Soft Draw: early success and questions

[jonnygrouville]

Playing to my handicap for the first time in months a week after watching Soft Draw might be a coincidence. I am certainly not going to start proclaiming I have got it all nailed. What I would like to do is ask a couple of things about the pattern.

Will float-loading from Soft Draw help achieve the ideal impact per Confessions? It seems to me that it will, more as part of the motion as opposed to having the target concept of having your hands outside your left foot – nearly as if momentum makes it tougher to flip. Does this sound right?

Regardless, I am still going to be thumping furniture with a towel at home. I hit three mid-irons within three feet that took divots where they should and felt nicely compressed – significantly different from my normal no-divot-flips.

I have to give Soft Draw a serious doff of the cap. Having spent hours with my college coach getting rid of my ‘inside’ takeaway, it is like a weight has been lifted knowing that my ‘natural’ backswing fits the Soft Draw pattern and I’ve been practicing a pop-out for years. Maybe now I will stop worrying about my flying elbow too. Maybe.

Anyway, my question here is about power in the Soft Draw pattern. Am I right in the thinking this is back to float loading again? The strike seems solid and there is some compression there, but it feels a bit underpowered at the mo (with less ‘setting of angles’? on the way back). I’ve got no problem clubbing up, just wanted to hear anyone’s thoughts on how this pattern generates power as I hit a couple of hooks when I loosened up a bit and tried to get some load on the shaft.

Never Hook Again is next on my list anyway!

 

[GPM1985]

I use something close to SD. I don't deliberately set angles, but I don't really float-load either. It feels like the club is being guided to the top by the cocking of my right wrist. When I had worked with Brian, we called this "automating." Basically, I needed a way to avoid letting the clubhead go inside with my newly aquired inside hand path. Cocking the right wrist, automating, kept the clubhead where it needed to be and put the shaft almost vertical halfway up the backswing.

I got way longer with SD, better contact all around. I can't relate to your power loss there.

 

[Brian Manzella]

Will float-loading from Soft Draw help achieve the ideal impact per Confessions? It seems to me that it will, more as part of the motion as opposed to having the target concept of having your hands outside your left foot – nearly as if momentum makes it tougher to flip. Does this sound right?

Absolutely.

It can never hurt to learn to upgrade your impact from practicing front edge divot pitches, but the Soft Draw Pattern is more of "the motion makes the impact," just as you've asked.

Regardless, I am still going to be thumping furniture with a towel at home. I hit three mid-irons within three feet that took divots where they should and felt nicely compressed – significantly different from my normal no-divot-flips.

Cool.

I have to give Soft Draw a serious doff of the cap. Having spent hours with my college coach getting rid of my ‘inside’ takeaway, it is like a weight has been lifted knowing that my ‘natural’ backswing fits the Soft Draw pattern and I’ve been practicing a pop-out for years. Maybe now I will stop worrying about my flying elbow too.

This is the #1 problem that was caused by the "line drawing" fad.

Take that club straight back up some damn line.

BULLturds!!

The "flying elbow" is sometimes EXACTLY where you need to be.

Anyway, my question here is about power in the Soft Draw pattern. Am I right in the thinking this is back to float loading again? The strike seems solid and there is some compression there, but it feels a bit underpowered at the mo (with less ‘setting of angles’? on the way back). I’ve got no problem clubbing up, just wanted to hear anyone’s thoughts on how this pattern generates power as I hit a couple of hooks when I loosened up a bit and tried to get some load on the shaft.

Once you have de-chicken winged yourself, you need to make the "one last point," point further left.

Never Hook Again is next on my list anyway!

 

[jonnygrouville]

Good, good and good! Sounds like I just have to rewind to how I swung the club before I went to college and start afresh, decluttered, from there with my own golf swing. And don't let anyone draw any lines on it.

Honestly does seem a complete paradigm shift. I wonder how good the seriously talented guys like Adam Scott could be if they got their own swings back.

'Automating'. Interesting. I think I can relate to your problem of the clubhead being a little low, behind the hands. If you then try and keep the clubhead outside the hands early in the swing, it should be more upright, the right hand feeling more in control, as if the club is more between your elbows (like in Brian's flying elbow video). The wrist should cock naturally; does 'automating' mean giving it a little helping hand?

 

[GPM1985]

'Automating'. Interesting. I think I can relate to your problem of the clubhead being a little low, behind the hands. If you then try and keep the clubhead outside the hands early in the swing, it should be more upright, the right hand feeling more in control, as if the club is more between your elbows (like in Brian's flying elbow video). The wrist should cock naturally; does 'automating' mean giving it a little helping hand?

The best way I can describe automating is to have you hold a club in your right hand and pretend it's a skillet and you're flipping pancakes. Then take your normal grip and flip pancakes out in front of you. Then take practice swings and flip pancakes on the backswing. I spent a lot of time hitting balls while think about flipping pancakes and it helped me groove this move.

As my handpath moved more inside, I needed the automate/flipping pancakes move to keep the club from going way behind me.

 

[jonnygrouville]

Sounds a really good visual or feeling based method to add some more 'up' to the backswing. Make a pivot and throw a pancake over your right shoulder towards the target! I've heard crazier things than that to get the right arm folding properly as it is very easy to get everything moving too quickly rearwards with the inside handpath. And nobody has drawn a line on anything yet...

One question though; thinking about flipping all of those pancakes, are you hungry by the time you leave the range?