Left Hand in Left Pocket - Why did this work?

[smooth]

I've heard a number of people advocate a swing thought of 'putting your right hand in your right pocket' on the downswing.

I've been trying to get rid of a move where i have my hands really far forwards at impact, with my hands moving too far away from my body (resulting in weak push slices).

Last night i had the thought/feel of 'put your left hand in your left pocket' from the top of the backswing and pow all my distance, control and contact came back.

Has anyone else had this thought and why did it work?

Cheers, Smooth

 

[jenhaoyen]

I've heard a number of people advocate a swing thought of 'putting your right hand in your right pocket' on the downswing.

I've been trying to get rid of a move where i have my hands really far forwards at impact, with my hands moving too far away from my body (resulting in weak push slices).

Last night i had the thought/feel of 'put your left hand in your left pocket' from the top of the backswing and pow all my distance, control and contact came back.

Has anyone else had this thought and why did it work?

Cheers, Smooth

Ok, imagine you are playing tennis. How would you hit the ball straight? You can't keep throwing your raquet to the right, you would either push the ball to the right or hook the ball. BUt if you swing the raquet correctly to the left, the ball will go straight. Same thing with golf, the club has to return to it's plane to the left.

 

[cmartingolf]

Smooth,

It sounds to me like you fixed your path and went from thin blocks to solid impact.

Good thought!

Martin

 

[Brian Manzella]

Good answers guys!

The biggest fault in golf—that nobody talks about—is improper HAND PATH.

The hands, just like the club, have a low point, then THEY GO left (& up) as well.

In your case, toward the left pocket!!

 

[magic43]

The biggest fault in golf—that nobody talks about—is improper HAND PATH.

The hands, just like the club, have a low point, then THEY GO left (& up) as well.

In your case, toward the left pocket!!

Brian,
I would be very interested if you could elaborate a bit more on what is the proper HAND PATH. You are correct in that hardly anyone ever speaks of the path that the hands take on a good swing.

 

[pecky987]

Brian,
I would be very interested if you could elaborate a bit more on what is the proper HAND PATH. You are correct in that hardly anyone ever speaks of the path that the hands take on a good swing.

the clubhead has an arc. it travels downward, forward and outward until low point, then tavels up, in and forward past lowpoint. well the same counts for your hands. but, because your hands form a smaller arc than the clubhead they start travelling in and up whilst the clubhead is still travelling down and out. see the thread about over un-cocking the left wrist to see a picture of jack nicklaus were it looks like hiseft arm and club shaft are in a straight line from "up-the-line" but his hands will move inward and upward before the club strikes the ball

 

[HowardK]

lark

teaching IS easy...but having the student understand what you are teaching.......is a bit more (fill in the blank)

hj

 

[birdie_man]

The biggest fault in golf—that nobody talks about—is improper HAND PATH.

The hands, just like the club, have a low point, then THEY GO left (& up) as well.

In your case, toward the left pocket!!

It might be true!

Even with the backswing.....

I can swing the clubhead and my hands back "outside" or "inside" with either a flat or steep shoulder turn.

I realized it a long time ago but thinking about it now.........it's omission from pretty much all golf instruction was something that probably contributed to my confusion.

It's obvious enough now.......but when you are just starting out and are trying to, fairly specifically, conform to something that isn't specific ENOUGH........

.....not good. Confusing.

Thorough, clear explanations: priceless.

 

[smooth]

I definately agree that the path of the hands is extremely important! I have been so obsessed with 'getting my hands forward' that have screwed up the path in the process (if you look at the NSA video around the 40 min mark where Brian drags Adam's hands extremely forwards thats where i have been PLUS my hands 'swinging to far to the right' as well).

 

[Kevin Shields]

A freind of mine and I have talked about hand path for years. We call it the teeter totter effect. Hands in - club out. Hands out - club in.

 

[jimmydean]

Smooth,
Thanks for the thread. For years, I have been swinging too far inside out, losing distance. I tried your swing to the left pocket with great results. Brian, why do I hit ducks as my misses by swinging left? Anyone else have a thought?
Jimmy

 

[Kevin Shields]

My hunch is youre still not actually swinging left...at least left of your face. The feel of swinging left may just be the face closing left.

 

[braveheart]

Please make me understand better this "swing left" idea. I get confused, thinking it creates an outside to inside swing thus cutting across the ball so I put it aside as a thought or thing to feel. I am not sure if it means hands to the left or clubhead on downswing to the left. Or am I missing the point entirely. I met a guy recently who has worked with Brian and said the same thing but I could not get it. Sorry for my ignorance. I have read a lot of threads and have seen this mentioned that I felt the need for clarification. Thanks.

 

[smooth]

Smooth,
why do I hit ducks as my misses by swinging left? Anyone else have a thought?
Jimmy

This was my most damaging shot, mainly with the driver. For me it was getting too far below plane i.e. too much inside out. Either a block or if you flip your hands over then a big duck hook. Getting the downswing on plane (i.e. the swing the hands to the left idea) has helped.... so you may still be swinging too far to the right.

 

[birdie_man]

Please make me understand better this "swing left" idea. I get confused, thinking it creates an outside to inside swing thus cutting across the ball so I put it aside as a thought or thing to feel. I am not sure if it means hands to the left or clubhead on downswing to the left. Or am I missing the point entirely. I met a guy recently who has worked with Brian and said the same thing but I could not get it. Sorry for my ignorance. I have read a lot of threads and have seen this mentioned that I felt the need for clarification. Thanks.

If you read some of Brian's recent "BLOG" posts you'll see you even need to swing on an "open" (left of target) path to hit a straight shot.

(because of how much you ALSO need to hit down on the ball, and what that does to your "true path" and the D Plane)

(if you can wrap your head around all that)

Figure out how left (think: hit the outside of the ball) you need to swing to make the ball do what you want to do. It is a big help in hitting fades and also in not hitting hooks. It is the whole "point" of NHA really. (it is WHAT--with regards to changes in WHAT your club is doing--Never Hook Again accomplishes)

For me I was milking the heck out of the "swing left" idea for a long time and still never really got all the benefits. (it took a de-arching of the left wrist to finally catch on)