Welcome to the Tuesday editon of Ask Brady Live! The blog has been quite busy today so I will pick up with the answers later tonight. Check back later for more....
The blog is awesome, thanks for your efforts.
I have a question about hip turn. I have heard that restricting your hip turn creates torque that should increase distance. I have recently begun restricting my hip turn and make a full shoulder turn, and have noticed my ball flight is higher but distance suffers a little bit. Is the distance loss a by-product of the increased loft or could it be a swing synchronization problem? Also, I seem to not have a whole lot of weight shift when I limit my hip rotation (or less than before)and wonder if that could be contributing to the loss of distance.
The swing change seems to make me more consistent with distance as well as trajectory. I do not have any video of my swing but hope to have some soon. Thanks!!
Thanks for the kind words about the blog. Just say no to this idea of restricting hip turn. This ideas has since been proven as completely detrimental to power and consistency and no longer holds any weight in most teaching circles. Allow your trail hip to turn much more freely going back and you will find the results immediate and profound.
Andy Scott asks:
feel like im pretty flexible and I can make a bigger shoulder turn then in this video but when I do my timing goes completely and don't feel like im benefiting from the extra clubhead speed..... Any suggestions?
Sorry Andy but I can’t seem to get the video playing. Maybe you can send it in again next week.
Aman Misra asks:
What would be your advice to work on scoring on a regular basis?
I'm a nine handicap.
Aman from India
Thanks for the question Aman. The first thing you need to do is understand your own game to figure out where your strengths and weaknesses lie. I would begin by keeping track of some vital statistics. Fairways Hit, Greens in Regulation, Putts per round, Putts per Green in Regulation, Up and down percentage from within 30 yards of the green, Up and down percentage from greenside sand, stroke average on Par 3’s, 4’s and 5’s is a good place to start. Once you have the numbers you will see obvious areas where you need to focus your practice time and attention.
Facebook user asks:
I am a lefty with a pretty nasty left to right slice at times... any suggestions on what I can do to help improve it? I have tried a few things and nothing has really stuck. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated thanks :)
There are different approaches to fix this issue. One theory is to focus on fixing the path first to a more inside approach. The idea being that the face is significantly open to the path causing the slice and making the path more inside will narrow the gap and eventually make the face closed to the path. The problem with this idea is when there is a typical cause for the face being open like a poor grip or excessively bent lead wrist at the top fixing the path won’t help the slice. This can only make the problem worse. I prefer to fix the face first leading to the opposite miss. If the clubface is closed and the path is still outside in the ball will generally hook or be pulled off line. This is a strong motivator to swing the club more from the inside as it will immediately get the ball on line. The instincts to swing the club in a direction away from the miss are very strong and lead to the slice in the first place. Fixing the clubface first allows the student to use their instincts a swing more from the inside to get the ball at the target. Find out why the face is open first and clean that up before moving onto the path and you will be hitting it better very quickly.
Facebook user asks at 1:45:
Brady! Maybe you have a drill or a thought to "feel" process for women to create lag in their downswing. All too many of my students show up casting the club and look like pretzels trying to just let gravity have its way. I'm getting them there but not in my usual 15 minutes like everything else. Also, tell me what to do to get into the Top 100? I cannot continue to have the teaching results I'm having and go unrecognized for it!
The key for developing lag with all players is working on the proper sequence to begin the downswing. Players generally cast the club when the downswing begins with their hands and arms instead of their body. Like all athletic motions moving weight in the direction of the target before the arms, hands and/or object being swung is the key to speed and power. Working on stepping towards the target to begin the downswing is a great way to impart the proper feel without weighing someone down with technical junk. These are best done with practice swings and eventually ball on a short tee with a middle iron. Once the player has the feel of the proper sequence the “feel” of stepping without the actual step is easier to achieve.
For a right to left player this is a very difficult shot. Hitting a cut shot/stinger with an iron off a tee can’t be a situation you are faced with on too regular a basis. If you are determined to hit it make sure you are doing it with a clubface position that is closed to the target line and not open. If you try to hit a stinger or strong fade with the face open you will see the ball fly high and right of the target. Start with the face closed and swing left through impact limiting the height of your finish. This will help the ball start low and slightly left of the target while allowing the ball to fall right in the air. Keep in mind that if the face is closed to the path and the target line the ball will fly left of left. Like all new shots make sure you are having success on the practice tee before you try it on the golf course.
Michael asks at 2:05:
Last week you told me to do the same drill as JP. I just have a few questions regarding it. When I do it, my right glute is not in full squeeze at all, actually I feel like there is no squeeze. Is this indicative that I'm not doing it correctly? Also, can the feeling of keeping the right heel on the ground through impact help me with this problem? One final question, do you have a drill for me to feel the proper trail leg movement from the top of the downswing to impact? The other drill helps me, but I cant seem to transfer it to the downswing fully.
It is always difficult to transfer new elements into the full swing. I always mandate my students to work on the changes to their swing in slower and shorter motions until they feel more familiar. Once they have achieved a certain level of competence moving into the full swing is much easier. You definitely should be feeling the right glue squeeze through impact that should be the thought for you during practice as you begin your downswing. Things are happening very quickly coming down so if you wait too long to focus on the leg and tush it is usually too late. As I mentioned to JP earlier in the blog the right heel can stay down longer through impact without it being a mistake. Working away from the ground through pushing the legs may look like very little is happening even on video but the player doing it will tell a different story.
Scott r Jesse asks at 1:45:
how do i get the most out of my swing without over doing it. my drives usually go fairly straight and a good 250 or more yards.im right handed and sometimes my ball seems to turn from left to right.is it something with my stance or anything you suggest to keep it straight?
Thanks for the question Scott. It sounds like you are driving the ball quite well. A slight fade and 250 yards is what Trevino said would win 10 tournaments a year on the PGA Tour. Of course, this was about 30 years ago….
The ball will turn right because the clubface is open to the path you are swinging on. The amount it is curving, where it is starting, the trajectory and the distance the ball is traveling are all based upon this combination of clubface position, path, angle of attack and where you hit the ball on the face. Without getting some of that information from you via a description of your shots or seeing it on video I have no clue what is going on. I can tell you a great way to make changes to your swing in a positive way is to create the exact opposite shape to your shots. Mess around on the range and you may discover that trying to get the opposite shape makes the ball go straight. Let me know how it goes.
JP asks at 1:25:
Thanks for your continuing to do the blog and the great insight. I worked on the drill you gave me last week and I have a few resulting questions.
1. I understand the drill until the "push off the left toe portion". With my left leg straight, I don't feel as if I get much push at all, is my weight not distributed correctly ?
2. While hitting some balls I did notice that my left foot is now staying on the ground thru impact, just curious if that is any indication that the leg is working more correct ?
3. Should I be feeling that my left knee never moves toward the target line ? (if so, maybe I could place an object in front of the knee while hitting balls?)
me attempting the drill..... am I close at all ??
Nice effort on the video JP, fantastic. The drill is fairly close. Once your legs are straight, I want your upper body to be getting closer to the ground and your tush further from the ball when you rotate your hips. This will help your trail arm become more bent and down in front of your trail hip approaching and at impact. The glute in your trail leg should be getting squeezed and you will feel some stretch and fatigue in your quads and hamstrings. Obviously, I don’t want you to slam your legs into a locked position at impact. However, I do want your legs to push away from the ground while your upper body remains bent over. If you don’t have the rotation in your hips through impact your trail arm will have to straighten out too early regardless of how well you are pushing.
Let’s deal with your questions:
The push off the big toe of the left foot is subtle and shouldn’t change your posture as it is doing in the video.
If you look at the swing of Rory McIlroy you will see both of his legs moving towards the target line during the transition. The difference is he is able to work the hips and legs back around properly and explosively during impact. The answer is you can get the left knee working towards the target in the transition if you are able to get it in the proper alignment at impact. This is extremely difficult for most mere mortals so chances are you should avoid it.
Paul asks at 1:05:
Thanks so much for the help a few weeks ago! I've been working on getting my right elbow and hands through quickly on the downswing and now I'm pulling pretty much every shot well left. But i'm encouraged because i'm striking the ball better than I ever have! I've noticed that my left shoulder and hands are still moving hard left after impact. Should I hold back my right side ever more and try to swing to right field or is there something in my setup that could help correct my path? Are my hands and head too forward at address?
Here is my swing:
Always happy to help Paul. One thing you should always keep in mind about the golf swing is that set-up and impact aren’t the same. While everything you do at address has an effect on the rest of the swing, the position of the hands at the start has nothing to do where they will be at impact. The cause of the ball going too far left is the face being closed at impact. This is caused by a grip that’s too strong at address and forces you to go hard left through impact with the arms and club to keep the face from rolling into an even more closed position through impact. I would like to see the grip become neutral and the face square so the low left exit of your hands and arms through impact will cause the ball to go right of the target. This will make “swinging to right field” mandatory for you and change your ballstriking.