change all aspects of your game BIG TIME … Ross

If you are not already preparing your arms and elbows like this before you setup, your swing is about to improve a lot. This question came to me this morning in an email and here is my reply:

Question – How tight are your elbows pointing at each other and how tight on chest?

Great question … I think the easies way to know, is to hold the club straight out in front of you from the shoulders with your arms fully extended, shaft in line with the front arm, elbows pointing down and towards each other. This is a critical. If the arms are not extended, they will elongate during the swing (changing the radius). Now keeping a little tension at the elbows, allow the arms to drop down on top of your chest (not pinching your chest, on top). This gives a radius that can be maintained but freedom to be controlled by the shoulders. I call this the “Template”. Now with the template hanging, we can use this as a guide for setup that is repeatable. One key point for all this is the elbows pointing back towards the hips as a recurring relationship. They start that way and realign as the hips pull the arms back down in front of the body turning through impact… here is a video that will help The Ross Move

All great players somehow before they hit, got their arms in this position. Hogan had a picture in his book with string winding around the arms to hold them close together. I see many tour players (subconsciously) stretch and lengthen their arms just before they take the club back to get into this same setup. We need a constant continuity through the arms that does not break down during the swing so the shoulders can take over and rely on the arms to stay the same… thanks for the nice comments… please let me know if you need more help… Ross

Had a student ask for tips on various bunker conditions… here are my responses:

On an Uphill bunker shot you want to pre-set your weight up the hill into the front leg playing the ball on that foot. Your center is up the hill across from that foot. You do NOT want to open the face in that the slope is already adding loft. If it is a short shot choke down. Use your front shoulder to push straight back, then the hips unwind to rotate to face the target. Let your body rotation impact the sand an inch behind the ball and keep turning. The faster you rotate through impact the farther or higher the ball goes… or your can push back farther and rotate completely at a slower pace for a “drop out of the sky” kind of effect.

On Downhill bunker shot (toughest shot in golf), you want to open up the face and your stance so you can swing across the slope. This gives the path a more level environment vs. a path following the down slope (too hard to get the ball up and stop with a path down the slope). Stopping the ball on a downhill bunker shot is usually the tough thing. You must also commit to this shot to pull it off, you can’t quit on it. Needs practice to build confidence

The buried lie you want to first create what they call a “Dig Sole”, which is closing the face or hooding the face a bit. What this does is to remove some of the built in bounce in the SW, so the club can now penetrate much easier down through the sand and pull out your buried lie. You must use your body rotation and mass to keep turning to use the sand to bring the ball up and out. The ball will roll more and you must compensate for it.

Controlling distance depends on how deep the ball sits in the sand and how much sand you need to go through to move the ball. This just takes practicing various scenarios of bunker shots to gain experience and confidence. The big key… use your body rotation to execute all these shots. Old golf instruction says to use your hands and arms to hit through the sand, but Old Style is not nearly as reliable as using your body turn… Ross

A golfer sent me this question in an email and I thought a few of you might be suffering from this.
Q. – My biggest problem is…I just can’t keep my head down and my eyes on the ball just before striking the ball. Any hints on how to correct this problem?

A. – I suspect that your setup may have the ball too far back in your stance causing you to feel like you need to use your hands to hit quickly before you hit the ground, so you raise up to allow the hands and arms to pass. I can’t tell you for sure until I see your swing video but if it is, this will help. Move the ball just inside front foot. Keep 60% weight on front foot during the backswing and then just unwind to face the target. The ball will be in perfect position… but you need to turn. Most golfers end up with their weight on the back foot, then slide forward and hit at the ball with their hands. The golf swing rotates, a rotary, turning, athletic unwinding move. I don’t teach keep your head still because it stays still as a side effect of the proper movement … unwinding vs hitting with hands. So move that ball forward and turn!!… Ross