I've been working on my game with the help of this forum and Brian's instruction for a good while now, but one thing that had continued to elude me is the relationship between the hands and the pivot in the downswing. That is, I obviously knew what 'hit it with your pivot' literally means, but I had never felt it in my own golf swing. To be specific, I was always a bit confused about the relationship between the role of the pivot, on the one hand, and the idea of a flat left wrist and a full roll, on the other.
Well, today I went to the range after not being able to hit balls for a while (weather is not so good in Wales these days). About a month ago (right after looking at the video of my swing I posted here) I changed my setup to be quite a bit further from the ball and more bent over from the waste. This change is something I'm still trying to adjust to, but when I get into this position properly it does a lot for me: 1) takes the pulls and pull-hooks out of play entirely 2) let's me really use my pivot to generate downplane force and hit through the ball. From this - much improved - position, my poor swings usually come when I flip or don't fully roll my wrists to square the clubface.
The problem was that 'wedding ring up' seems like a move to make with your hands, whereas 'hitting with your pivot' seems like a move to make that takes the hands out of the swing. What I finally felt and was able to execute today was truly lagging the sweetspot where I let my hands almost follow my pivot - keeping the left wrist flat and the right palm facing toward the ground, but without adding anything at all through the swing, that is, just starting the downswing thinking about moving hands TO that position, but letting the pivot hit the ball, not my hands or arms.
The results were outstanding: a dozen wedges all within 15 feet of the target green; two 4 irons in a row to within 5 feet of the further practice green; and a series of drivers that I truly 'mashed'.
I'm sharing this set of swing thoughts here just in case it helps someone else to think through (and perhaps feel in their own swing) the relationship between things like hinging and rolling and the pivot.
Well, today I went to the range after not being able to hit balls for a while (weather is not so good in Wales these days). About a month ago (right after looking at the video of my swing I posted here) I changed my setup to be quite a bit further from the ball and more bent over from the waste. This change is something I'm still trying to adjust to, but when I get into this position properly it does a lot for me: 1) takes the pulls and pull-hooks out of play entirely 2) let's me really use my pivot to generate downplane force and hit through the ball. From this - much improved - position, my poor swings usually come when I flip or don't fully roll my wrists to square the clubface.
The problem was that 'wedding ring up' seems like a move to make with your hands, whereas 'hitting with your pivot' seems like a move to make that takes the hands out of the swing. What I finally felt and was able to execute today was truly lagging the sweetspot where I let my hands almost follow my pivot - keeping the left wrist flat and the right palm facing toward the ground, but without adding anything at all through the swing, that is, just starting the downswing thinking about moving hands TO that position, but letting the pivot hit the ball, not my hands or arms.
The results were outstanding: a dozen wedges all within 15 feet of the target green; two 4 irons in a row to within 5 feet of the further practice green; and a series of drivers that I truly 'mashed'.
I'm sharing this set of swing thoughts here just in case it helps someone else to think through (and perhaps feel in their own swing) the relationship between things like hinging and rolling and the pivot.
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