Brian and others: collapsing left leg
- Thread starter veddies
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Slow down.... feel like you are at half speed, full motion, and hit some shots with your feet together - feel the clubhead and the swinging motion of the shaft - swinging a heavy club slowly will help too.
Swing two clubs together.... then two clubs, one in each hand, keeping the clubs the same distance apart and allowing the natural rotation. Like you had a bucket, and are scooping water up, dumping over your right shoulder (backswing), then scooping water up, and dumping it over your left shoulder (through swing).
Focus on balance. Focus on 'swing', and solid 'smooth' motion/contact - NOT on force or effort or distance.
A shaft or other object in the ground in front of your lead leg will help - but what you need most is to feel that you are the center of the swinging force - think of a wheel - a 'stable' hub is critical. You are the hub, the shaft is the spoke. Think of a rock on a string. Don't break the string by moving the hub.
Swing two clubs together.... then two clubs, one in each hand, keeping the clubs the same distance apart and allowing the natural rotation. Like you had a bucket, and are scooping water up, dumping over your right shoulder (backswing), then scooping water up, and dumping it over your left shoulder (through swing).
Focus on balance. Focus on 'swing', and solid 'smooth' motion/contact - NOT on force or effort or distance.
A shaft or other object in the ground in front of your lead leg will help - but what you need most is to feel that you are the center of the swinging force - think of a wheel - a 'stable' hub is critical. You are the hub, the shaft is the spoke. Think of a rock on a string. Don't break the string by moving the hub.
I suffer from the same problem. The slide gets the club stuck behind you, causing an overly inside-out path. First check to see if your clubshaft isn't too flat on the backswing. If it is, you'll need to slide instinctively to make room on the downswing. Make sure your weight isn't too much on your heels at setup- this makes you swing too flat and slide coming down. Get your weight towards the balls of your feet at setup, and learn to feel like you're taking the club just a little straighter back for a little longer (but let it set).
On the downswing, feel like you straighten your front leg ASAP and "spin out" from the top, swinging left immediately. In other words, feel like you're going to hit an over the top pull-cut. I mean, OVERDO it, to the point where you start to hit some cuts. You'll notice that the ball won't pull- it'll just start straight and drift softly to the right. And, your divots will be straight, rather than pointing right. Actually, a good divot is straight with a tail to the left at the end. That's what you want to strive for.
Don't worry about overdoing the pull-cut feel. I've looked at myself on video doing it, and I'm still coming from the inside- just less so. If you do video yourself, strive to look more open at impact, with the clubshaft pointing at the target or even slightly left of it at the last parallel. If your shoulders are too square, the clubshaft will point right, and a hook or push is in play. Soon, you'll start the ball straighter. If it hooks left, it means you just need to get rid of some of that extra clubhead rotation that you had before. In that case, feel like you're "holding on" and not rolling your hands.
This is a better player's problem, and it takes a little time to get rid of it, so be patient and hit lots of balls.
Brian? Redgoat? Anyone? Anything to add?
P.S.- this is a "Flame Ragman"-free zone, please.
On the downswing, feel like you straighten your front leg ASAP and "spin out" from the top, swinging left immediately. In other words, feel like you're going to hit an over the top pull-cut. I mean, OVERDO it, to the point where you start to hit some cuts. You'll notice that the ball won't pull- it'll just start straight and drift softly to the right. And, your divots will be straight, rather than pointing right. Actually, a good divot is straight with a tail to the left at the end. That's what you want to strive for.
Don't worry about overdoing the pull-cut feel. I've looked at myself on video doing it, and I'm still coming from the inside- just less so. If you do video yourself, strive to look more open at impact, with the clubshaft pointing at the target or even slightly left of it at the last parallel. If your shoulders are too square, the clubshaft will point right, and a hook or push is in play. Soon, you'll start the ball straighter. If it hooks left, it means you just need to get rid of some of that extra clubhead rotation that you had before. In that case, feel like you're "holding on" and not rolling your hands.
This is a better player's problem, and it takes a little time to get rid of it, so be patient and hit lots of balls.
Brian? Redgoat? Anyone? Anything to add?
P.S.- this is a "Flame Ragman"-free zone, please.
veddies: After you have made your lateral bump move of the hips into the left side you should firm up your left leg. I suggest you get into impact fix and deliberately firm up the muscles in your left leg by moving your mind there. Make the leg feel like you are going to take a weight on it a bit like the feeling you get when taking a step up the stairs with the left leg. From your posts I would say that at the moment you do not have your mind in your legs. So get into impact fix with this firm left leg feel and hit little chips and pitches to help you integrate the right feel that the left leg should have. Once your mind is in the legs things will improve. Hope this helps.
Brian Manzella
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Keep your left knee INSIDE of the outside of your left foot.
How?
Try to Throw "the drunk off of your back".
???
My Next Article
But....Here is the 2004 New Year's Day version...
(Oh Yeah, edZ...another Brian Manzella ORIGINAL)
After you get to "SIT DOWN" on the downswing, feel like a drunk man is DRAPED over your left shoulder.
Use the ground to assist you in GETTING HIM THROWN OFF OF YOU both backward and upward and rearward.
Your legs will work correctly/your left shoulder will go UP AND BACK correctly/and you won't slide that knee out anymore.
How?
Try to Throw "the drunk off of your back".
???
My Next Article
But....Here is the 2004 New Year's Day version...
(Oh Yeah, edZ...another Brian Manzella ORIGINAL)
After you get to "SIT DOWN" on the downswing, feel like a drunk man is DRAPED over your left shoulder.
Use the ground to assist you in GETTING HIM THROWN OFF OF YOU both backward and upward and rearward.
Your legs will work correctly/your left shoulder will go UP AND BACK correctly/and you won't slide that knee out anymore.
Great topic, I have been suffering from exactly the same problem. sliding into the ball, coming in flat and hitting snap hook after snap hook. I believe this sliding causes me to alter the baseline and come in way to flat. This weekend I went to the range and almost had to overdo the straightening of the left leg, to the point I would get on my toes at impact. However, I lost my hook almost immediately and started hitting either a slight draw or pretty straight shot. One word of caution, when I first started straightening my leg, I started spinning my shoulders out and came over the top a couple of times, but was able to correct that pretty easily. Good luck.
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