Hi Shawn.
I really like your approach to teaching (external/task rather than internal/position focus) and have been a member for some time. I am not quite a senior yet (56yrs, played golf on-off since I was 16yrs, HCP range 12-18), but the body is a little inflexible.
I am attracted to the idea of the bigger turn back, and the “out of the way, out of the way” swing thought that helps rhythm and momentum – it feels nice and not too much of a strain on the body. However, I have a few things I struggle with:
1) I have always been a bit of a slider, and when I bring this approach to the course, the slide often comes back with the resultant and exaggerated in-to-out swing path (I am already a bit in-to-out). So wonder how best to deal with containing that.
2) Even when I do not slide, if I turn my hips & shoulders fully back, I feel over-extended and I often struggle to get back around to the ball in time, which might be a timing issue. And, also it feels as though I lose connection with the target at the end of the backswing. (Incidentally, in the long iron/driver video in the seniors series your hip turn seemed a bit more restricted than in some of the indoor takes; I might be wrong?). I find that when my backswing is full turn, my follow-through is often shorter than it should be. My question here is: do I stick with working on the full turn you demonstrate or might I be better off bracing the right leg to some extent and doing, say a 90% turn, which feels like it gives me a better chance to return to the ball, rotate and have a better follow-through (and use the ‘throw the club’ analogy)?
3) The “out-of-the-way, out-of-the-way” swing feeling can work great on the range, but on the course, timing can be an issue and the swing feels too loose (clubhead flipping a bit, for example, or the face being too open). Now, I really like the hitting analogies (baseball batter shifting pressure onto the front foot and swinging, the hammer), although they feel like more strain on the body. I find them hard to reconcile with the lower street, rhythmic pendulum sensation of “out-of-the-way…” that I would like to play with. It is like they belong to two different types of golf swings and by working on both the hitting tasks and the pendulum/momentum tasks I complicate things for myself. Ideally, I’d like to have the feeling of swinging through the ball along lines of an inclined baseball strike, with a full follow-through and balance, with the rhythm of the “out-of-the-way…” swings. Do you have any suggestions where best to start? Apologies for the length, and hope it makes sense.
Thank you
Erik