Hi all,
This forward stance swing has worked well with my irons but has me slicing my woods and Driver. I think it's because I'm doing something wrong on the downswing. My golf buddies said I'm being too handsy, mainly swinging with my arms and hands and not with my body or core. Any suggestions?
Thanks, Tate W.
Hi Tate,
Oftentimes when golfers are hitting everything well except for the longer clubs it can be attributed to one of the following:
1) They don't start with - or maintain - enough weight on the front side. In general with the longer clubs we should add a little more front weight load at address - more like 60/40 instead of the 55/45 prescribed for the other clubs. This forward weight loading in our setup is accomplished with a bump of the lead hip towards the target while keeping the upper torso and head in place.
2) Their hips are not continuing their lateral slide through impact. This is common with the longer clubs as the wider stance means that the hips have a greater distance to travel. If the hips stop moving laterally towards the target on the downswing then their rotation takes over, changing the low point and rerouting the club. This can produce a variety of undesirable results including fat and thin contact, topped shots and popups, straight pulls, and “banana” slices. Here is a drill from the Fixing Common Swing Problems section specific to building in more lateral hip slide in the downswing. Alternatively, if you prefer to focus on your Tailbone-to-Target action during the backswing, then your downswing will not require nearly as much lateral hip motion since they are already well forward by the time you get to the top.
3) They are not allowing the length of the club to dictate the backswing path and are getting too steep as a result. The shaft length of the longer clubs encourages more of an around the body backswing as established by the shaft plane at address. It may "feel" flat as they take it back along the shaft plane for the first few feet, but as long as they maintain the "weight forward, shoulder down, and hands in" components while allowing the club to work around them, it should put them in the proper position at the top so they can attack the ball from the inside. This KFC Club members video may help in this regard.
This is a common issue that I am regularly asked about, so if yours doesn't relate to any of the above causes - or if it does and you are experiencing difficulty resolving it - we can always arrange for a V1 swing video analysis to pinpoint the culprit and offer an appropriate solution.
Tom