Q – When you say start with your front shoulder do you mean drop the shoulder to get the swing started?
A – No not down, you want to wind your shoulders around your spine, and you push your front shoulder in the direction that would do this based on your spine tilt or angle. I know that sounds weird, but it changes for every club. If you were standing straight up and down, you would push back level to the ground, but once you tilt some, you push more up the swing path or tilt path. Some golfers prefer to use their back shoulder to pull back behind them to wind up… or some use both shoulders working together. Again the key is to “Wind your shoulders around your spine”. There is a great book out on this called One Move to Better Golf. Carl Lohren saw Ben Hogan making this move in the 1950′s. This is an awesome move once learned… hope this helped it is very difficult to explain… Ross
Q – When I work with your lessons, I am not sure what I’m doing wrong, but I’m getting a lot of pulls and pull hooks. Any thoughts? Thanks.
A – You may not believe it now, but that is a good thing. It means you are turning (what we want), but at the same time you are letting your hands and club control impact and take over passing your body rotation (makes the ball go left). As you practice with easy 40 yd shots, be totally aware of any grip pressure changes during the swing. You want to feel that your body turn can control impact. Impact is not a moment where you need to do something, it is a continuum, meaning it is where the ball gets in the way of your turn as your body keeps rotating to the finish. The only thing that messes this up is THE HANDS, trying to help. The more you keep them passive, the more the Large Muscles take over and the more consistent you will become… please let me know how you are doing. Here is a new video I just put up that addresses this move… notice the slow motion at the end uses body roation, NOT HANDS …talk soon… Ross
Q – Do I still shift weight to my back foot when I take the club back?
A – No … I don’t teach that… there is no need and only messes things up… keep 60% front 40% back… let your shoulders push the club back against a firm lower body.. hence the word “hold” that we use… hold is holding your front knee to keep your lower body still on takeaway… this creates a ton of torque… the backswing is really a very small, powerful move… more of a windup… all that shift your weight stuff is old school and very bad… Ross
Q – Just started golfing 3-4 months ago. Doing pretty well with irons and driver (your videos helped!) My biggest problem is hitting 3 W and 3-5 H off the fairway. I usually either hit it thin or push it to right. Have tried moving ball around (front, middle) but hasn’t helped much. Any advice? Thanks!
A – Hi Jim
If the ball is going right (and you are right handed), the face is open, which means you opened is sometime during the back swing. Watch this video http://www.youtube.com/user/DUPLESSISGOLF#p/u/7/jAirSQJVbSE and you can see how the club face should be to not have the going right issue… Now a couple of things for setup with the clubs you mentioned. Most golfers put their front foot too far ahead of the ball and they get stuck there and can’t turn. You want to setup your front toe and the club face in line 90 degrees to the target… again, the foot and club head are in line with each other. Now if it is on the grass, this is directly behind the ball… but if on a tee, leave a 1-2″ gap …this allows you to turn into the ball and pick it up on the up swing.
Your thin issue is one thing and one reason always… FLIPPING. Which is to throw the club head with (usually) your back hand… just keep your hand quiet, passive and use large muscles to control your swing… Ross
Ross,
I found you on Youtube a few months ago and about a week ago downloaded your series from iTunes on to my iPad.
I have watched each of your instructional videos many times and enjoyed your blog as well.
I have experienced what you described in hitting from the rough and using mass to move the ball forward but never thought about that same technique/method as the standard for a normal shot.
Needless to say my contact is more consistent now, my fear of over-hooking is going away and my distance control is much better. Sometimes I look in astonishment at the nice shallow divots I now take. No more flip and dig.
There is still much refinement needed in my swing to get the full effect, but that is why I get the range card at my local course, to bang balls until I get it right. I may send you a video one day of my new found Ross swing.
Thanks for the method as well as your friendly responses to all. The way you conduct yourself is an asset to your profession.
Scott Gray
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Hi Ross,
I am interested to know your thoughts on wrist hinge for shorter (1/4 or 1/2 and 3/4 shots). I know you talk about a natural hinge for full shots where the weight of the club head creates the hinge when it goes over top dead centre. Shorter swings will probably need an active hinge (if a hinge is needed at all) and I know you are not keen on this? Your thoughts would be appreciated. Regard’s, Dave
Good question Dave! Let me start with a couple of questions back first. What do you want to achieve? If you hinge your wrists on shorter shots what will it produce? More Height? Well you can have all the height you need and have the ball sit down as soft as you need with no wrist hinge. This is not to say that I don’t allow my wrists to hinge on short shots and it can be done, but rarely needed. I have a video on a short high shot: http://www.youtube.com/user/DUPLESSISGOLF#p/u/7/M7LKx13lLjk very little wrist hinge (shoulder momentum, not actively) and I show it in slow motion at the end of the video. The real key is using your front shoulder and pushing straight back (feels like pushing to the outside) on your body/toe line (not target line) once you are setup open to the target, by opening the club face prior to taking your stance. It is very easy once you follow the setup steps.
How to hit out of ruff. Ross, your instructions have helped me immensely. However, I still am not hitting well out of the ruff. Any suggestions or set up changes for hitting out of the ruff>
Hi Tom
In most cases, you want the ball just at the bottom of the swing arc (below front shoulder). The key is to not flip your hands. Keep the hands passive and let your body rotation pull the ball out. The deeper the ball the more you may need to add loft but again no flipping with the hands. The shaft must lead slightly the club face as you pick up the ball with your turn… Ross