Trapped

Feel Trapped!

There are so many ways to feel trapped in the golf swing. My particular nemesis has always been keeping the clubface shut or closed on the way back. Part of the problem is being 6’4″ tall. People told me that being tall was a disadvantage, but just the opposite is the truth. Being tall is a tremendous advantage, but learning to harness the energy created by a big arc is difficult.

When I was younger I was taught to take the club away with the arms, drive the hips through the ball and release the club with the hands winding up in this beautiful reverse “C” position, which was one of the reasons I eventually had back surgery. Remember what Johnny Miller and Jack Nicklaus looked like in their lean years. What I wasn’t taught, was to swing at my own height. I was taught to swing like every other player, keeping his or her head still while trying to make an athletic motion. Impossible right? Well, what I didn’t realize was happening at the time was my arms staying stiff and not moving with my body, that is opening and closing. I was always taught it was my hands that were doing the opening and closing thus my arms would stay stiff as a board trying to create a natural move.

Well, your arms are connected to your hands, so if your arms turn with the body on the backswing so do the hands, thus making it able to create a no hands “feeling” swing while allowing the club to open and close. But if the arms do not open with the body, the hands will move more, making it a flippy feeling swing. If your arms are stiff, what muscles do you think will break down first? That’s right, your hands. What do you think makes your arms stiff? That’s right, tension! The #1 killer of a good or natural golf swing. This same tension is the one that is a big contributor to the reverse weight shift, along with keeping your head stationary.

Next time you practice, before you hit each shot, take two practice swings with the club up in the air a couple of feet off the ground. As your taking these practice swings feel the club go around the body on a flat plane. Also feel what wants to happen naturally to the clubface, hands and arms. They open and close all by themselves. Next put the club behind the ball and allow the same thing to happen, naturally. Don’t keep your head still, let it move back with the body, as your arms give you the feeling that they are rolling. As you allow this to happen you will feel a natural weight shift that matches your body type, no matter how tall you are. Check yourself periodically half way back to see whether the clubface if square. If it is open, you’re making the arms to roll too much.

Next time you’re watching golf on TV, look at how the Tour players allow this to happen, which takes the club around the body naturally without any restriction whatsoever and lets the club work on a more inside out path on the way through. The taller you get the more you will have to feel this on the backswing, thus making it an advantage to be tall, not a disadvantage. No matter how tall you are swinging with less restriction will give you more enjoyment and bring you lower your scores all by itself.