Georgia Hall on Hitting a Stable Drive (Video)

With Georgia Hall having won the Ricoh Women's British Open this past weekend, I thought it might be good to take a quick look at her swing. She did this video on driving for the LET.



I'm not going to focus on any specific tip from this video. Rather, I want you to notice what she calls this video -- "The Stable Drive." As she says, too many players move too much over the ball, and that makes it hard to get consistent and predictable hits.

Georgia's not talking about being immovable over the ball; she specifically says that she works on rhythm, which requires you to stay relaxed. We all tend to get so tight! We freeze over the ball during address, then we jerk around when we finally try to move and we wonder why we can't stay steady over the ball.

If we want to get better, we have to learn to relax and move freely during our swings. And as she says, trying to hit the ball too hard works against that. It's better to accept what feels like a little less clubhead speed at first while we learn how to "swing casual," to borrow an old Han Solo line, then just move a little quicker as we get more relaxed.

Hey, it worked for Georgia Hall. It couldn't hurt to try it, could it?

Martin Chuck on "Hand-Controlled Pivots" (Video)

I'll have to come back to this video at a later date, but I've been looking for something like this. Revolution Golf instructor Martin Chuck explains how to let your hands control your pivot to create clubhead speed.



Chuck says this will help older golfers, but note also that he references how Bobby Jones used this technique, so it's not just for older folks!

Most modern players are taught to use their pivot to control their hands (because they tend to overuse their hands), but this is the exact opposite of that technique (although most pros do use a combination of both). I've written about using the momentum of your hands and arms to help pull you through to your finish; Chuck uses the word inertia, which is the same thing.

It's basic physics: An object in motion tends to remain in motion. By using your hands to get the club moving, the club can help you keep moving all the way through your swing. You start the motion by bending your trailing elbow on the backswing, then you straighten it on the downswing just after you strike the ball. This straightening is what creates the momentum to pull you through to your finish.

As I said earlier, I'll come back to this video in a few days. But for now, be aware that this is the same sort of thing you learn when you use the L-to-L drill that I mention every so often. (Here's a link to one of the posts that includes video showing how it's done.) Combine the info from Chuck's video with the L-to-L drill, and you should find it pretty easy to make a hand-controlled pivot.

I know I say this a lot, but the golf swing isn't all that hard. It's just that we spend too much time focusing on trying to do things that would happen on their own if we just focused on the important things. This is one of those important things that will help simplify the game for you.

Denis Pugh on More Consistent Ballstriking (Video)

Francesco Molinari just won the Open, so of course I have a video from his coach Denis Pugh. In this video Pugh is trying to help a player hit the ball more consistently.



Pugh wants -- as I do -- for you to learn how to turn without sliding. When you slide too much toward the target, you do all kinds of crazy things like change your spine angle, change your body position relative to your ball position, and throw your balance off. If you want more consistency, you need to stop that!

As you can see from the video, what Pugh tries to get this student to do is open his legs as he turns through the ball. (That's why he sticks the club shaft between his legs and holds it against the inside of his trailing thigh.) However, you can't hit balls with someone holding a club between your legs, but you can learn this move by using a drill.

Fortunately I have one for you. It's been on my blog for over seven years, and here's a link to it. It's called the Basketball Drill, and it's very simple. You hold a basketball between your knees, and you try to drop the ball during your downswing by moving your lead knee forward -- that gives you the hip opening move that you try to create when you slide -- while your trailing knee doesn't move so much. It minimizes lateral movement toward the target while still letting you unwind your hips as quickly as you can.

I think you'll find this drill actually lets you create more hip speed than the slide does because you don't waste energy pushing your body forward. But -- and this is important -- it DOES allow you to create a weight shift, which moves you toward the target a little but not enough to change your body's position relative to the ball. As a result, you get more consistent contact.

A simple but very effective drill. It may not turn you into Francesco Molinari (that's a matter of practice) but it will teach you the basics of a solid move into the ball.

Andrew Reynolds on How to Stop Topping the Ball (Video)

This is a simple tip to improve the consistency of your impact from coach Andrew Reynolds for Golf Monthly. It's short but important.



I know this tip may sound childish at first, but it's about the logic of your golf swing... and most people never stop to reason out why the ball behaves the way it does. Let's look at it -- from a logical standpoint -- for a moment.

So many golfers believe they can stop topping the ball if they just keep their head down. As a result, they try all sorts of things to keep their heads from moving during the swing, including squatting more at address (which Reynolds mentions here) and ducking their heads on the downswing.

But topping is most often caused by raising not just your head, but your entire upper body. And that happens because you straighten your legs during your downswing. THAT is what most players refer to as "using the ground." But -- and I have written about this before, most recently a week ago -- pushing up with BOTH legs is incorrect technique. Only your lead legs pushes up when you use the ground.

In this video Reynolds offers a simple way to minimize this problem: Just stand taller at address. The logic here is simple -- if your knees are already mostly straight, and if your spine is more erect when you begin your swing, only your lead knee will bend more during your backswing. And on your downswing, straightening your lead knee will cause your body to rotate more freely while your trailing knee will be forced to bend in reaction to that turn.

And that will make the clubhead strike downward as it approaches the ball. No more topping!

Don't be quick to write this short video off as being too simplistic. It's actually a very easy way to use natural body motions to create a more consistent strike. And when you can make the correct motion happen automatically, your game will improve naturally.

Harvey Penick's Magic Move (Video)

This is a decidedly mechanical video, which I generally try to avoid. But Harvey Penick was a legendary teacher, and this video from The Art of Simple Golf does a good job of explaining this technique. Done slowly as a drill, a mechanical action like this can teach you a basic swing feel.



Whether you lift your lead heel or not, let me restate the "Magic Move" so you understand what it is:

To start your downswing, let your lead knee move back toward the target so your lower leg -- that is, from knee to ankle -- is vertical. AT THE SAME TIME, swing your trailing arm down so your upper arm -- from shoulder to elbow -- is vertical as well. Your trailing forearm will point straight "toward the camera" from this position.

That is a very technical description, and I don't expect you to swing with any kind of speed while thinking about this complex motion. Rather, the way to use this is as a slow-motion drill. Swing to the top of your backswing, then swing down to the "magic" position very slowly. And I do mean SLOWLY -- take a four-count to do it. This way, you will get used to how your muscles move and your weight shifts without developing a lot of bad habits.

Here's one more thought that will make this downswing drill translate more easily to your actual swing: Don't try to point the club shaft parallel to your foot line, as it appears in the video. At the "magic" position, although your club shaft will be roughly parallel to the ground, it should actually point outward at a 20° to 30° angle away from you. The reason is because, during an actual swing, your wrists will be starting to uncock at this point, so the club will be starting to move down into impact position. By practicing with this slight angle, it will feel more like an actual swing.

Again, this is a very mechanical drill and, if you use it, make the downswing move very slowly. Some of you won't find much use for it, but it can be very helpful if you're uncocking your wrists too early in your downswing.

Just remember, DO IT VERY SLOWLY. That's how martial artists train to use unfamiliar moves for rapid movement, and you'll learn new moves better that way as well.

Martin Hall's "Buckle Before Buttons" Drill (Video)

This is one of Martin Hall's Home School videos, and it is a deceptively simple way to learn what a proper weight shift feels like.



Martin doesn't say this, but you can see it if you watch closely. When you set up next to the wall, you want your lead foot only an inch or two from it -- and when I tested it, I think just an inch worked best.

And note this little tip which you can see but Martin doesn't mention: When you touch your belt buckle to the wall and keep your chest from touching the wall, your spine is pretty much vertical. (There's a very slight arch but that is caused by clasping your hands behind your back, which pulls your shoulders back slightly. That's a naturally balanced position, similar to a soldier standing "at ease.") This drill teaches you to make a straight finish that takes pressure off your back.

Beyond that, it's all pretty simple. In order to (a) touch your belt buckle to the wall while (b) keeping your chest from touching the wall, you have to shift your weight onto your lead foot during your "downswing." If you hang back on your trailing foot, you will not be able to do this drill!

What this drill does is give you a "visual" feel for your finish -- and by visuaI I mean that you can actually see and measure what the desired finish position is like, if you want or need to. You can feel your buckle touching the wall, you can see that your chest doesn't touch, and you can use a mirror to see how close to vertical your back is when you do those two things. That way, you can guarantee that you get in the same position each time you do this drill, and that means you'll get the desired result much more easily and learn to repeat it more quickly. That's what makes a great drill!

Martin Hall's Downswing Drill (Video)

This short Home School video is actually pretty sweet. It's an equipment-free, do-it-in-your-living-room drill to help you learn an in-to-out swing path. And all you need is a magazine and a convenient wall.



Just a few simple steps.

• Roll up the magazine and hold it like a club. Martin says a golf magazine; that's because it will give you a 'club' that's roughly a foot long.
• Stand with your back to the wall and make a 3/4 backswing. That's means your hands are shoulder high.
• At the top of your 3/4 backswing, the tip of the magazine should touch the wall. And it should stay in touch with the wall during your downswing until your hands are waist high.
• Then return your hands to their impact position.

As Martin says, this is an extreme move. It's a drill for players who either come over the top or tilt the clubhead toward their aimline at the top of their backswing. If you don't have those problems, this drill probably won't help you.

Still, you might want to try it a time or two, just to get a feel for starting your downswing in a more downward manner. After all, if you don't 'drop the club' a bit as you start down, you'll really have trouble learning to draw the ball. But in that case, I would only try to keep the magazine tip against the wall for perhaps half as long as Martin shows in the video -- that is, halfway between your shoulders and waist. That way, it will help improve your footwork if you tend to drive your legs too hard to start your downswing.

Manuel de la Torre on Weight Shift

Manuel de la Torre died in 2016 but his impact on professional and amateur golf was huge. His book Understanding the Golf Swing is considered a classic. Today's quote is from that book.



de la Torre's approach to weight shift was a bit different than that of most modern instructors. But no matter what swing method you use, it's worth considering if what he says might help you.

A common theory claims that the weight should be shifted to the back foot in the backswing. I am convinced that the weight should not be transferred to the back foot in the backswing.

We are all looking for consistency in our games and we should swing the golf club so that it is easy to meet the golf ball with the face of the club at a right angle to the target line. As mentioned before, the golf club is describing a circle when it is swung. Being a circle, it must have a center. If we were describing a circle with a compass, the first thing we would do would be to set the center. If this center moves to different locations, it is impossible to return to the starting point.

The same thing happens in the golf swing. When the center is allowed to move to the right through a weight shift to the back foot, that center must be re-established prior to contacting the golf ball or square impact is impossible. You will observe some of our fine tournament players who do shift their center to the back foot and play well. But bear in mind that those players play every day and practice for hours every day. They have developed the timing and the extra move to achieve square impact. However, some of those same tournament players at times cannot find the timing to meet the ball properly and, especially with the driver, they become very inaccurate and miss more fairways than they should.

If the center is maintained, and the hands are placed on the club in a neutral position, the club can be returned to the exact address position from the end of the backswing and it will be square to the target line without any necessity to manipulate it to square. It is one less thing with which the player has to be concerned.

I contend that the weight should be maintained equally divided on the feet until after impact and then the centrifugal force will transfer its weight to the front foot. [p63-64]

Yes, de la Torre may sound a bit out-of-step with many modern instructors. And it's true that much of his teaching method is based on teachings from the legendary Ernest Jones. But what he says here does simplify your swing a lot, and it doesn't preclude your use of modern lower body power techniques.

What this teaching can do is make it much easier for you to return the club to the ball consistently. And if trying it just quiets your lower body a bit so you don't slide back and forth so much, you'll find it's well worth the effort.

Tommy Armour on the Purpose of Footwork

Today's quotes come from Tommy Armour, the three-time major winner who gained great fame as an instructor. I say "quotes" because I'm picking several bits from a chapter he wrote on footwork.



These thoughts come from How to Play Your Best Golf All the Time, from a chapter called Footwork, the Foundation of Best Golf:

What prevents many ever learning correct footwork is the fact that they don't understand its purpose.

The function of correct footwork is to get the body in the right place for the arms and hands to act with maximum precision and power, and with smoothness.

A great deal of confusion in teaching and learning footwork arises from the fact that the subject really is so simple that people just can't readily believe that there isn't a mysterious and complicated trick to it.

So, what generally happens is a complete reversal of logic; the player endeavors to make his body work his feet, instead of having his feet impel and direct the proper body action.

Let me break here for a minute. Armour spends quite a bit of this chapter explaining the mistakes made by a player who "endeavors to make his body work his feet." I won't repeat all that. But bear in mind what you've read so far -- simply put, footwork is so simple that we tend to try too hard. Take the thoughts that follow as simply as you can!

First, he talks about the backswing. Note the boldface print -- I put that in to emphasize his main point.

Your knees are a reliable index to correct footwork. On the backswing, the left knee moves until it is pointing to a point not too far behind the ball. The left knee is moved into this position by raising the left heel and getting a bit of a push from the inside of the sole of the left foot, but although those foot actions are the motivating elements, they are details I seldom mention when I'm teaching as I want to avoid all possible details. I have the pupils consider knee position as the indicator of proper footwork. When the left knee is in the position it should be at the top of the backswing, the footwork has been performed correctly.

There's only one way to have the left foot function in getting the knee into the desired position, so if the pupil thinks of the result he must get, he doesn't need to worry about the details of cause.

Now he talks about the downswing. He thinks instructions like opening your hips to face the target are counter-productive.

When the right knee comes in toward the direction you're hitting, your right heel comes off the ground, and you're pushing the body around into perfect position for hitting. Your left side is bound to straighten up as your left knee straightens.

But, if you keep your right heel on the ground, it is physically impossible to get your right knee to play its proper part in the swing. Therefore, your entire right side -- the right shoulder and the right hip -- can't get into position for hitting.

The knee action in a good golf swing is practically identical with knee action in throwing a baseball.

The side that delivers the power -- the right side -- is put into position to deliver by correct footwork, and only by correct footwork can this position be attained.

There's a lot of confusion about how and when to get the left heel on the ground at the start of the downswing, but there needn't be. As the right side springs into action from the right foot up, the left heel will simultaneously go to the ground.

All you have to do is let the right side come into the shot by moving the right knee around toward the ball.

That's a long quote, but the basic idea is clear, don't you think? Let me boil it down to one paragraph.

Point your lead knee behind the ball on your backswing, then point your trailing knee toward the ball on the downswing. Don't try to keep both feet flat on the ground; all you'll do is make it impossible to move your feet correctly. If you just think about where you want your knees to point, you'll move your feet properly.

It doesn't get any simpler than that.

In-Gee Chun's Driver Swing (Video)

This video is from 2013, but it's a good video to see how simple In-Gee's swing is. There's something I want you to see that is very plain in this footage.



It's most easily seen in the down-the-line view on the left above. I want you to watch her feet and knees. The first of the side-by-side views begins around the :32 mark.

Her left (lead) knee bends and her left heel comes off the ground as she starts her backswing. When she reaches the top of her backswing and starts down, note that her right (trailing) knee starts to bend and her right heel comes off the ground. At the same time her left heel goes back down, flat on the ground.

BUT NOTICE: When her left heel goes back down, her left knee DOES NOT straighten! Instead it stays bent until the club is halfway down in her downswing. It can do this because her left hip is moving away from the ball, which causes her left knee to gradually straighten as the clubhead gets to the ball.

If you watch the face-on view at the same moment, you can see that she doesn't make a big move toward the target during her downswing. It's almost as if she had her weight mostly on her trailing foot, then she just planted her lead foot back on the ground as she stepped onto it. This keeps your body fairly steady over the ball so you can make more consistent contact. That will give you better accuracy AND distance.

In-Gee is yet another of those ladies with a simple, easily repeated swing. That's one reason she's a two-time major winner. And it's a move that's so simple, you can learn to do it too.

So Yeon Ryu's Favorite Drill

This is from a Golf Digest article called The Drill You Need When Your Swing Falls Apart. So Yeon calls it the Stomping Drill, which she says fixes a multitude of problems in your swing.



Do this drill with an iron and address the ball with your feet close together. Essentially you just step away from the target with your trail foot to start your backswing, then step toward the target with your lead foot to start your downswing. That's it.

So Yeon says it takes some practice so you have to start out slow. But she also says it will cure a lot of ills in your swing.

What do I like about it? If you do this properly, you won't slide your hips and tilt your spine during the drill. That causes problems in more swings than most players realize. Give the drill a try and see what you think.

Peter Kostis on Jonas Blixt's Golf Swing (Video)

This is a clip from CBS coverage of the 2014 Greenbriar Classic but anytime Peter Kostis compares your swing to Sam Snead's, it's worth a look. Jonas Blixt has been playing well down in Australia so this is as good a time as any.



I'd like to add a couple of observations to what Kostis says.

• Snead's swing looks more flexible than Blixt's in part because of his equipment. Snead began his career with hickory shafts, which means he learned to create clubhead speed through rhythm rather than power. He focused more on motion than leverage, which is why his swing had a greater range of motion than Blixt's.
• Facts are, Snead was far more flexible than most modern players, even into his later years. Snead himself said he used yoga stretches as part of his training, and the stories about him are legendary. I've heard more than one of his contemporaries say he could kick the top of a doorjamb from a standing position underneath. (Just for the record, Snead was the first player to use weight training, not Gary Player. The difference is that Snead kept it quiet; he liked to keep his training methods to himself.)

Snead used his flexibility to his advantage. In his teaching (he was originally the Greenbriar's teaching pro, you know) he stressed the need to remain relaxed during your golf swing. That also contributes to the extreme "lag" at the top of his backswing; being so flexible, he could start his downswing while the club was still going back. And by staying so relaxed, he didn't put the stress on his back that so many modern players do.

But there certainly are a number of similarities between Blixt and Snead. While Snead's hips turn more in his backswing and open more in his finish, the movement is rotary not lateral. This is more clearly seen in face-on videos, of which there are many on YouTube. Both men are rotating rather than sliding during their swings, which allows them to return the clubface to the ball more consistently. They don't move back and forth over the ball, so the ball position doesn't change between backswing and downswing.

Blixt is struggling a bit this week at the Australian PGA, perhaps because of all the rain they've had down there. (He was -3 at one point but fell back to even on the back nine while I was watching.) But his swing is fundamentally solid and it surprises me how streaky he is. I suspect he tends to think too much about his mechanics so he's never as relaxed as Snead was. When you have as good a swing as Blixt does, sometimes the best thing you can do is just trust it... and focus on where you want the ball to go.

As he proved with his runner-up finish last week, he's more than capable of getting the job done.

Learning from an Old Golf Swing (Video)

The swing belongs to none other than Walter Hagen. Hagen won two US Opens, four Open Championships and five PGA Championships (it was match play back then). Hagen is third on the list of all-time major winners, topped only by Nicklaus and Woods.

Why am I posting this? Because this video shows Hagen in Europe in 1928, which means he was using hickory shafts. Although the USGA okayed steel shafts in 1924, the R&A refused to allow them until 1929. That means the swing you see in this video was made with hickory shafts.

You may have seen a lot of weird-looking hickory swings, but you won't see that with Hagen. There's a lot you can learn from this sweet move!



A few notable things you might find consider:

• Hagen starts his backswing with a slight forward turn of his hips. That makes the start of his backswing a reaction; he isn't starting from a "frozen" position over the ball.
• Note the full shoulder coil, almost Daly-esque in its length. There's no tension there!
• The footwork is very simple -- the lead heel comes up off the ground and is then replanted, his hips move back freely and he turns freely toward the target. There's no sway during his backswing, no exaggerated slide forward, no leaning backward at impact. He just "steps" to turn away from the target, then "steps" to turn toward the target. Very simple and natural-looking.
• Finally, just look at how relaxed he appears to be all the way through the swing. He's not straining for distance, although he was considered one of the longer hitters of his day. He just makes a long, rhythmic swing that moves pretty fast!

Again, Hagen is using a hickory shaft. Most players think you can't swing a soft shaft with any speed, but Hagen is a great example of how wrong they are. Watch and learn... then give it a try with your own clubs.

A Quick Look at Shanshan Feng's Swing (Videos)

Shanshan Feng (aka Jenny Money) has moved up to #3 in the Rolex World Rankings this week, less than a quarter point behind long-hitting Sung Hyun Park.. I thought it might be instructive to take yet another look at one of the simplest yet most effective swings in women's golf.

This first video shows her swing from straight on, and it includes a slo-mo view of her hands at impact.



And this second video shows her swing from a variety of angles.



Let me point out a few simple things you can learn from Shanshan -- simple things that you can put into action immediately.

• Simple setup. Note that her lead wrist is bent a bit more than most teachers would recommend, but that's because she has the butt end of the shaft pointing at her belly button. In other words, she has the end of the shaft pointing at the center of her body, so it's pointing at her spine.
• She cocks the club a bit earlier than some players, but there's nothing contrived here. She just takes it back in a way that feels comfortable to her, so it's consistent.
• Her backswing isn't extremely long, even with a driver -- it looks more like a three-quarter swing -- but she gets a good shoulder turn and she doesn't slide away from the ball.
• Yes, she starts down by moving her hips forward... but no, she doesn't make some powerful forward thrust with her hips. Physics demand that your lower body has to move first in order to start your downswing, but Shanshan doesn't exaggerate the move. She just moves in a natural way, stepping from her trail foot to her lead foot as she turns toward the target.
• She really uses her hands, arms and shoulders, so her wrists uncock as she hits the ball. The shaft is pointing at her belly button at impact, just the way she set up to the ball. She isn't worried about getting her wrists in some special position; she just points the shaft straight at the ball.
• Her footwork is very simple during her downswing. Again, all she does is just step from her trail foot to her lead foot as her shoulders turn completely into her finish. Since she doesn't stop her shoulders from turning, the club doesn't flip over as she hits the ball. As a result, the ball flies pretty straight.

Nothing fancy, nothing that requires a swing monitor to keep it in check. Shanshan plays golf, not golf swing. She just worries about where the clubface is pointing at impact, and she controls that with her hands -- exactly the same way any other athlete aims a bat or racket or hockey stick.

And bear in mind that Shanshan is notorious for NOT PRACTICING. If you want a dependable swing that doesn't need a lot of attention, you could do a lot worse than copying Jenny Money!

To 3-Wood or Not to 3-Wood? That's the Question...

And it's an interesting question: Just how useful is your 3-wood, really? Teachers Butch Harmon and Mackenzie Mack appear to have a difference of opinion, and Golf Digest has two articles that contrast their thoughts.



The older article, from Butch Harmon, is called Bench Your 3-Wood. Butch says the only time you should use your 3-wood from the fairway is when you can reach the green. Otherwise, he says you probably won't hit it well and should probably use your 5-wood instead. (I don't carry a 5-wood. My 7-wood has always been my magic wand when I'm in need, and that's my go-to club.)

Butch does say that, if you're going to use your 3-wood, position the ball a few inches inside your lead heel -- that is, closer to the center of your stance -- and make sure you get off your trailing foot during your downswing. (But if you're swinging that hard, so you're reverse-pivoting, maybe you should just lay up to a good wedge yardage instead. That's what I think.)

The newer article, from Mackenzie Mack, is called Three Shots You've Never Used Your 3-Wood For, But Should. Ironically, Mack seems to feel that your inability to hit a 3-wood well can be an advantage! At least, his three shots never get the ball very high off the ground.

He says you can use the 3-wood off hardpan because you just want to keep the ball low and get it rolling. He even wants you to set up to the ball as if it were a putt, so that sounds a bit like Butch's setup. (Personally, I'd be using my 7-wood here. I'd be more confident with it off hardpan.)

He also recommends you use the 3-wood to get out of the trees. Even if the grass is pretty thick. That's what he says, and it's because -- again -- you don't really want the ball to get up in the air in the first place. (You might want to practice that before you try it. I understand the logic, but from thick grass? That sounds iffy to me.)

And finally, he wants you to use the 3-wood to putt from the fringe. For this shot, he wants you to set up with the ball in the back of your stance, as if you were going to chip the ball. (So why not use a shorter club like a hybrid? Still, a 3-wood chip shot is a nice one to have in your arsenal, especially for long chips.)

As you can tell, I believe you should think twice before using your 3-wood anytime it isn't teed up, unless you have practiced with it and are confident using it. Especially if a poor shot might cost you more strokes than a decent shot will gain.

And if you're having trouble breaking 80 -- or even 85 -- that poor shot probably will. Play smart!

Rocco Mediate and Jim Ferree on Swinging Lower (Video)

I know this clip from Champions Tour Learning Center is funny, but I'm posting it here because the drill is so simple and yet so helpful. Take a look:



When Rocco says that you need to swing lower if you're topping the ball, he's talking about a whole lot of things -- footwork, weight shift, balance and so on. Most players think they're lifting their heads and don't realize that you can only lift your head if you straighten your legs too early! And so Rocco and former player/teacher Jim Ferree recommend this simple drill.

Start with a chipping motion. Just hit short chip shots, then gradually lengthen the chip shots until they are full swings. If you do this, you'll learn to hold your posture, your spine angle and your knee flex throughout your swing. Your lead knee should remain slightly flexed until you hit the ball. Your lead knee straightens at that point because body rotation forces it to. Just let it happen!

As Rocco says, this game is a lot simpler than we make it. This drill can help you clear your mind of the over-complications and learn to swing more naturally.

Cristie Kerr's Downswing Move #2 (Video)

Yesterday I posted a face-on video of Cristie Kerr smacking a driver, to help you learn a better move down to the ball. Today I want to add a bit to that instruction, and I'm using a down-the-line video of Cristie's drive to help you see this part better.



I quoted this from the Golf Digest article I referred to in yesterday's post:

"Most amateurs are moving their hands hard down toward the ball and moving their bodies toward the target. The key move is to avoid letting your right hip rotate toward the target too early as you move your hands and the club away."

And I said that it's easier to get that result if you focus on your arm and shoulder motion by keeping your trailing elbow straighter, rather than focusing on lower body action. I'm not changing that at all. However, I'm going to tie that advice to another tip I've mentioned many times, a tip that works very well with the arm motion I recommended.

In fact, this tip will make the arm motion much easier to learn.

I have often written that I would rather see you move DOWN to start your downswing, not forward toward the target the way many teachers suggest. That's how Sam Snead used to do it, and they didn't call him "Slammin' Sam" for nothing! Cristie does this as well, and the above video will not only help you understand why I recommend this move, but it will help you start your downswing smoothly.

The second and third swings on the above video are slow -- and the third one is REALLY slow, just like yesterday's video, so it's the easiest one to see the move in. When Cristie gets to the top of her backswing, her trailing knee (her right one) is almost straight. But to start her downswing, she bends that knee. That starts her weight moving downward, and that in turn helps pull the club down without changing the amount of bend in her trailing elbow.

But it does more. Bending her trailing knee -- a mini-squat, if you like -- pulls her trailing hip forward, toward the ball, and shifts her weight onto her lead leg. (It has to. If it didn't, she'd lose her balance and fall down!) It's almost as if she fell onto her lead leg and braced herself with it... and since her lead knee is already bent, it automatically "loads up" to push her upward at impact, effectively "using the ground."

That one downward move -- bending her trailing knee to start her downswing and pull her arms downward without changing the angles created at the top by her trailing elbow -- creates both hip rotation AND weight shift without any kind of dramatic hip or leg action... and that means you stay stable over the ball, creating better contact. It also stops you from uncocking your wrists too early in your downswing, so you create more clubhead speed as well.

If you watch both videos and try to feel the rhythm of her backswing-to-downswing move, and then try it out on your own, I think you'll be pleased with the results you get after just a little practice. It's a simple, natural way to use the physics of your swing to create more clubhead speed with less effort.

A Different Take on a Toski Drill

Today I'm borrowing -- and altering -- a drill Bob Toski made popular in his book How to Feel a Real Golf Swing. The drill is called the "Hitchhiker Drill" and it's on page 33 of the book. Here's the illustration:



Toski uses this drill to teach proper hand motion during your swing. The drill focuses on your lead arm -- in this case, it's his left arm.

But today I want you to do this drill while focusing on your TRAILING arm. Why? Because if you do, the Hitchhiker Drill is a wonderful way to improve your footwork and help you learn to turn to a full finish.

To get your trailing hand into the same position as the illustration of Toski's lead hand, you simply MUST make a full release into your finish. For many of you, this drill will minimize your slices and hooks because you'll learn to swing your hands and arms in sequence with your body. Slicers tend to stop their swing before the clubface can square up. Hookers tend to stop their swing and then flip their wrists to square up the clubface. Two different problems with the same basic cause -- a body turn that stops too soon!

So give this variation of the Hitchhiker Drill a try. In fact, try it both ways! You might be surprised just how many problems this one little drill can help eliminate... and you don't even need a club to do it.

Step on the Gas to Stop a Sway

This is a simple tip that I use with my own swing. It helps stabilize your lower body without creating a lot of tension in the legs and hips.

Here's a photo of Jack Nicklaus from an old Golf Digest article about the takeaway. What I want you to notice is how his trailing foot is angled slightly away from his target. You can actually turn your foot a bit farther back than Jack; Arnie did, and he was a power hitter as well. This older post has a video of Arnie's swing; you can see this position at the :22 second mark.



You've probably seen this address position recommended if you aren't as flexible but need a bigger hip turn. But the position is useful for far more than that.

It can be very difficult to "dig in" with the inside of your trailing foot to keep your hips from sliding away from the target and causing a sway. But if you angle your trailing foot back like this, you can stabilize your lower body by merely "stepping on the gas" -- that is, pressing down with your trailing foot as if you were pressing the gas pedal in your car.

Instead of digging in with the side of your foot, this position allows you to press almost straight down with the ball of your foot. It uses your trailing calf muscles more than your hip muscles, which reduces the strain on your hip.

With this position, it's much easier for your trailing hip to move backward, away from the golf ball, instead of sliding sideways away from the target. That creates a better turn away from the ball while keeping your upper body positioned over the ball during the swing.

It's an extremely simple move, but it's also extremely effective. And as I said, it doesn't place nearly as much stress on your trailing hip as the more common "square" trailing foot setup does. I've found it much easier to do consistently. Try it -- you might like it.

An Incredible Interview with Pete Cowen

Golf Digest has this amazing interview with Pete Cowen, called The Best Teacher No One Knows, a man who many consider to be one of the two best teachers in the game. (Butch Harmon is the other.) I have often used Cowen's thoughts on the swing in my posts, and this interview includes his thoughts on many of the game's top players.



Since I love using some of his thoughts -- after all, he doesn't get a lot of TV time here in America -- I'll give you just one of the interesting things you'll read in this article. He was asked who he thought had the best swing ever, and he said Sam Snead. That resonates with me because I've tried to use some of Sam's technique in my own books. Now listen to WHY he says Sam was the best:

MECHANICALLY, SAM EMBODIED ALMOST PERFECTLY MY CONCEPTION of the full-swing motion resembling a spiral staircase, going back and coming through. Sam's sequential coiling and uncoiling was timeless and without flaw. There was none of this lateral-motion stuff, nor was it simple turn then unturn. Sam's engine was much more dynamic than that. You could imprint a silhouette of Sam, and it would be a great imprint for anyone to follow today. There's only one player today who comes close to matching it, and that's Henrik Stenson. (emphasis is mine)

Cowen is different from many American teachers simply because he doesn't like the modern over-emphasis on lateral motion to start the downswing. And if you watch Stenson swing, you'll see that he doesn't have a lot of lateral movement toward the target either.

As for his thoughts on Hogan... well, I'll let you read those yourself.

This will almost certainly be a controversial article amongst instructors. Trust me, you'll want to read this. It's not just instructive, it's entertaining.