Tuesday, May 3, 2011

GOLF - Taking the Right Approach to Your Swing

In a golf swing there are more than a few things that can go wrong and cause the ball to do strange things.  Well at least they will seem strange to the untrained eye, but to a Pro many of the problems can be fixed with patience, practice, know how, and possibly the right tool.

For many golfers the "Slice" is a common problem that haunts us at the most inopportune times on the golf course.  For many a golfer it seems like the longer the club the worse the slice.  When you think about it, that does make a little sense, and here is why.

A slice is caused by having an open club face at the time the club head impacts the ball.  So controlling the club head through impact is vitally important.  Also, the longer and heavier the club, the harder it is to control the club head through impact.  Making sure that you have a good solid grip is vitally important, as well as making sure that the club head is square to the ball at setup.  We will discuss the grip and setup in future blogs.

However, your swing can be just as important as the grip and setup in correcting a slice.  Many amature golfers who hit a slice have what is referred to as an outside - in swing or also known as "coming over the top".  Basically, this means that during the down swing, the club drifts away from the body at the top part of the swing and comes in closer to the body at impact.  The movement from out to in may be slight, but it can cause bad things to happen at impact.  This motion can also open up the club face and cause a left to right or clockwise spin on the ball, creating a slice.

Now the good news is that this can be corrected, the bad news is that this can be hard to notice by yourself.  As a golfer, you always have the opportunity to check your grip and club face alignment during setup.  However, the club is going so fast during your swing, that unless your outside - in motion is drastic, it can be hard to detect unless someone is behind you looking for it.  The only way that you may be able to tell if you took an outside - in approach, would be to study your divot after the swing.  If the divot is angled left of your target, and you are sure your set-up was correct, then that could indicate an outside - in swing.

The correct swing approach at impact would be an inside - out approach.  It is not that hard to achieve with a little practice.  However, just like noticing the bad habit of going "over the top", how do you know for certain that you are actually going inside - out without someone studying your swing?  Looking at your post swing divot may help, but we have found a tool that can act as a pair of eyes for you.

There are a number of golf tools out on the market that say that they will help you be a better golfer, and some will do just that.  Then again, some won't!  But there is a tool that we have used at CYU which we have found works for both new and experienced golfers.  The tool is called the Jack Nicklaus Inside Approach Swing Slice Correction Trainer

This training tool is basically a plastic apparatus that forces the golfer to take the proper swinging approach (inside - out) toward the ball, helping to ensure a more square club face at impact.  The swing trainer comes in five pieces that are very easy to assemble, and if you do swing incorrectly, you will know it.  The reason is because if you do swing outside - in, then the club will hit the trainer and knock the foam covered arm off of its support.  The trainer also comes with a video from the developer and Jack Nicklaus also goes through a couple of tips and reasons for a slice, which can be valuable information as well.

We, at CYU, have used this trainer several times and it has worked for all of us here that have tried it.  We were turned on to this product by an instructor who told us he used it while he was in school and loved it.  So we took his advice and purchased it.  We even had a 12 year old golfer, who had only been playing the game for a month, try it.  After a couple of practice sessions, he did not hit the trainer any more and was striking the ball really well.

The one draw back is the product costs about 50 bucks, but you also should take into account, that you would probably have to spend 50 bucks for a lesson with a teaching pro for him to try to help you correct this swing error.  Odds are, it may take several lessons to correct the problem for good, and at $50 a lesson, that can get pretty expensive.  At least with the trainer you could use it over and over, which should save you money in the long run.  We have also found that when we happen to let those old "over the top" habits creep back into our game, a session or two with the swing trainer seems to cure our problem.

This is not a miracle cure by any stretch of the imagination.  If you are going to correct your "over the top" approach, you are going to have to work at it.  Just putting in a few minutes one time with this trainer won't cure your ill immediately.  However, with some practice you should start to see results.  If you are interested in finding out more about this product, you can click on the blue link above.  We can't guarantee that this product will work for you, because we don't manufacture it.  However, we wanted to make our readers aware of this product because it has worked for the golfers here at CYU.  If you do purchase it, I hope you have the same success that we have had with it.

-CYU

1 comment:

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