The Simple Swing

Transcription

1 The Simple Swing The Amazing "1-2-3 Swing" Guarantees The Average Golfer Can Break 90 In Less Than a Week! The Amazing "1-2-3 Swing" Guarantees Average Golfers Can Learn To Consistently Hit The Ball Long and Straight. For Questions or Support Go To: Simple Golf Company, Danbury, CT

2 The Swing The Simplest, Most Consistent Golf Swing Ever We have designed the Swing to be the most consistent golf swing ever. It is also amazingly long and amazingly straight plus awesomely accurate. The Swing is an on-plane or single plane swing which is the basis for the modern golf swing which you are starting to see on the tour. We have combined the single plane swing with a simple set-up routine to make frequently occurring mistakes a thing of the past. We are also including the Power Lock Grip with the Swing. The new Power Lock Grip keeps the clubface square through impact longer then any other grip. The result is that you will hit more straight shots than you ever thought you possibly could. If you can consistently square the club face up at impact with your current grip then it is fine to use your current grip with the Swing however we do suggest you try the Power Lock Grip. Good Swings vs Good Shots Your set-up (address position) is very important. If you set-up correctly and make a good swing, you are highly likely to have a good shot. Our new pre-shot routine will automatically make any golf swing more consistent and more accurate. Your job is to concentrate on making good swings. Just set-up correctly and make a good swing. the accuracy and distance will take care of itself. Your Goal: To make as many Good Swings as Possible. Page 2

3 To Make The Maximum Number Of Good Swings Start With The Set-Up Fundamentals! All of our testing showed us that I had to do three things: 1. Identify the fewest Set-Up Fundamentals that a golfer needed to do each time to ensure a good golf swing. 2. Find a way to move most of the Set-Up Fundamentals to the address position (before the swing). 3. And most importantly, we had to come up with a way to make sure those Set-Up Fundamentals were easy to REMEMBER so every golfer would actually remember to do them before every swing. It is important for you to say (and do) these three fundamentals BEFORE EVERY SWING. The 3 Set-Up Fundamentals are: 1. Set Up The LEGS(Hips) 2. Set Up The ARMS 3. Set Up The GRIP So all you have to remember is the word LAG which stands for Legs, Arms, Grip. Your pre-shot routine will be to say to yourself (silently or very quietly) 1. Legs, 2. Arms, 3. Grip. That is all you need to say. This is a logical, very easy to say and very easy to remember routine to say before every shot. This routine works amazingly well. The 3 Simple Set-Up Fundamentals will insure consistently good golf shots, a high percentage of the time, if you just learn the three words and build them into your routine. WE WILL EXPLAIN THESE FUNDAMENTALS AND SHOW YOU EXACTLY HOW TO DO THE SET-UP FUNDAMENTALS IN A FEW PAGES. Page 3

4 10 Years Of Swing Testing Our team has done over 10 years of swing testing with golfers of all abilities. We have studied every part of the swing from the set-up to the follow-through. Here is What We Found After The Swing Testing. 1. Getting The Set-Up Position right is Critical. The first thing we found was that very few regular golfers had a consistent set-up position. It was amazing how differently they could set up from one swing to another. (Obviously, this caused big problems.) We were able to tell if they were going to make a good swing or bad swing before they swung just by looking at their set-up position. Most of the time we could tell exactly what swing mistake they were going to make before they even took the club back. The bottom line was if the golfer did not have a consistently good set-up routine then they did not have a consistently good golf swing. It was as simple as that. You could say that setting up consistently (the same way every time) was more important than setting up exactly right every time. 2. The Other Thing We Confirmed Was The Simpler The Swing The Better The Swing Now the pros or the golfers that play 4 times or more a week can groove any kind of swing. They can take the club back off plane and then time it just right and loop the club back on-plane when they get it to impact. However, the all the regular golfers that play less than 3 times a week do much, much better with a simpler on-plane modern swing. (Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson are just two examples of professionals using this type of swing.) One of the ways we found to simplify the swing was to move some things normally done during the swing to the set-up routine. When golfers could take their time during the set-up procedure, they did the correct procedures much more consistently and effectively. Rolling the wrists, swinging the hips and the old leg drive swing was the type of swing popularized by Johnny Miller. The bottom line is the up and coming pros using the simpler modern golf swing do not do that and neither should you. What is A Modern Golf Swing? The modern golf swing has a much quieter lower body with less leg motion and less hip motion. I am not saying no hip motion and no leg motion, I am just saying much less than before. The modern golf swing also has less clubface rotation than the traditional swing. A Simpler Grip With Less Rotation Means Significantly Better Accuracy The Power Thumb Grip which we include with the Swing is a low rotation grip that simply keeps the clubface square to the swing plane for the whole swing. This makes sure the clubface always comes to impact square, resulting in straighter shots. Starting In the Impact Position Makes You Swing Much Simpler Page 4

5 We start our swing by setting up in our desired impact position. Starting in the impact position makes it much easier to return to the actual impact position when striking the ball. When you start in your impact position with your hips forward and spine tilted away from the target, it make it much easier for you to get in the position when actually striking the ball. Your body just has to return to the position it was in when you started the swing. The key to a good golf swing is to be in the right position at impact. Starting in the right impact position makes the process much easier. EVERYTHING IN YOUR SWING WON T BE PERFECT It would be wonderful if we all made a perfect golf swing every time. However, the fact is we seldom if ever make a perfect golf swing. Even the pros are far from perfect. In addition, we all have baggage from her previous golf swings. Also, we all have different skill levels and we all have different physical attributes. So naturally, our swings will be a bit different, even if we are trying to do the exact same swing. The golf swing will make you a better golfer. The better you actually do the swing, the better player, you will become. However, the fact is, most golfers will wind up with a swing that is a combination of the swing and their previous swings. That is the reality and that is okay. The Swing Lets, You Fix Your Own Swing Problems The Swing is so simple that when you do make a bad swing it is very simple for you to fix the problem. Most importantly it helps you to learn how to prevent the problem from happening again. With the traditional swing, there can be up to causes for a specific swing error. We have all hit the ball in the woods once in a while and had absolutely no idea why the ball went in the woods. When you do have a problem with the Swing there are likely only 1 or 2 possible things that could cause that specific problem. From that point, it is easy to identify exactly what caused your problem and most importantly, what you need to do to fix it. See our Faults and Fixes Section in Appendix 6. It lists the potential swing problems and shows you how to quickly fix each one of them. Page 5

6 The 3 Set-Up Fundamentals - Simple As We Have Moved The Complicated Stuff To The Set-Up We have simplified the golf swing by moving most of the complicated swing stuff to your set-up routine at address. This setup procedure with the Swing takes care of many of the things you previously had to do during your swing. You no longer have to worry about coordinating all those body parts on the backswing and the downswing as you do in the traditional swing. As long as you set up correctly and start your backswing correctly, it is actually pretty hard to screw up the Swing. Now, we are going to show you the 3 Set-Up Fundamental and explain how each one will make your swing better. I spent a long time studying WHY my students would make bad swings. Over and over, I heard the words I FORGOT The students did not always forget the same thing each time but definitely the biggest reason for a bad swing was that they forgot (meaning they didn t do ) something important in the swing (set-up, backswing or downswing). After a while, it became very clear that the things they forget most often were things in setting up or addressing the ball. With the 1-2-3, Swing the only way to fail at this effort now is to forget our simple one word reminder before taking the shot. The 3 Set-Up Fundamentals That You Won t Forget! We have been working on reducing the number of things to think about because the simpler the setup routine the more likely you will remember to do it before each and every swing. Now with the 1-23 Swing, if you can count to 3 you can have a good golf swing. Sometimes, I would like to remind students of a dozen things before each swing but the fact is that is too many. No one will remember a dozen things before every swing and the result is you will not do them. So what we ve done is to come up with a 3 word simple reminder that are easy to remember and short enough that you d actually repeat them for each swing. It is nice to have a fancy pre-shot routine like the pros, but the fact is very few regular golfers will remember to do a complicated set-up routine like the pros do. Our 3 Set-Up Fundamental are designed to be a simple, easy to remember set-up routine that you should do before every swing. Page 6

7 Set-Up Fundamental # 1 SET THE LEGS (&HIPS) 1. Keep your head still and shift your hips toward the target until your front hip is almost over your front ankle. As you shift your hips forward, your head stays still and the back knee is pulled in under your head. Your spine will now be tilted away from the target. When you do this, you will have more weight on your front leg than on your back leg. 2. Your head will hardly move during this motion. Your spine will be tilted away from the target. This is the power position that you will see all pros in at impact. 3. KEEP THE FRONT KNEE BENT. Your weight should be in an athletic position, mostly on the balls of your feet. 4. COCK YOUR BACK KNEE IN AND TAKE ALL THE WEIGHT OFF THE BACK HEEL BY LIFTING YOUR BACK HEEL UP SLIGHTLY (¼ TO ½ INCH) OFF THE GROUND. 5. Start with your front foot square and flare your back foot 45 degrees. Your heels should be parallel to the target line but your toes will not be "square" because the back foot is flared out. You can put a golf club behind your heels to check if your heels are square. Your feet may not look square because your back foot is flared 45 degrees but they are square. Flaring the back foot 45 degrees allows for a bigger turn, which will give you a better backswing. Page 7

8 Set-Up Fundamental #2 SET THE ARMS 1. Start by lifting both your arms up above horizontal then bring your elbows in close together. 2. Next, bring both upper arms down on top of the pectoral muscles of your chest. Your triceps (muscle in the back of your upper arms) will rest on top of your chest muscles (pectoral muscles). 3. Your shoulders and hips should be square to the target line (blue line). Note: Getting your arms on top of your chest makes it less likely an arm will be trapped by the chest pulling your swing off-plane. Page 8

9 Set-Up Fundamental #3 - SET THE GRIP 1. This is the time to double-check your grip no matter what type of grip you are using. While you can use other grips with the Swing we do recommend the Power Lock Grip. 2. Top Hand Just before you begin your backswing set your grip by firming up the grip of the little finger and ring finger of the top hand. Also, extend the fingers of the top hand around the grip so the tips of your finger are almost touching the base of your palm. Gripping with a firm little finger and ring finger will prevent the clubface from closing through impact causing a draw or a hook. 3. Bottom Hand Use an overlap or interlock bottom hand grip. In order to make an on-plane backswing you will likely need to have a very strong grip with the pad at the base of the index finger under the bottom of the club. 4. Do a Squeeze Test (see Appendix 2) before each swing to make sure your clubface is square to your target line. Page 9

10 The Swing-Step-By-Step Instructions The Address Position NOTE: THE 3 SET-UP FUNDAMENTALS (L.A.G.) SHOULD BRING YOU TO THIS ADDRESS POSITION 1. The hip has moved forward with the weight mostly on the front leg and the spine is tilted away from the target. 2. The shaft of the club is almost "in line" with your front arm. The elbows are very close together. 3. The shoulders and hips are square to the target and the feet are about shoulder width apart. 4. The back foot is flared 45 degrees to allow for a longer backswing and the back heel is slightly raised off the ground. 5. The back knee should have a slight bend in it. If you want to protect from a pull it a good idea to flare the back knee out as shown above. 6. Your front knee should be bent so it is almost over your front toe (or it looks like it is as you address the ball.) Page 10

11 Beginning Backswing 1. YOU BEGIN YOUR BACKSWING BY BRINGING YOUR FRONT KNEE BACK AWAY FROM THE TARGET. This is a move very much like tour player Jason Day. 2. MOVING YOUR FRONT KNEE WILL BEGIN TURNING YOUR CORE (shoulders, chest & abdomen) as the shaft traces the extended target line (blue line). We refer to this as Tracing. Both upper arms are still tucked against your chest. 3. THINK OF YOUR HIPS LIKE A DOOR WITH THE HINGE OF THE DOOR BEING ON YOUR FRONT HIP. YOUR FRONT HIP BECOMES THE HINGE OR PIVOT POINT THAT YOU TURN AROUND. In the backswing, your front hip will move slightly toward the ball and then back away from the target for a couple inches. As your hip moves back, you will feel a bracing into the inside of your back foot. 4. If you are using the Power Lock Grip, it is okay to left the club head open a little bit (rolling your wrist back) on the backswing more like in a traditional swing. This gives you more options regarding your bottom hand grip and it gives you a little more club head speed. Note: You will find you have to keep the front wrist fairly flat in order to keep the club pointing at the extended target line. You do not want to bend or cup your front wrist Page 11

12 Mid-Backswing 1. As the club shaft comes up to horizontal, the shaft should be parallel to the target line (blue line). If it points inside parallel that means you are bringing the club back under the swing plane. If the shaft points outside parallel then you are bringing the club back above the swing plane. 2. Both upper arms are still connected or tucked in against the chest. The head remains stable while the core turns around the spine. 3. THE BACK HIP CONTINUES TO BE PULLED BACK AWAY FROM THE BALL BY THE TURNING OF THE CORE. The core (shoulders, chest & abdomen) is continuing its rotation around the spine and the spine stays tilted away from the target. Because the core is rotating around the spine, the head will remain level (now up or down motion) throughout the swing. 4. THE FRONT WRIST REMAINS RELATIVELY FLAT although the wrist is starting to bend (or cock) in the direction of the front thumb. Page 12

13 The Backswing Checkpoint 1. When the front arm is horizontal, it too should be parallel to the target line. THIS IS THE BACKSWING CHECKPOINT. If your front arm is starting to point behind you when it reaches horizontal then you are taking the club back inside or under the swing plane. 2. In the upper part of the backswing, the butt of the club continues back tracing the extended target line (blue line). The front arm is still connected (tucked in) to the top of the chest and the back elbow is still touching or almost touching the side of the chest muscle. The head stays stable as the core rotates around the spine. THE SPINE IS STILL TILTED AWAY FROM THE TARGET. 3. The front wrist should continue to stay relatively flat, even as it cocks (bends in the direction of the thumb) at this point in the backswing. If the front wrist cups (bends towards the top of the wrist) more than just a little, then the club will move off-plane (above the swing plane in this case) making it much more complicated to get the club back to the correct impact position. The is the one position you should make sure that you hit on every practice swing. Making sure you hit your backswing checkpoint pretty much guarantees an on-plane golf swing. Page 13

14 The Top Of Backswing When learning the Swing you should limit your backswing to the point where their front arm is horizontal (See the Backswing Checkpoint on previous page). Continuing the front arm up past parallel will like reduce accuracy and consistency until well experienced. 1. However, once experienced golfers have mastered this swing length they can bring the front arm up past parallel as long as they stay on-plane. As your arm moves past parallel it follows your swing plane and starts to move inside pointing behind you just a bit. When your arm goes inside past parallel that is normal and your swing is still on-plane. As we said, the butt of the club should continue to point at the extended target line. Some bend of the front elbow is okay as long as the elbow hinge on the swing plane. 2. Notice that the head has remained pretty stable although there will be some side-to-side motion. IT DOES NOT MOVE UP AND DOWN! 3. THE BACK HEEL IS STILL SLIGHTLY UP IN THE AIR 4. The butt of the club continues to trace the extended target line. To see where the butt of your club is actually pointing it is helpful to stick a long white tee into the hole on the butt of your club. That will make it much easier to see where the butt of the club is pointing. Page 14

15 The Downswing The Downswing Begins 1. The downswing begins with the bent front knee moving toward the target to return to its' address position. (The front knee stays bent throughout the swing.) The movement of the front knee causes the hip bump towards the target, which begins the uncoiling of the upper body. Again beginning the downswing with the move toward the target of the front knee is very much like tour player Jason Day. 2. The back heel is still a little up. The back leg is now pushing into your front leg. 3. The hips start returning to square, not opening up yet because the bent front knee prevents the front hip from opening up too soon (pulling shots to the left). 4. Your upper arms remain connected well past impact. Page 15

16 Downswing Continues On-Plane 1. As the club shaft gets to horizontal in the downswing, it again should be parallel to the target line. 2. The core (shoulders, chest & abdomen) is rotating around the spine. The spine continues to be tilted away from the target. 3. THE WEIGHT IS MOVING MORE TO THE FRONT LEG. 4. "The brace" or pushing into the front leg continues to stabilize the lower body. 5. The spine is still tilted away from the target. Page 16

17 Approaching Impact 1. THE FRONT KNEE STAYS BENT WELL THROUGH IMPACT! If the front knee straightens, it will likely pull the front hip open, which will pull the shoulder open resulting in a pull. (Practice swinging without a ball just to get the feeling of keeping that front leg bent until well after impact.) The front knee stays bent and moving toward the target. 2. Starting the backswing by moving the bent front knee back away from the target and then starting the downswing with the bent front knee going back to it s original position makes it much easier to keep the front knee bent through impact. This motion is designed to prevent pulls and slices (outside-to-inside swings) as long as your grip squares the club up okay. 3. The shaft of the club continues to trace the extended target line. The shoulders and hips have squared up. You stay in an athletic position with your weight mostly on the balls of your feet. 4. The connected core powers the swing right through impact. On the downswing, both upper arms stay connected or tucked against your chest with the elbows relatively close together. 5. In effect, your arms and club are acting like a segmented whip. Your core (shoulders, chest & abdomen) is the center, which powers the whip. Your shoulder, upper arm, lower arm, wrist and club are the other segments of the whip. 6. Your wrist and arms do add power but it is done as a reaction to the turning of the core rather than as a conscious effort to power the swing with your arms. Page 17

18 Impact 1. We have now returned to our original address position. 2. THE FRONT KNEE REMAINS BENT RIGHT THROUGH IMPACT PREVENTING THE FRONT HIP FROM OPENING UP. Starting the backswing with the front knee and starting the downswing with the front knee makes it much easier to keep the front knee bent right through impact preventing an outside-to-inside swing. 3. The back heel is just starting to come up more. The back leg is still pushing or bracing into your front leg. 4. The back leg also acts as a stabilizer preventing the front hip from opening up too soon and pulling shots to the left. 5. Your upper arms remain connected well past impact. Page 18

19 The Follow-Though Begins 1. The club is still on-plane. The club head end of the shaft is tracing (see dotted red arrow) the target line (blue line). 2. The front knee is still bent and moving toward the target. 3. On the follow through the arms should stay connected to the chest at least until the club well past impact in the follow-through. 4. If you are using the Power Lock Grip, your club face should stay square almost to this point. Page 19

20 Mid Follow-Though 1. As the front arm comes up to horizontal, it should be parallel to the target line (blue line). You could say this position is your Follow-Through Checkpoint. 2. Only now does the front knee begin to straighten. 3. The body is starting to turn to finish facing the target. 4. Even more of your weight is moving over onto the front leg. Page 20

21 Approaching The Finish 1. The club is still on-plane. The butt of the club is tracing (see dotted red arrow) the extended target line (blue line). 2. The front knee is almost straight and it is now pulling the front hip open allowing the body to start facing the target. 3. The head stays stable (moving forward a bit) as all your weight moves to your front leg. Page 21

22 The Finish 1. Only now, when you relax does the club drop off-plane. 2. Your chest (sternum) should finish facing the target. 3. The front leg has now straightened. 4. Pretty much all your weight has moved to the front leg. Page 22

23 Appendix 1 Review Of Key Points Of The Swing Begin Your Backswing By Moving Your Front Knee Away From the Target. Your backswing should begin by moving your front knee back away from the target, which automatically begins turning your core (shoulders, chest & abdomen)! The inside of both your upper arms should be connected to (i.e., tucked in against) your chest. The back foot should be flared 45 degrees to allow for a better turn in your backswing. You do NOT need any deliberate arm or wrist movement until the club is approaching horizontal in the backswing. There is little or no hip movement on shorter shots. On longer shots your back hip should not start moving back until the shaft is somewhere near 45 degrees back from the address position. Starting your backswing with your core will help insure you make a one piece on-plane takeaway. As you take your club back, the shaft should trace the extended target line. At the top of the backswing, your front wrist should be flat and the butt of the club should point at the extended target line. Page 23

24 Appendix 2 Squeeze Test - To Make Sure Your Clubface Is Square At Impact During the golf swing, the dominant bottom hand can accidentally close the clubface at impact. We use the squeeze test to make sure that any tension in the grip will not close the clubface during a full power swing. 1. To check your grip, first take your grip normally on the club. 2. Then stretch the club out in front of you near horizontal. Without tension in your hands and arms the clubface should be square (vertical). 3. Then tense your arms, your forearms and your hands (as you would when you hit the ball). Squeeze the club very tightly. If the clubface closes during this drill, it is also likely to close during a full swing, especially a swing at maximum power. If this happens, adjust your grip, do another squeeze test, and repeat until your grip stays square even during a squeeze. The purpose of this test is to see if your grip will keep the clubface square at impact. It does this by simulating the flexing (tension) of the muscles during a full power swing. Page 24

25 Appendix 3 Practice Practice Notebook Go to the store and get a pocket notebook to record each practice session. It should be about a 4x6 inch notebook that you can keep in your back pocket at the range. Then before you go to the range WRITE OUT YOUR GOALS AND STEP BY STEP LIST EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO DURING THE PRACTICE SESSION. Writing down your goals and what you want to practice will make your session much more effective and efficient. It will dramatically reduce the tendency we all have just to bang balls somewhat mindlessly. EVEN MORE IMPORTANT, BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE RANGE WRITE DOWN THE RESULTS FROM YOUR SESSION. Write down what worked well and write down what did not work well. HAVING THIS WRITTEN RECORD WILL BE EXTREMELY VALUABLE IN IMPROVING YOUR GAME. How to Practice When you practice ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS start by hitting short game shots. Start by hitting some short shots with your wedge. We recommend starting by hitting shots with your feet together (back foot flared 45 degrees) with your wedge. Then gradually widen your stance and hit longer and longer shots with your wedge until you are hitting full wedges. Then work your way through your clubs starting with shorter shots and gradually work up to hitting longer full swing shots with each club. You don t have to go through all the clubs but you should hit at least one wedge, one short iron, one middle iron, one longer iron or hybrid, one fairway wood and your driver. Make sure you ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS have a target for each practice shot. If you do not have a definite target, you will not be able to really judge your shot. Your target should always be a either a specific point (a yardage sign, etc.) or it should be between two things. For example, imagining the width of a fairway is between two yardage signs on the range. PLAY A (GOLF) RANGE ROUND At the practice range with a scorecard of your favorite course in hand; imagine you are standing on the course's first tee. You are going to play the 18 holes one by one right on the practice tee. Ready, now hit your drive on the first hole. Are you in the rough or the fairway? What club will you hit now? Be honest with yourself. If you are in the bunker, get your sand wedge out for your next shot. When you get to the imaginary green, you have an automatic two putt. Add two strokes to your score thus far on the hole and record it on the scorecard. Now tee up for the second hole. Good luck! Page 25

26 Appendix 4 Support FOR SUPPORT - USE THE HELPDESK If you have any questions at all, about The Swing check out the Simple Golf Helpdesk at or call us at We are here to help. The HelpDesk is the fastest and most dependable way to ask a question or make a comment and get a prompt response because everything is tracked. PLEASE DO NOT USE BECAUSE JUST IS NOT DEPENDABLE THESE DAYS AND I DO NOT WANT TO MISS ANY COMMUNICATIONS FROM YOU. If you do me and you do not get a response in 24 hours then I missed your so try the HelpDesk or call. You can call us directly at If you are an international customer, we can set up a Skype schedule through the HelpDesk. Page 26

27 Appendix 5 - Core Warm-up Waggle Before Each Swing Do The Core Warm-up Waggle The phrase Core Warm-up Waggle means to do a short partial backswing back just up to your backswing checkpoint. Its purpose is to loosen you up and make sure you start your backswing on-plane. Waggle To The Backswing Checkpoint (when the front arm is horizontal). You do a practice waggle from address position back to your backswing checkpoint and back to your address position. You start the Core Warm-up Waggle by moving your front knee back away from the target just like you do with your regular swing. Or better yet, you can do a checkpoint practice swing making sure you hit your backswing checkpoint on the backswing of the practice swing. Doing this will ensure your swing will be onplane. Page 27

28 Appendix 6 - Faults and Fixes (Directions are for a right handed golfer) WHEN YOU ARE ON THE RANGE THE FIRST THING TO DO IS TO IDENTIFY WHICH PART OF THE BODY IS CAUSING THE PROBLEM. When a student is having a problem with hooking or slicing, the first thing I. do is to identify whether the problem is caused by their hands and arms or if the problem is caused by their lower body. For example, when a student comes to me with a hooking (or slicing) problem I ask them put their feet together and start hitting some short chips. Then I have them gradually lengthen their shots until they are hitting almost full swing shots with their feet together. If the hooking and or slicing goes away then I know the problem must be caused by the lower body action. If they still hook or slice shots with their feet together then I know that their arms and hands are causing the problem. Knowing which part of the bodies actually causing the problem makes it dramatically easier and quicker to solve the problem. Fault: Fat Shots Fat shots are most often caused by the collapsing inward of the back knee. Fix: Make sure your hip is positioned almost over your front leg. In that position the shift of your hips pulls your back leg fairly straight so your back knee is unlikely to collapse. Bracing or pushing into the front leg with the back leg will additionally ensure that that back knee does not collapse. Fault: Topped (or thin) Shots Topped shots are most often caused by straightening the front leg during the backswing or the downswing. Either way if at impact the front leg is straight then it is likely the result will be a thin shot. Fix: Making sure you begin your backswing by moving your front me back away from the target is the best way to make sure that the front knee stays bent throughout the backswing and the downswing. Slices (big fades) (see IDENTIFY WHICH PART OF THE BODY IS CAUSING THE PROBLEM) Fault: High Slices High slices are caused by leaving the clubface open at impact. Since the Power Lock Grip does a great job of squaring the clubface up at impact each time, it is unlikely you will slice with the Swing unless your stance is a little too wide. If your stances to wide you can wind up leaving too much weight on your back leg through impact. By that, I mean you are not getting your weight transferred back to your left side through impact like you should. Leaving the weight on the back leg will cause an outside to inside swing path, which will cause a high slice if the clubface is square to the target line. Fix: The fix is to make sure your stance is not too wide. You should also try lifting the back heel a quarter of an inch off the ground. That will help you learn to push off with your back leg and get your weight through to your front leg through impact. Fault: Low Slices Low slices do not happen too often. Low slices can sometimes be caused by the hands getting too far ahead of the club head at impact. Sometimes low slices can be caused by teeing the ball too low and too far back in your stance. Fix: The fix can be as simple as teeing the ball correctly, opposite your front shoulder joint or better yet an inch or two ahead of your front shoulder joint so you can hit the ball on the upswing. Fault: Slices that start out to the left Page 28

29 An outside to inside swing path causes slices that start out to the left. The swing path may be outside to inside however the clubface points to the right of the swing path points to the right of the swing path. Fix: concentrate on keeping the front knee bent through impact. The front knee should move back away from the target in the backswing and then comes back towards the target on the downswing and through impact. Hooks (big draws) (see IDENTIFY WHICH PART OF THE BODY IS CAUSING THE PROBLEM) There are two things you should do first if you are hooking. 1. Check your grip. Make sure the pad at the base of your bottom hand index finger is under the club or forward of the mid-line of the bottom of the grip. That means the pad of the bottom hand index finger not only should be under the club but it should be under and more forward than the mid-line of the bottom of the grip. Firm up the little finger and right finger of the top hand. 2. The back heel should be slightly up in the air and stay up right through impact. If the back heel comes down the back foot has the leverage to cause a spinning or rotation around the back hip resulting in some ugly shots. Fault: Low Hooks Low hooks are most often caused by the hands and the arms. When you close the clubface with your hands and arms, it also de-lofts the clubface resulting in a lower shot. Fix: Obviously, the fix is to reduce the arms and hands rolling over and closing the clubface. The simplest way to do this is to use the power lock grip that is included with the 123 swing. If you using the power lock grip and you get any bigger draws then you would like you need to concentrate on firming up the little finger and ring finger of the top hand. Forming up the little finger and ring finger will prevent the front arm from rolling over and closing the clubface. Fault: High Hooks High hooks are generally the result of a swing path problem. Check your divots and see where they are pointing. It is likely that they are pointing from the inside out. Fix: The fix is to get your swing back on the plane. In particular, concentrate on hitting the backswing checkpoint. That is when your front tire comes up to horizontal in the backswing it should be parallel to the extended target line. When you hit high hooks, it is most likely that you are bringing the club back too much inside or under the swing plane and then swinging out to the right above the swing plane on the follow-through. Fault: Hooks that start out to the left (Pull Hooks) Pull hooks are one of the least enjoyable shots in golf. It starts out to the left and then curves further to the left. The main cause of the problem is in outside to inside swing path. There is also a secondary problem in that the hands and arms are getting overactive and closing the clubface. Fix: first thing we need to do is to stop the outside to inside swing path. Again, we have to concentrate on keeping that front knee bent through impact AND THE BACK HEEL UP IN THE AIR. Make sure you are starting your backswing and starting your downswing with your front knee. KEEPING YOUR FRONT KNEE BENT THROUGH IMPACT WILL PRETTY MUCH ELIMINATE ALL PULLS. We also have to double check our grip and make sure the little finger and ring finger of the top hand firm up just before the backswing begins. This will stop the front arm and hands from rolling the clubface closed through impact. Page 29

30 Fault: Pulls (Outside-to-inside Swings) Pulls are obviously also caused an outside to inside swing path. What causes the outside to inside swing path is usually an overactive front hip that opens up too soon and then pulls the shoulders open which causes the swing path to go from the outside to the inside. Fix: Preventing pulls can be done by stopping the front hip from opening up too soon. KEEP THE BACK KNEE COCKED IN AND THE BACK HEEL SLIGHTLY UP IN THE AIR (about ¼ of an inch) Concentrate on starting the backswing with the front knee and keeping the front knee bent through impact. If you keep the front knee bent that will make it extremely difficult, in fact, almost impossible to open that front hip prematurely. Fault: Pushes (Inside-to-outside Swings) Pushes are caused by an inside to outside swing path. The inside outside swing path is generally the result of bringing the club back to much on the inside (under the swing plane) with the result that the right elbow comes in against the side too far back not towards the front of the chest but towards the back of the chest. The result is that the right arm gets trapped and it is not able to come back out and get the club on plane. The result is a swing path that goes off to the right. Fix: The fix is to get your backswing back on plane. Concentrate on doing some core waggles before each swing. That means you do a backswing up to your backswing checkpoint where your arm is parallel to the extended target line. If you make sure your backswing is on plane it is very likely your downswing and follow-through will be on playing also. Fault: Heels Shots Heel shots (or hosel shots, aka shanks) are generally caused by not having the arms well extended at address. We want to set up with the arms already in the impact position. We want to concentrate on keeping the front arm fully extended at address. The arms at impact will be pretty much fully extended although not necessarily dead straight. When you set up with your arms less than fully extended, the force of your downswing will generally extend your arms so instead of hitting the ball in the middle of the clubface you will now hit the ball towards the heel or the hosel of the clubface. Fix: The fix is to fully extend your front arm at address. It does not have to be locked dead straight but it definitely should look straight to anyone observing it. Fault: Toe Shots If you hit a toe shot, the first thing you should do is check your divot and make sure it actually went off the toe. A heel shot that touches the hosel can go off to the right and look just like I toe shot but it is a very different shot with a very different cause. The toe shot most often occurs because of an outside to inside swing path. It can also because by trying to lift the ball instead of hitting through the ball. Fix: The first thing to do is to get your swing back on plane. That means do a couple of core waggles before the swing and concentrate on beginning the back swing by moving the front knee back away from the target and on the down swing through impact the front knee should move back towards the target. Page 30