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Tom's Featured Tip: Driver Fix Lesson Comments
Lesson Comments: What Students Have To Say
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Driver Fix Lesson Comments
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Driver Fix Lesson Comments
For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective.
Often I conduct lessons to fix common problems. If I feel that my lesson comments wil be beneficial to my readers I send them along. This is such an instance.
Here are my follow up lesson comments from a driver lesson for an adult female that I've been working with off and on for a couple years. She's a decent player and wants to improve.
Excellent effort today XXX, here are my comments.
The three problems you were having with your driver are:
- Having an open clubface during the impact interval. This caused an initial ball flight directional error of too much to the right, as well as slice curvature. The curvature told us that the face was also open to your swingpath.
- A swing plane that changed from your backswing, which is fine, to your downswing, which was either down the line or outside to inside. This was due primarily to a "flying right elbow", a very common downswing error.
- An incomplete finish position, which indicates errors somewhere in your down and forward swing. Your driver swing finish should be tall and tilted right slightly towards the ground, your belly should be pointing towards your target with 99% of your weight on your forward side, and with your hips tucked forward of your ankles. Your full iron swing finish will be the same as full driver swing finish, but with more side tilt.
Everything was exacerbated by your head shifting slightly forward (towards the target) during your downswing (okay with irons, death with the driver).
Corrective Actions
- Your head needs to be behind the ball at setup with the driver, and remain there during the impact interval. In fact, it should almost feel like your head moves away from the target at impact,
before your momentum pulls it forward. You should experiment with adding some degree of radial spine axis tilt at setup - hips shifted slightly forward, head tilted back a bit. This will give
you more carry distance, but note you will really need to "wax the hood" very deliberately with that setup. I recommend it if you can do it, if your ball keeps sailing right fuggetaboutit.
You, like many players that I coach, also need to help the face close at impact with the "wax the hood " motion. Practice that with your 8 iron, no ball, and observe the clubface position at your 3/4 follow through. It should be pointing left.
Note:The Wax The Hood motion is the right hand rotating counterclockwise through the impact interval. It squares the face up without flipping it.
At the range, hit these shots alternately with a ball teed up at driver height, waxing the hood resolutely with each swing:
- PW
- Driver
- repeat
The correctly executed swing with the PW should produce a ball that starts slightly right of your target line then draws. If it's starting left and draws, pay attention to corrective action number 2 below.
This great practice for the feeling of squaring up the clubface (the release) at impact, as well as for maintaining your swing radius.
If your swing ever gets to the point where the ball is starting right and overdrawing to the left of your target line, you can start backing off the "wax the hood" motion incrementally. That may never happen, just be aware.
- Your downswing plane should either mirror your backswing plane or be slightly more inside to outside on the downswing.
This happens when your right elbow is more tucked towards the right front area of your ribcage on the downswing. That's called "dropping it in the slot" in golf parlance. That's accomplished by either consciously "dropping it in the slot" on your downswing, OR feeling like you are maintaining the down and out portion of your downswing for a longer period of time. You can do the latter by looking at a spot just forward and to the right of your teed up ball, and swinging in that direction for a longer feeling period of time in your down and out swing. The spot technique is more desirable because you can't swing in that direction as described with a flying elbow. Your elbow must be in the correct position on the down and out portion of your forward swing to swing in that direction, it's automatic.
- Just practice getting to a correct finish position with folded arm swings, no ball.
A staying "down and through" finish.
When you are playing and hit a poor shot, the only way you can self correct is by paying close attention to your ball flight (what direction did it start and how did it curve), and how did you finish.
- Five minute practice sessions are very effective for technique work without a ball, as well as for closing your eyes and visualizing your perfect swing with deep concentration.
Try it, you'll like it!
Email Comments: to TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com
Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer, The Stack and Tilt Swing
Love your practice, own your swing, own your health, and remember that golf is a game of discovery. Dont be afraid to experiment when you practice, it's good for your golfing brain.
Tom
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All the best,
Tom Tucker
Teaching Professional, Batavia Country Club
WGTF ' "Top 100 Golf Teacher"
USGTF Class "A" Teaching Professional
IGPA Certified Golf Psychology Coach
Cell: (716) 474-3005
Email: TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com
http://www.TomTuckerGolf.com
"There are no substitutes in the quest for perfection1"
~ Ben Hogan