Problem Solving 1 - Half Swing

Left Divots

If you are having problems with your ball striking then you should take a look at this exercise. Inconsistent ball striking (fat shot, thin shot, scoopy hits, weak shots) is caused by an incorrect motion in the arms and the wrists.

First of all double check your grip. Make sure you are not holding the club too much in the palm of your hands (review the Instructions on The Grip)

Stand in front of a mirror with your feet together and release all the tension away from your shoulders, arms and hands. You should be gripping loosely enough so that you can feel the weight of the club in your hands.

The first thing to move in your swing is the head of the club, moving away from the ball. You should feel that as your left arm rolls up your chest you hinge your wrist simultaneously.

Keep doing this until you can comfortably hinge the club so that your left arm and the club shaft form a 90 degree angle.

You have created a perfect delivery position from which to strike down on the back of the ball. Learning the timing of the unhinging of the wrists and the rolling of the arms requires practice.

When you are practising it is a good idea to aim at tees lying on the ground. It is very important that you feel the weight of the club swinging freely at the ball.

Start hitting balls off a tee and then lower the tee height so that the ball is virtually sitting on top of the grass.

If your contact with the ball is poor you should try one of these thoughts:

1. Try to hit down on the ball to make the ball go up in the air

2. You should be able to take a shallow divot (when the ball is teed low enough) immediately after you hit the ball

3. Swing your right arm down your chest so that you feel as though you are throwing your right hand down onto the back of the ball

Shots Go to the Right

If your shots go to the right you are leaving the clubface open through impact. Here are some ways to correct this.

To correct this you should roll your arms more aggressively through impact to square the clubface at impact. Check this by doing the ¼ swing and make sure the clubface is toe up to the sky at the ¼ swing finish.

From this feeling do your ½ swing and repeat the toe up feeling as you rehinge the club to the full ½ swing finish.

Excersise

For players who make solid contact with the ball but who occasionally push fade the ball you should try this exercise.

One of the most common faults in a good player´s swing is a loss of synchronisation between the body and the arms. If your weight shift releases too early and your arms cannot catch up then the clubface comes into the ball in an open position.

To correct this timing problem you need to practise holding your turn as your arms swing aggressively through to the finish.

Hit balls with your left foot toed in towards the ball. By toeing in your left foot, the left leg will be braced and you should be able to swing your arms past your body.

Instead of you pulling the clubhead into the ball you should feel that the weight of the club pulls you through to the finish.

By allowing the weight of the club to go past you, the clubface will always be square and you will lose that dangerous push fade.

Divots Do Not Follow Target Line

If your ball never starts at the target and your divots go to the right or the left then your clubhead path needs a check up.

Left Divots

If your divots go to the left of the target line then you are swinging the clubhead on an outside to inside path across the target line as in the image below.

Try this simple exercise to experience how a good swing path should feel.

Look at the illustration below to see how I have set up the exercise. Your goal is to be able to sweep the middle ball away without moving the other two balls.

Try the following thoughts and feelings…

In your backswing you should check for these two errors:

1. Is your takeaway correct? If your body turns too quickly your club will roll into a very flat position. The normal sequence then is for you to try to create power by hitting at the ball with the right shoulder. This motion opens up your chest too quickly and your arms and the club are thrown outside the line in the downswing..

To correct this poor sequence you need to feel a more outside takeaway path. To do this keep your body more still for the first 4 feet (1,2 m) of your backswing. Your left shoulder should go down towards your right toe as opposed to out towards the ball. Work hard in a mirror to verify that your feelings are creating the swing motion you want.

2. The other error in the backswing is a very vertical lifting of the body and arms. If your arms look as though they swing straight up away from the ball and that your body lifts out of your address position, then you need more rotation in your golf swing.

Check your grip and address position carefully. Then make practice swings holding the club out in front of you about waist high off the ground. Look at the video and then repeat what I am doing in a mirror.

Keep your lower body braced and roll your arms and chest aggressively in a circle. This is the feeling that you will need to correct your backswing.
Exercise to Eliminate Left Divots

If your clubface swings across the ball on an outside to inside path then you will have to have an open face at impact to spin the ball back to the target. Slice spin is very weak and hard to control.

When you are hitting balls using the exercise you should try the following thoughts.

I check my grip and set up to the ball with a good balanced address position. I concentrate on keeping my body still as my arms work up my chest. You can see that my hinge is full to 90 degree by the time my left arm is parallel to the ground.

As my arms start down to the ball you can see how my weight stays held on my right leg and how my chest waits for the arms to swing down. This allows me to swing on a more inside to out path and I can fully release my arms without any fear of a pull hook. My ball starts slightly right of the target and gently turns right to left in the air and falls down on the flag.

Go to work!

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