How should a mid handicapper like myself play this hole? The right side of the hole and short right are safe. My preferred shot would be to aim right side of the green with a draw. If I could only fade it would be aim center. Just wondering if you would consider discussing course management dependent on handicap level on your future videos.

Love the pre-deployment.

Hello Mr. Shawn, I love all the videos that you have put out and I’m a member of this website. Is there a way to show the ball flight? I think if I can mimic the swings and follow the swing/ball flight, I can understand more if this makes sense.

I will try this drill. I like the teaching generally, but I note of late that it is getting more and more complicated, especially for a senior golfer of moderate athletic ability. Dicta to get out of the way and swing the club with the legs to the target, ignoring the ball, are now encumbered (in my view) with more and more variations. Perhaps fine for young and skillful athletes, but the emphasis has not worked for me. Now I have to worry about the grip and path and various ball positions. For me, this new stuff evokes manipulations that frankly ruin the swing. I do better forgetting about variations on the grip and ball path and ball position and just do the basic swing – good set up and grip, get out of the way, let it fall, use your legs, throw the club towards the target, not the ball. Most of the time I hit a fade with this. Does it matter? I practice a bit before playing and note the fade and then play with this pattern, or the pattern that emerges. Is this heresy??

Hi, Shawn. I put this question here to ask about relationship to grip as it affects (or not?) swing path. (When I saw this first video on grip about a month ago, I found the change gave me an extra full club length throughout the bag. Fantastic!)

Driver at the range yesterday. Particularly with driver, I find an ingrained swing pattern, even with different amounts of closed club face, that ends many times in a slice, and regardless of set up, with conscious intention, for fade / neutral / draw. (Which is frustrating, and one gets lonely for the left side of a fairway!) I get that WIG is definitely not about body position.

But had this experience: After a while, I found that by slightly rotating my lead forearm (left side) so that the point of elbow was pointing more towards ground (from unconsciously / naturally for me, more toward target — perhaps artifact from baseball bat swing setup?), shots straightened out immediately, with consistency. (I’m sure I’ve read articles about this — inner joints of elbows facing to sky, that sort of thing. Perhaps in Hogan’s 5 Lessons, and that arms bound together image.)

And then I noticed that the “elbow pointing more down” condition could be accomplished either by keeping my strong-ish grip (3 knuckles) and only rotating the forearm or by shifting to a weaker grip (which affects the whole arm). In the Snap Release Polish – Wow video, at one point you suggest that Sav weaken her grip slightly in face of a too strong draw. Which I mention in case there’s a relation. I have tried a more neutral grip at times, but, as with most of your students, find that doesn’t work too well. Swinging more elbow-down feels strange, but maybe that’s just because different than what I’m used to.

I’ll continue to experiment, but wondered if you had any guidance about what might / might not be happening.

I come at the golf swing (in early 60s) from movement patterns of baseball and tennis from childhood / teen years (in tennis: solid backhand, but wild forehand). Kinetic chain, no problem. And sometimes I lock into consistent straight fades with driver (before yesterday, without thought about elbows). But then it’s gone the next day, and takes many shot attempts to find again. Thank you.

Shawn, if I’m at a point where I’m over hooking everything, do I first look at how much I am closing my club face?

Been experimenting with that as well as my takeaway to see what I can do but I’m having a hard time keeping my shots on the planet. I feel if I don’t close it enough it moves way too far right

Great tips. Looks so easy playing the draw. I have been mostly playing fades and when it comes to draws, my success is 2/10. Cannot get to release to the right. I have mentioned that one on one as well.

This drill is terrific! (74 year old 9 hdcp). It has improved my consistency setting things at the top of the swing. + my release is more consistent. My pitch shots (40 to 70 yards) also improved. Better path and release so great compression creating more spin etc.
Thanks Shawn, Sav and Mu!! Top notch!

Today was my first day I could implement the “battering ram” drill and to my surprise……I saw immediate distance gains 🙂 I did a better job with my driver than my irons, but it was the first day and we have had lots of rain so sometimes with my irons I was digging potatoes and not peeling carrots :D.

I’ve been having trouble closing the face of my driver. Will this drill help that. It’s driving me nuts CUZ every other club is just fine.

Shawn, I have strengthened my grip (although sometimes it’s too strong) and have utilizes the heave up and the coming back down to the ball. More distance as well as accuracy. It’s been very freeing. However, every now and then I go down too far on the downswing and hit the ball fat. I don’t know if I’m going down too far or I’m not extending back up soon enough. Also every now and then I throw in an abrupt opening of the left shoulder that is a hard pull to the left (I’m right handed). Is it right to say that at impact you’re still largely facing the target line?
thanks, I’m probably overly analytical, bit I’m having more fun than ever in my golf life.
paulmBelcher

Great video Shawn. I have couple of questions though. You mentioned that with short irons and wedges you can’t slice the ball because of the loft. Starting with what loft you can start fading the ball more an more? 27- degrees? . also, you mentioned that you open the face slightly. I already have a very strong grip, can you explain what slightly means? how much?

Love your favorite drill! Was crushing my 7iron and 3wood and swinging my driver faster then ever before. Got to 112mph hitting balls at the range because I started focusing on swinging to my target and not at the ball!

OMG. Major issues for me , apart from the correct swing/ kinetic chain, are- 1 ..don’t trust side vision EVER…..2..get that intermediate point and play to that. I already picked the club for the distance so if I go back to the target visually , not the IP, then the brain takes over with…” hit it close, avoid the bunker, don’t go in the woods, avoid the pond, hit it hard…” bla bla bla and as you say -> black out happens….am I right? I try to concentrate here at the IP and minimize the distant target.
You have trained your brain to buy in to the process so even the non robot gets pretty nice mostly very good results….what a sport…

Do the arms come into play at any point in the downswing?