John Webster on Practice with a Mirror (Video)

Instructor John Webster gave this lesson on GC about a month ago. It's about what to look for when using a mirror for indoor practice.



You can get the details from the video, but John mentions three important things that you should look for:

• Your head doesn't have to stay motionless, but it should maintain the same level throughout your swing.
• Along the same lines, you want your spine angle to stay consistent as you swing back and through. Changing your spine angle tends to raise and lower your head.
• Finally, you want to maintain the triangle formed by your arms and shoulders -- which really means that your hands should be over your higher shoulder at the top of both your backswing and your finish.

And perhaps this will help you if you're having trouble maintaining your spine angle and head level: As a general rule, you don't straighten up your spine and lift your head UNLESS you're straightening your knees first. So if you have trouble with your levels, check that you're keeping a slight bend in at least one of your knees throughout your turn. At the extremes of your turn, one knee will tend to straighten at least a little as you brace your trailing knee on the backswing or "post up" your lead knee at impact.

If you can develop a better posture with John's mirror tips, your game will probably be noticeably better this spring.

A Thought on Starting Down from the Top

Today I have a simple quote from an old book called Such a Little Secret by John W. Barrett. It concerns the change of direction and the start of the downswing. I'm passing this on because it seems to be a good description of what happens, one that is helpful no matter what swing method you use.

Barrett likes to give movements numbers, so when you see Element Number Three in the text, that's just how he refers to the order of the change of direction in the swing sequence. Also, note that he assumes you're righthanded, so you lefties out there should substitute "right" for "left."

The correct hitting stroke should definitely commence with a transferring of the weight below the waist to the left foot and leg (Element Number Three). In many instructional articles this movement is invariably described as "shifting the weight" -- a misnomer that has bred more misunderstanding and early disenchantment with the game than anything else. If "shifting the weight" is ambiguous, then "Let the weight all flow to the left" or "Everything must move to the left with the shot" can be downright damaging. In fact it is only some of the weight which is transferred, that below the waist.

As the transfer is made, the upper body and head must retain their position in a vertical plane, remaining well behind the object to be hit.

The movement of the hips to the left should be just enough to plant the left heel firmly to the ground and lift the right heel from it as the weight transfers. Rotation of the hips occurs simultaneously with their small lateral move to the left. [p132-133]

Let me point out a couple of things here.

First, Barrett says "only some of the weight" is transferred, and that little bit is below the waist. He says at a later point that a "massive hip and knees slide" causes the upper body to move far too much, but that such a move is unfortunately taught all too often. If you keep those exaggerations out of the lateral move, you'll find that your upper body doesn't lurch forward when you swing. That problem is the result of using your legs incorrectly.

Second -- and this is the part that really caught my attention, because he stated it so well in that final paragraph -- is that the hips move toward the target just enough to replant the lead heel and lift the trailing heel. He also says that the hips rotate simultaneously with that small lateral move.

You got that? None of that "slide and turn" stuff. That is an exaggeration that changes all the correct posture you tried so hard to create at address! In past posts I've explained it as "almost falling" from the top of the backswing, because that lets gravity help create the small weight shift you need to get everything moving toward the target without overdoing it. But it doesn't matter how you feel it, so long as you don't overdo it!

This is a very simple tip, but it will do wonders to help improve both your accuracy and your distance, simply because it will help you deliver the clubhead to the ball with more consistency. And if there's a Holy Grail in this game, it's consistency.

All About Tiger's Chin

Bet that got your attention, huh? Keely Levins at Golf Digest did an article about a swing key that shows up in several of Tiger's instruction pieces for the magazine. It's called The Body Part You Never Thought Of That Could Be Ruining Your Swing.

It's your chin. Tiger says you should keep your chin up all the way through your swing.



I'll let you read the article for the details -- it's relatively short -- but here are the four bad effects Tiger says burying your chin in your chest at setup can cause:

• It restricts your shoulder turn during the backswing.
• It inhibits your weight shift during the downswing.
• It affects your spine angle during the downswing.
• It messes up your balance all the way through your swing.

Learning to keep your chin up, as Tiger does in the photo above, is a very simple thing you can practice almost anywhere. But don't underestimate its importance. It's usually the simplest things that make golf harder than it needs to be... and it doesn't take a genius to improve his or her posture.

Getting Your Spine Tilt at Impact Correct

I found this video by Brian Manzella over at the GOLF Magazine site and was absolutely fascinated by the concept it teaches. (Manzella is one of their Top100 teachers.) Here, take a look at it and then I'll discuss it. (And if the video didn't embed properly, just click on the link at the beginning of this paragraph. That will take you to the original video at golf.com.)



One of my pet peeves on this blog and in my books is the way weekend golfers tilt their spines away from the ball too much during their downswing. As a result, they tend to hit push-slices. Manzella talks about that, and then suggests the drill in this video to help prevent it.

The whole idea of using the position of your lead hand and lead knee to prevent this problem is a creative one. It forces you to push your lead hip back, away from the ball, as you make your downswing rather than sliding it toward the target and leaning away from the target. Instead, as your lead knee moves toward the target, you're forced to keep your head and shoulders more over the ball.

But it does more. If you keep your lead hand on or close to your lead knee, you won't stand up during your downswing. That means you keep your knee flex and therefore keep your distance from the ball more consistent throughout your swing. No more thin shots!

Try doing the drill a few times without hitting balls; you're just trying to get a feel for your body position as you near impact. Next, take your normal grip and make some easy practice swings while feeling you're swinging with the same posture. Finally, try to hit a few balls this way. Again, please start off swinging easy; you may have some balance problems at first if you've been standing up during your downswing.

This may feel really awkward at first, but it should help you learn to keep your spine angle more consistent throughout your swing... and that should translate into more solid shots.