Set-up Facilitates Ground Contact

[WoodbridgeGolf37]

Background: I've always struggled making a "proper" divot. I'm a self confessed flipper with an extremely high ball flight that tended to have misses that were either hooks or blocks. I've learned a ton here over the past year and started to eliminate the "lefts", but still couldn't seem to ever properly compress the ball.

Current Focus: I have been tinkering with increasing shoulder tilt at address, and distributing my weight according to the club I am hitting: more on left foot for short iron, more on right foot for driver.

Result: I am hitting more crisp irons and taking a few really nice divots. Addtionally my trajectory has come down perceptibly with most of my clubs when I make good contact.

Analysis: I think this change in set-up has finally aided in stopping my flip. When I start the back swing now, the lowered right shoulder seems to allow for a better pivot and the club stays outside my hands longer (less left arm flying wedge rotation). I also feel like I am in a much better position to just "wallop the ball with my pivot" from the top of the backswing.

I'd be very interested to get the forum's opinion on why such a seemingly minor adjustment has made such a major impact. (I'm sure I'm mashing-up a ton of concepts here and probably attributing improved results to improving symptoms and not the proper root cause

Thanks,
Joe

 

[Brian Manzella]

Background: I've always struggled making a "proper" divot. I'm a self confessed flipper with an extremely high ball flight that tended to have misses that were either hooks or blocks. I've learned a ton here over the past year and started to eliminate the "lefts", but still couldn't seem to ever properly compress the ball.

Current Focus: I have been tinkering with increasing shoulder tilt at address, and distributing my weight according to the club I am hitting: more on left foot for short iron, more on right foot for driver.

Result: I am hitting more crisp irons and taking a few really nice divots. Addtionally my trajectory has come down perceptibly with most of my clubs when I make good contact.

Analysis: I think this change in set-up has finally aided in stopping my flip. When I start the back swing now, the lowered right shoulder seems to allow for a better pivot and the club stays outside my hands longer (less left arm flying wedge rotation). I also feel like I am in a much better position to just "wallop the ball with my pivot" from the top of the backswing.

I'd be very interested to get the forum's opinion on why such a seemingly minor adjustment has made such a major impact. (I'm sure I'm mashing-up a ton of concepts here and probably attributing improved results to improving symptoms and not the proper root cause

Thanks,
Joe

Joe,

It seems to me that your new lower right shoulder at address has made a deeper right shoulder location at the top an easier thing to accomplish.

When your right shoulder is DEEPER, it REQUIRES LESS left arm flying wedge rotation to reach the same hand location at the top.

The "little more weight to the left" probably assist you in not having your hip in the way of your hand path going back.

All in all, upgrades toward orthodoxy.

And that—more times than not—is a good thing.

 

[WoodbridgeGolf37]

Does the deeper shoulder turn allow for better low point control? I'm trying to understand why the set-up seems to have solved my divot/ground contact problem...

Glad to hear that I'm working toward orthodox - because the change towards a this type set-up feels like anything but natural at this point in my golfing learning.

I also just finished watching House tonight, and realized that his encyclopedic knowledge and quick wit reminded me of someone else...
(I really enjoy that show - so I mean the comparison favorably)