Hi Shawn. So if you’re not heaving the club into the backswing you won’t be able to throw it towards the target because you’re not in the right mind set from the start? Would that be an indication that some of your focus is still on the ball?
Exactly! What are you getting ready to do in the set up while you are engaging with the ball?
See the “pre-motor cortex series” and “predict contact” and “the goldie locks series” which will explain why you need to be ready to send the action and the feel of the action to the target BEFORE YOU DETERMINE the big 4 items of set up (distance to ball-ball position-club face angle and grip relation-posture)
Shawn
Thx Shawn. I will revisit those videos. I’m able to get more and more into that throwing mind set at the range and my missed shots wouldn’t put me into trouble on the course even with the driver. Issue is that my brain is not allowing that mind set that I have on the range to settle in on the course. It goes into “make sure” mode. Kinda like some physiological muscle memory kicking in. That part is up to me to resolve.
Keep plugging and it will evolve!
Here is my focus sequence in case you have not seen it yet:
1-pick an “end target” or a place you want to have the ball end up
2-pick a flight plan that fits your ability to get the ball there; please INCLUDE THE HEIGHT OF THE SHOT or peak trajectory before it falls back down towards the end target. Be clear about the option-if not, goldie-locks the options.
3-find an intermediate point that will set you up into that picture from behind-MASSIVELY IMPORTANT TO TRUST ONCE YOU PICK FOR YOU TO LINE UP AND TO DELIVER THE ACTION.
4-PREDICT CONTACT AND DIRECTION BEFORE YOU LET THE SWING GO.
so that when you let your action release itself to the target, you can predict that the ball position, the distance to the ball, the posture, and the grip-club face relationship will fit the flight when you let the swing track itself into the direction you want to start the ball.
Predictions video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieQF5GjxzFs
5-EXECUTION
set up done? Prediction of shot done? It is now OUT of YOUR CONTROL, just give control to gravity and let the weight of the ARMS AND CLUB OR WEIGHT OF SWING release itself in the direction you want to START the ball (ON THE SIDE OF THE INTERMEDIATE POINT YOU CHOSE). Look for the feel of that low effort and nice whipping velocity that unleashes that ball into that flight with freedom and trust. Abandon control to the task.
6- DID YOU LET IT?
DID you stay with the feel of that release to that direction? Or did you get distracted by “making sure” of a position or something else making noise or commotion around you? How do you know for a fact that you stayed with it?
If you stayed with it:How was the strain level mentally and physically?
Was it hard or easy?
If you did not stay with it, something short circuited you and you were trying to do something else; what was that you were trying? What were your concerns?
7-The most important stat in golf THAT TRUMPS ALL STATS is how many times (there are average 36 full swings on the golf course) were you able to stay with your shot all the way to the finish? Can You CONFIRM WITHOUT A DOUBT THAT YOU felt the release of the club in the direction you wanted to start the ball?
IF YOU CANNOT CONFIRM THAT YOU STAYED WITH THE SHOT, YOU ARE WASTING YOUR TIME TRYING TO FIX YOUR SWING THAT IS NOT BROKEN;
Thank you for the elaborate reply. That focus sequence is what I’m working on. It will take some time though before all these steps becomes second nature. But I’m starting to see the benefits.
We don’t really have that option, no; we use the Vimeo player; it is the best one out there after youtube.
There are tools that allow you to download content from youtube; maybe it would work on Vimeo as well; we would have to find out…
Hi Sean,
I over swing my backswing and collapse with left arm bent and seem unable to stop this for years. How do you know when you are at the top of the backswing.. I understand what you are teaching and the gravity feel but I seem to keep swinging it into a collapse.
I have even tried to keep my left arm rigid but can’t stop it bending eventually. I suspect I am not turning enough but you do not mention a top of backswing position but do at finish. I would love a 3 /4 swing with a 5 year guarantee. I do enjoy your novel way of teaching but I am struggling with backswing consistency. and hence hitting the ball a severe mixture of really good and pretty awful and on a handicap basis I’m swinging between 4 and 44 – Demented.
Hi James!
The secret is in the way you perform the task; wide cut of grass along the ground;
I have 3 videos for you on youtube that are specific to this:
Shawn, I played on a Par 3 near my home, employing as much of the content I have been absorbing as I could. I am basically a new golfer at the age of 49! For the first time (not every time) I have been hitting solid iron shots. It feels great to really stripe one, especially like you say in the draw set up, it just smacks that sweet spot. I am now having the “problem” of having to repair ball marks on the green because I am hitting the green! I actually overshot the green a few times because I was used to not going that far with my clubs (another good problem to have). Still have not figured out a consistent strike with driver, but I am experimenting with closing the club face as you instruct and throwing the club at the target. This is the most effective and simple golf instruction I have come across and it MAKES SENSE! Also, quick question, I have been practicing in my yard with the foam golf balls from time to time, do you find those to be effective with understanding if you are making a good shot? Thanks for all you help…
Awesome!
Yes, the whiffle ball is terrific for learning; place them on tees, cut through the tees; they will draw and fade just like regular balls too!
Great stuff man, keep it up!
Shawn
I seem to have wandered into a real bad case of the snap hooks. From the driver on down. Shots are weak, start at the target and then rotate left (and down) violently. It seems like my hands have gone crazy. Too strong a grip? What else to review?
Hey John!
When was the last time you threw some clubs?
See again the “pre-motor cortex” videos and be ready to throw the club in the direction you want to start the ball WITH EXTREME EASE! Like you are using a full backswing and throwing super effortlessly to a full finish and hitting 7 irons 120 yards!
Shawn
When my swing goes bad I can feel it happening. I get to the top of my backswing and I feel my body keep taking it back further. I know at this point my body thinks the ball did something bad and is going to kill it. This always gives me a pull left. I will try the breathing exercise next time. When you went back and stopped at the top of you backswing and then hit the ball that looks like that may also be something to try when I get in that situation.
Hi Shawn, I was working on fine tuning my predictions for my irons and woods, as last round out I had some fat contact show up on extremely wet fairways (with all the darn rain we’ve been getting in Montreal!) and my ball striking was exposed.
I noticed in re-watching this video, that I may be misinterpreting the correct way to “lower the machine” after my practice throws above the ball. I consciously observed that I have been lowering mostly by increasing knee flex, which I believe might be bringing my low point way back. After watching the video, it seems like your knee flex does not change at all from practice throw whiffs, to tops, thins and so on. Can you explain the proper way to lower the machine? Should it be mostly from the waist up like a crane lowering the wrecking ball?
Don’t forget the ebb and flow of the kettle bell drill with the legs and when the fairway is wet, you want to hit the shots THIN, INTENTIONALLY! So predict a grass graze when throwing to target when on wet turf!
Man this is the stuff I’ve needed! The rehinge/deep release pull ties in perfectly with choice of trajectory (since that determines where the rehinge & release pull happens). I’ve been using the axe drill before shots to feel the proper tilt and swing direction – it’s actually fantastic for those things as well as feeling holding center.
Hitting driver has always been fun, your driver series got me started but it seems I can only get a fade out of it – even with a draw biased driver, regardless of how much I change my setup and aim over the intermediate point…
TBH – a straight fade is pretty much the end result with all of my clubs, it’s getting reliable as my “stock shot” but for the life of me – I can’t get the ball to go right and come back – ever….
Only left and back…. Granted, that’s better control than I had three years ago and I am actually OK with not being able to hit a draw now, I can still lower my handicap this season, but that’s not going to carry me forever…
Well yeah! 😀
The key to being able to hit the draw is to go to a DEEP hook and see, feel and hear the difference with the ball flight and compression. So CLOSE THE FACE a solid 45 degrees more than what you have now (and I am telling you that 90% of my students DON’T GO ANYWHERE NEAR where they should go when doing this and typically fidget right out of it just before they pull the trigger.
When you close it this much, It will feel VERY DIFFERENT in your hands; it will feel UNBALANCED; PLEASE PROCEED ANYWAYS AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU APPLY YOUR NICE WHIP THROUGH THE INTERMEDIATE POINT.
Once you see the ball curving HARD left, then you will have another benchmark and reference for the brain; it will go “OH, so that is a hook!” And after doing a few of those, your brain can now say: “when I let the club release me to the right of the intermediate point, the ball will come back! If you are NOT SURE OR CANNOT PREDICT THAT THE BALL WILL COME BACK TO TARGET, THEN HOW IN THE WORLD WILL YOU EVER BE ABLE TO RELEASE TO THE RIGHT??
The snow melted and was at the range today – it turns out I CAN hit a baby draw!
Well, I hit a few anyway and that was more than the NONE I was able to hit before and the guy there said it will be a little easier with the balls I play compared to their range balls (super soft, like 50 and single core for limited flight)
Rusty ++ after the “indoor season”. Will warm up with the tilt drill. Any comment on the ACU coming more vertical for the draw. The club butt is inside the ball on the draw shot and at the ball on the fade. I’m not trying to be technical as the position is likely just due to the correct feel for each shot going into the picture. I’m only really aware of the tilt at setup and a stronger grip for the draw and the swing comes more from the outside for the fade. Thanks Shawn.
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