I cant keep my left my straight nomatter how hard i try. Either my right arm overpowers my left or something not right. I need to get this figured out. Frustrating!
@Tom Saguto Hi Tom, I know you are busy responding to people on various platforms, earlier in this thread I mentioned that I took notes in my phone from a guy who seemed extremely knowledgeable on the golf swing. Took me a long time to read through all his posts, it was just over a year ago I did this. Anyway, his teachings seem right in line with your's, mind if I post the notes for you and others to comment on?
@plodzienpaul - Have a look at this thread originated by @Buford T Ogletree. Halfway down you'll see where he posted a photo of his top of backswing in which his lead arm has broken down and his lead knee has kicked inward. The comments related to that may offer some insight with regard to your issue.
@plodzienpaul@Gerry_Lager I failed to mention my ball flight and forget to ask plodz his? My driver is a draw, with the hook that bites me. That will give much more roll out. But then stick a 4 iron in my hand, and I have to fight from fading too much. Off a tee I can hit it fairly straight, but off the ground, nope.
It's like the right handed batter, the home runs go to left field, they are transferring all their energy with that blow, there is no loss. The balls hit to right field don't leave the park as often, it's a glancing blow. Same with driver, that fade with driver is a glancing blow to the ball.
There is also the factor of where on the driver face is the ball hitting. Toe hits tend to hook, more to the heal, will produce a knuckle fade, that's what Tiger hit. It wasn't a glancing blow that produces that fade, it's where he hits the ball on the face.
PS, the TIger commentary is something I read online from a guy who seemed EXTREMELY knowledgeable, he had tons and tons of posts, on this big huge thread, I actually made a bunch of notes in my phone. One thing he mentioned also, is that the arms need to stop moving when the body is done turning. You can have a tiny bit more from arms, but don't push it. I haven't watched all of Tom's videos, so he may mention that arm thing, either way, the guys stuff is the same as Tom's, body rotation is the key to hitting powerful good shots. It took me at least 2 weeks, in the evenings, reading through. I may post my notes from him with Tom's permission, it's not that much that I took down in my phone. The notes are titled, "internet guru", because I have no idea who he is, probably not even alive anymore. It was when Tiger was the king.
@plodzienpaul I'm in the same boat and agree with @Doug S . I'm 57 and tired of long second shots to the green. I'd tell you what my consistent driver distance is but I don't have a consistent distance. low 200s. I'm 6' 200lbs and work out 3 days a week. I know I can hit the ball further than what I do. I have and indoor hitting area and need to start over with my driver swing. along with the suggestions in this post any ideas on how to break down driver and 'start over'
One of the hardest things that I had to learn in still have trouble remembering is that my straight arm movement is only about two feet! I don't know if that is normal or is it just lack of flexibility on my part. The rest is my body and shoulder turn. I have to take and keep that in mind when I'm swinging because it truly does feel like a half swing. It is uncomfortable' because it goes against my urge to wanna bomb the ball. I agree with the above post to just go slow have minimal expectations while you're getting used to the feeling. The majority of your swing comes from your shoulder and hip turn, not your arm movement, and if you allow your body to start the downswing you will get a great impact with what feels like less effort! Always remember feel versus real! I hope this helps and if it wasn't for Tom's videos I would never have realized this myself, thank you Tom good luck to all
I should add that the first movement I am working on is strictly shoulder and body turn at the same time which gets the club head moving about 4 or 5' from the ball and as Tom says you are still in setup position and no arm movement until about 8 or 9 o'clock. It is at that point your lead arm will move only about 2' (turning my left elbow up with out changing my grip helps ensure this) and that is about another 4' of clubhead movement (total of 8 or 9 feet) and don't think or try to create any wrist hinge. (in my opinion, momentum will do this for you naturally and add to the total of no arm bent movement) I hope this helps you as it has me, I used to have to work tooooo hard with my other swing process I was used to.
Some one once said this to me: "have you just walked up to the ball totally frustrated and without thinking or major setup process and just bent over it and hit the ball and hit the best and easiest shot of your life?' "YESSSS" I said, he said "you didn't clutter your mind with shot expectations for set up or "massive swing" now I am learning to comprehend this! With Toms teachings, 3 steps, it can be mindless and easy if you don't force it.
For the record, I am 62, 6'4 , 165lbs soaking wet, I am on disability as of 1 year ago due to respiratory and anxiety issues and as for build, I think my ankles are bigger than my arms lol (true though) My average drive was about 200 to 220 and now is about 220 to 250 and my longest one this year is 302. I have more in the fairway for drives and shots than ever before. Thank you Tom!
P.S. This started out to just be a quick short note, LOL, Sorry about that!
Can you hit half shots taking your left arm back to 9 o'clock? Start there, gotta walk before you can run. Chances are, your backswing is just too long at the moment, instead of full shoulder/body turn, you're making up for it with a break of the left arm. Just my guess. I know I do it, especially with the driver when I'm going for extra distance, I can feel it. A little bit is ok, some tour players have a real slight at the top, but then it straightens back out. Freddy Couples comes to mind. What's your average driver distance? Along with age and height. I'm 5'5", 50 years old. Mine is about 250 average.
@plodzienpaul Your stats are almost exact of my brother, he's 60, same height and weight, but he has "stupid strength". He also uses everything, meaning his arms, hands, etc.(which creates inconsistency), he can bomb it 280. So you just aren't using your body, you are not having "connection"and lacking rotation, like Ken said. I feel like my arms are passive in my swing. I've been lifting weights for a long time and have good strength for age. But there is no reason for you to not being driving the ball 240+ on a regular basis. That's tough always using middle and long iron's/hybrids for your approach shot on the par 4's, ugh, we gotta get this fixed.
@Tom Saguto Hi Tom, I know you are busy responding to people on various platforms, earlier in this thread I mentioned that I took notes in my phone from a guy who seemed extremely knowledgeable on the golf swing. Took me a long time to read through all his posts, it was just over a year ago I did this. Anyway, his teachings seem right in line with your's, mind if I post the notes for you and others to comment on?
@plodzienpaul - Have a look at this thread originated by @Buford T Ogletree. Halfway down you'll see where he posted a photo of his top of backswing in which his lead arm has broken down and his lead knee has kicked inward. The comments related to that may offer some insight with regard to your issue.
@plodzienpaul @Gerry_Lager I failed to mention my ball flight and forget to ask plodz his? My driver is a draw, with the hook that bites me. That will give much more roll out. But then stick a 4 iron in my hand, and I have to fight from fading too much. Off a tee I can hit it fairly straight, but off the ground, nope.
It's like the right handed batter, the home runs go to left field, they are transferring all their energy with that blow, there is no loss. The balls hit to right field don't leave the park as often, it's a glancing blow. Same with driver, that fade with driver is a glancing blow to the ball.
There is also the factor of where on the driver face is the ball hitting. Toe hits tend to hook, more to the heal, will produce a knuckle fade, that's what Tiger hit. It wasn't a glancing blow that produces that fade, it's where he hits the ball on the face.
PS, the TIger commentary is something I read online from a guy who seemed EXTREMELY knowledgeable, he had tons and tons of posts, on this big huge thread, I actually made a bunch of notes in my phone. One thing he mentioned also, is that the arms need to stop moving when the body is done turning. You can have a tiny bit more from arms, but don't push it. I haven't watched all of Tom's videos, so he may mention that arm thing, either way, the guys stuff is the same as Tom's, body rotation is the key to hitting powerful good shots. It took me at least 2 weeks, in the evenings, reading through. I may post my notes from him with Tom's permission, it's not that much that I took down in my phone. The notes are titled, "internet guru", because I have no idea who he is, probably not even alive anymore. It was when Tiger was the king.
@plodzienpaul I'm in the same boat and agree with @Doug S . I'm 57 and tired of long second shots to the green. I'd tell you what my consistent driver distance is but I don't have a consistent distance. low 200s. I'm 6' 200lbs and work out 3 days a week. I know I can hit the ball further than what I do. I have and indoor hitting area and need to start over with my driver swing. along with the suggestions in this post any ideas on how to break down driver and 'start over'
One of the hardest things that I had to learn in still have trouble remembering is that my straight arm movement is only about two feet! I don't know if that is normal or is it just lack of flexibility on my part. The rest is my body and shoulder turn. I have to take and keep that in mind when I'm swinging because it truly does feel like a half swing. It is uncomfortable' because it goes against my urge to wanna bomb the ball. I agree with the above post to just go slow have minimal expectations while you're getting used to the feeling. The majority of your swing comes from your shoulder and hip turn, not your arm movement, and if you allow your body to start the downswing you will get a great impact with what feels like less effort! Always remember feel versus real! I hope this helps and if it wasn't for Tom's videos I would never have realized this myself, thank you Tom good luck to all
Try out the drill that helped me:
take the driver only with your left hand to make a one-handed swing avoiding to hit the ground.
Start with swinging the left arm slow and be concentrated to have a straight arm. In the next step turn your shoulders and the hips.
After getting the feeling of a straight arm swing try to remember this feeling while building it in a slow half golfswing.
I allways do this one-handed swing in my warmup.
Hope this helps you.
Can you hit half shots taking your left arm back to 9 o'clock? Start there, gotta walk before you can run. Chances are, your backswing is just too long at the moment, instead of full shoulder/body turn, you're making up for it with a break of the left arm. Just my guess. I know I do it, especially with the driver when I'm going for extra distance, I can feel it. A little bit is ok, some tour players have a real slight at the top, but then it straightens back out. Freddy Couples comes to mind. What's your average driver distance? Along with age and height. I'm 5'5", 50 years old. Mine is about 250 average.