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 THE
FULL SWING
The
club should be swung away from the ball by a combination of turning
the body, swinging the arms up and cocking the wrists. The club head
end of the shaft should basically swing away along the target line
as the body turns, as the arms swing and as the wrist begin to cock.
At the same time as the club is swinging along this line, the
clubface should appear to open and the head should begin to swing to
the inside of the true target line.
Eventually the club shaft will reach parallel to the
target line, which is an important reference position in the
swing. At this point when the shaft is parallel to the target line,
the club face should appear to be in a vertical or a toe-up
position, and the club head should be somewhere near the same height
off the ground as what the hands are. |
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There are three different possible swing path
directions in the back swing.
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To the outside
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To the inside; or
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Along the target line.
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| To the outside |
To the inside |
Along the target line |
If the body is turning
correctly around the spine, the arms are able to swing up
and naturally rotate and if the wrists are cocking slightly
in an up and down manner, this toe up position – or leading
edge vertical position – in the backswing, should be able to
be achieved.
At the moment, we’re only
going to deal with the bottom part of the swing so now we
imagine we’re on the down swing. The club head end of the
shaft should again point along the target line until the
club swings through where the ball would be. The shaft will
continue to point along the target line until it finally
reaches parallel to the target line again on the left-hand
side of the body. The club face should appear to close on
the through swing; and the leading edge of the clubface
should be in a vertical position.
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Clubface Assistant used for club face control. |
Perfectplane Heavyiron for path and plane. |
Clubface Assistant - vertical clubface square |
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 Using training aids can
be very helpful in explaining the concepts of different
areas of the game and for developing feel. The Clubface
Assistant TM is useful in different parts of the swing
including the takeaway and the hitting area. Because of the
weight of the device and the visual cues that it provides
the Clubface Assistant TM allows the clubface to remain
square to the swing path – appearing to open in the
backswing and close in the through swing.
The
PERFECTPLANE Heavyiron™ TM can be used to develop the correct path and
plane during the swing.
Along the target line or
body line is the desired direction for the club to be
swinging so that we can start shots on target and hit them
straight.
However small variations
to this model swing can still produce very effective golf
shots. What you should be trying to do in the golf swing is
to make the swing and any motion as simple as you can. So,
as we continue to turn the body, swing the arms up and cock
the wrists, we’ll get into a situation where the left arm
reaches horizontal. It should be somewhere near just inside
parallel to the target line. The left arm will be straight
and there will be a 90o angle formed between the
left arm and the club shaft. Ideally, the elbows are still
the same distance apart from where they were at the start of
the swing and the shaft should actually be angled towards
the target line behind the right foot. There are three
possible shaft angles at this point in the swing, either
angled at the target line, or over the target line which is
a flat position or more vertical, which is an upright
position.
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Alignment square ... |
... straight back, toe up ... |
butt end of shaft angled at target line |
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Top of backswing ... |
... halfway down ... |
... just before impact. |
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Just after impact ... |
... halfway through ... |
... finish in balance. |
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Using the Perfectplane Heavyiron in half back swing and through
swing drills to develop path and plane |
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The Clubface Assistant being used in half and full swings to
help develop clubface control. |
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The variations from ‘on plane’ will mean that
adjustments and compensations will have to be made later in the
swing. The shoulders will have turned through between 60o
and 70o on the backswing and the wrist cock should be
almost completed at this stage in the back swing. We want to try
and learn to swing the club through the ball, so the club shaft
should swing back down on the same plane on the down swing as it
went up on the back swing and on the same path, so the club head
end of the shaft will point along the target line again.
When you continue to swing through, the club
head hits the ball, the shafts points along the target line and
eventually you’ll go up into halfway through position, which is
where the right arm should be straight, right arm horizontal and
just inside parallel to the target line. The elbows are the same
distance apart as they were throughout the rest of the swing and
the shaft angled towards the target line in front of the left
foot.
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Address: 50/50 weight distribution |
... takeaway ... |
... halfway back ... |
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... retain spine tilt ... |
angle between left arm and shaft ... |
... just before impact. |
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Extend after impact ... |
... halfway through ... |
... face the target and finish. |
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The amount of re-cock in
the wrist’s will vary from player to player but from a
concept point of view we want to feel like the shaft is
pointing towards the target line somewhere between where the
ball was and the left foot. Continuous practice swings
monitoring these positions and stop and start practice
swings will help you to get used to these positions and
feels. Hitting balls while trying to only do half swing will
also make it easier to make changes to your swing.
To finish the back
swing from halfway back position, all that is required is to
continue turning the body so that the shoulders turn through
near 90o,and the arms continue to swing up.
There is no need to do any more wrist cocking because that
was pretty much completed at the halfway point. The butt end
of the shaft should actually continue to point along the
target line until the shaft itself reaches parallel to the
target line and to a horizontal position. A good way to
practice the transition from back swing to down swing is to
get into the halfway back position, left arm straight,
horizontal just inside parallel, shaft angled towards the
target line then continue the backswing with the arms and
the body and then come back to the same position on the down
swing and repeat.
From halfway through
position, the body will continue to turn, the arms continue
to swing up and at the completion of the swing the body
should be facing towards the target. The weight should be
predominantly on the left foot at the finish with perhaps
only 5% left on the right foot.
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Full Swing - Left Hand Grip |
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Right arm and shaft straight line ... |
... swing away wide ... |
... 90 degree angle. |
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Turn into left knee ... |
... behind the ball ... |
... just before impact ... |
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... release the clubface ... |
... halfway through ... |
... finish in balance. |
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Top | NEXT - Section 6 - Shaping Shots |
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RANGE OPEN 7 DAYS
