I actually posted very similar question before. I missed before where Tom mentions to hip bump forward AND as you start your backswing to focus on keeping and actually increasing the weight forward ratio. I think I was starting with weight forward via hip bump but as I started my backswing I was slightly returning to a centered stance. With focus on a hip bump forward, keeping eyes centered over ball, AND as I start backswing keeping the weight forward and increasing on the top of backswing and follow through. Have better compression and more "ball then ground contact".
Not here to say anyone is wrong but I've seen a recent video where the instructor was showing the differences between irons and driver swing. Pronounced difference was a "weight forward via body shift" on the irons verses head behind the ball on a driver. So I tried the weight forward via a body shift and to be honest my lower back did not agree with that decision. Sticking with the "hip bump" with a focus on keeping it there and not returning to a center stance on the backswing. Slight difference in approach but with big dividends.
Thoughts?
Tom M
I think I was searching and trying to figure why I rarely leave a divot after the ball. I do strike it well, you can hear the KFC sound. But I know I could strike it better if I hit ball then leave a divot. I watched you video in the "get out an play" around the hip bump and weight forward. That's actually where the "light" came on. I'm starting out with the hip bump then drifting back to a center stance on the backswing. I crush it when I FOCUS on staying forward.
Most definitely your the best S/T instructor, comes from your heart. Your style and passion for teaching resonates with me as I teach the same way in my line of work. I really want those I teach to "get it" and because I spent time instructing them it's my goal they can perform their role better. So, after a year of golf and your instruction to hit an 88 you must be doing something right with your teaching style.
@tom miller - My personal thoughts in a nutshell: Stick with the "big dividends"!! 😎
Expanding on the different approaches, the golf swing is built on a compilation of personal "feels" that are unique to each of us individually. Over time we ingrain these feels into a complete motion that we can execute without need for mechanical thoughts. We are then able to simply allow our ball striking and shot shape to be our guide, making only occasional minor tweaks when necessary. That is what it means to "take ownership of YOUR swing".
In my instruction I do my best to convey different "feels" or thoughts throughout the swing wherever possible because we're all unique physiologically and psychologically, and something that resonates effectively with me may not necessarily work for you. Furthermore, a feel or thought that performs well for you this week may run its course or get overdone and not play out so nicely next week, so it's good to have alternates to call upon if needed. The key takeaway here is that no matter the variety of suggested feels/thoughts offered for a particular element of the swing, they are all directed at getting different golfers to achieve the same desired result - body-friendly, crispy, compressed ball striking bliss. (In other words it's like a multiple choice test with no wrong answer!)
As one YT commenter recently said, "Always coming back to the same principles. Saguto's stuff is like a puzzle: he gives you a new "piece" in each video, but they all fit together. He'’s not giving you 20 different swings, but rather ONE swing seen from 20 different angles, as it were."
That's my very general take on this topic, for what it's worth!
Tom