By JIM SUTTIE
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Golfers can become more consistent by minimizing excess motion in the backswing. Shortening the backswing can be done by: 1. Keeping the left foot on the ground; 2. Eliminating excessive hip turn; 3. Eliminating a lower body sway to the right; 4. Setting up in a better tilt to the right; and 5. Eliminating any picking up of the club with your hands.
Less motion on the backswing allows for a better coil and more solid contact. One very common error I see on the backswing is losing the right leg post. Many golfers allow their weight to go to the outside of their right foot. This makes it almost impossible to get weight back to the left side prior to impact. Try keeping the weight on the inside of your right heel at the top of your swing. I have a bench on my tee for this purpose. If I see a knee sway, I send them to the bench where they put their right knee right next to the bench and learn to hold it in place.
Many golfers create excessive motion on the backswing by taking the club too inside on the backswing. This is usually created by some well-meaning advice about taking the club away with the shoulders causes the shoulders to turn too early. Once the club is too inside on the takeaway it can only lift up and go too long at the top. This in-and-up lifting motion is hard to time. Trying to keep the club more in front of the center of the body is probably a more consistent way to play. There is a drill called the Ken Venturi Drill. This works well to train to keeping the club in center of body.
Many times I see the vital left arm to chest connection lost on the backswing. This also creates a long swing. A simple drill to correct this is to put a head cover under the left arm. This connection should be plugged all the way up to impact.
An excessively late set of the wrists and late folding of the right arm also causes a long loose swing. The Wall Drill can be helpful for this. Lay your driver out from a wall then add 5 inches from end of the driver. Pick the club up and grip as you were going to swing at address position and take the club away. If your club hits the wall you are over-extending.
Sometimes the left hand or even the right hand comes off the club at the top causing the hands to re-grip coming down. Two drills that keep the hands on the club are: 1) Put a tee in the last two fingers of the left hand; and 2) Put a penny on your left thumb and cover it with the lifeline of your right hand.
Pausing at the top of the swing might look nice, but when the hips stop turning the arms keep going back. To avoid this problem, feel like your hips are moving forward and rotating even before your arms complete their backswing. The Baseball Step Drill tends to get the lower body going before the arms have the chance to run away.
A final reason for a long swing is the bending of the left arm. Actually, it's the improper folding of the right arm that really bends the left arm. When the right elbow gets behind the body at the top the left arm bends. To stop this, the golfer must create some width at the top by pushing out on the left thumb with the right hand.
To become consistent, shorten your swing. In this case, less is best.
(Dr. Jim Suttie, the 2000 PGA Teacher of the Year, is director of instruction at The Club at TwinEagles in North Naples, Fla. and at Cog Hill Golf Club in Lemont, Ill. To learn more about his instruction philosophy check out his new book, "Your Perfect Swing." Suttie is a Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher and coaches the Florida Gulf Coast International men's golf team. E-mail him at jmsuttie(at)aol.com).
