Most players problems occur early in the swing, when their at address firstly, then also in the takeaway. Tension, and too many thoughts in the set-up are detrimental to a solid consistent swing, add to that, you are starting in a static position, then you have to synchronise everything, the shoulders, hips, the club, the hands, the arms. A lot can, and sometimes does go wrong.
A backswing tip I learned from David Leadbetter, was why not begin the backswing three quarters of the way back, set in the correct position, and eliminate the early part of the back-swing that causes most of the problems.
It begins with your body already turned back, your hands are at chest high,(parallel to the ground) and the club cocked at 90 degrees to your left arm, you assume the position like you would a baseball hitter ready to hit a baseball.
Then it’s just a small movement back to the top of your backswing,
which eliminates the wasted motion, and simplifies things. This method completes a perfectly wound-up backswing, and a good back-swing leads to a good downswing. Why not give it a go the next time your out on the range.
Backswing Tips Cont.
So, a bad set up leads to a bad backswing, which leads to trying to correct the problems on the downswing. At address, your lead shoulder should be higher than the other, your head behind the ball. Rotation takes place over a stable, athletic stance, and aim to achieve a 90 degree shoulder turn, aiming to get your left shoulder under your chin, and a 45 degree hip turn, is crucial to solid drives.
This sounds easy in theory, however for some of us more senior players, flexibility is not as it used to be, so I recommend for any golfer to add some extra stretching before your round, to increase your flexibility, you will benefit immensely. It might take awhile, but the benefits are enormous. I promise.
Ok, your lead shoulder should rotate down and back behind the ball, and your trailing hip away from it. The legs stay stable as you rotate. Don’t let your arms get behind your body, and Feel as if your body has remained behind the ball. ( Do this, don’t do that, it’s easy to say I know, I must emphasize that the major part of learning any golf instruction, is focus, and attention to the basic fundamentals of the game)
The FIVE most important fundamentals that lead to consistency in your backswing, are:
1. Your Grip,
2. Your ball position,
3. Your alignment,
4. Your tension level, and
5. Your balance from address, to the end of the follow through.
In golf, you have to try hard, not to try hard, if that makes sense.
Extra effort is usually counter productive. Consistent shots come from a consistent set-up and good fundamentals. Always try to perfect your fundamentals, a golfers lifetime spent on achieving that perfection with practice on the driving range, that is as perfect as you can make it.
Video on Backswing Tips:
Great interest was generated a little while ago by teaching professional Jim Mclean, with the X-factor swing, that focused on the longest hitters in golf, and the massive shoulder turn they achieved in the backswing.
Jim’s other discovery is called the Y-factor, relating to how far the longest hitters move their left shoulder from the address position.
The average golfer usually only moves his shoulder less than half the distance of a pro golfer. The ideal position at the top of the
backswing, is your left shoulder moves back and down. Your Left hip moves away from the target, the right leg remains flexed and firm, left knee points behind the ball, head moves slightly away from target.The Y is created by the line from original hip position to the position of the left shoulder at the top of the backswing.
Well this post is longer than I intended, so I’ll have to end it there, thanks for reading.
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I've read the Jack Moorehouse book on golf tips. It simply turned my game around. Plus, a new set of Pings didn't hurt either…Eddie
great video. I always face difficulty to practice backswing correctly