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Extending? No, heading is moving back.

Hey, Tom. Been a long time since being on here. Life has been throwing some curve balls and have had a lot to deal with. Now, maybe, hopefully can start back and try to learn this system. I've had this issue a long time and not sure how to solve it. What feels like when swinging the club is my hip is moving towards the target and my mid-body extending. Well, looking in a video that is not the case at all and my head is actually moving backwards - quite a bit in fact. Of course it's leading to problems - my entire circle is moving around. Any suggestions for trying to keep my head from moving backwards at impact? I have the weight forward, I'm driving off of my lead leg - but the head keeps moving backwards.

3 comments

3 Comments

Alan Studnicky

Feb 28, 2022

Thank you, Tom. I'm ashamed to say how many of those I can check off. lol I'll check out the posts!!!

Alan Studnicky

Feb 28, 2022

I think I’m going to answer part of my own question. What’s really challenging and blowing my mind is that I did solve an issue over a month ago. I was swinging in-to-out. Always had that problem and one of Tom’s videos fixed it. (control club path with the arms - https://saguto.golf/courses/1118971/lectures/24319167) In fact, there is a golf dome about 30 minutes away that I went to and I could not hit a bad shot. Never in my life have I ever hit so consistent shot after shot. It was amazing. I was elated. (actually, I fixed two issues - cupping of the wrist. Keeping the lead wrist straight and letting the right arm fold also made the swing feel so great. But I never checked how far my back swing was at that time. It was just a feeling.) Went back a second time and the same thing. It was effortless and the crispiness was there. PW – driver – it didn’t matter which club. Hitting bliss!! (I’m thinking I finally got it!!) Third time back – the last 20% of my shots fell apart. Since then it’s been better but never like those first two sessions at the dome. Then I go to the driving range this weekend and I can’t hit well at all. It’s just bad all over again. Why does that happen with golf? You fix something, it lasts a few weeks if that and then it falls apart again. It’s like the new feeling goes numb and the bad habits return. Now that I’ve slept on it for a bit I have a theory. I’ve noticed in my videos that even though at the top of my backswing my left knee goes down, my right leg straightens and my belt is 45 degrees rotated, when I start my downswing my right knee is bending back like at address which seems like it’s moving the club way out of position and I end up swinging out to in which is why I can’t draw the ball worth anything on the range. (or have clean contact) And I think that might be because at the driving range where I have all that open space and I want to hit the ball as far as I can my back swing is going too far back. I did mess with it a little bit last night with some foam, practice balls so I don’t break anyone’s windows on my street and it seems that easy feeling came back. I wish I took videos of when I had hitting bliss so I know what I was doing. But, it seems I go back too far, my trail leg bends back to address position when I start the down swing and that just creates a mess, my body tries to compensate, my head flips back, my hands are no longer leading the club at impact, my circle has moved back….. it’s ugly. It’s a theory I have to test.

Tom Saguto

Feb 28, 2022

Replying to

Nice to have you back, @Alan Studnicky!!

With regard to your post, first of all - yes, it's an excellent idea to take video when your swing is firing on all cylinders to give yourself a reference point when issues arise (as invariably the do; this is golf, after all...).

Getting more into the specifics, I'd like you to have a look at this thread initiated by @GolfLivesMatter, and in particular the dialogue between him and @Russell Hogue, PhD over this past weekend. They seem to be speaking much towards what you are experiencing. Beyond that, feel free to post current swing videos in the Video Analysis Room section of the forum or submit them to me for a V1 Analysis. Also, Russell just began this thread where he's going to be reviewing a number of training aids. Perhaps the first item he reviewed may be something to consider for ingraining that path.

As for swinging it back too far or trying to reach for more, you may have heard me say previously that this is like conducting a séance for those old swing demons, and they sure come back to haunt us when we do. Remember - the depth we create by getting our hands behind the trail shoulder at the top gives us all the power we need, even if it "looks" like less than a full swing compared to our old Shift & Lift days. Trust me - you've created width and plenty of distance for that club to travel by taking it deep; there's no need to try to get to "parallel" - that false deity of swings past. Execute the motions, understand and ingrain your body's natural stopping point - that's where the tilting, turning, and extending motions are complete, the lead arm has crossed the chest 45 degrees, the trail arm is bent to 90 degrees, and the wrists are fully set - and then the most difficult part: train yourself to stop there! If you try to go further any or all of the following will occur:

1) the lead arm will bend and/or lift

2) the wrists will break down

3) the lead knee will kick inward towards the trail side

4) the lead shoulder will level out and lose its orientation towards the ball

5) weight will shift into the trail side and bring the low point back with it, resulting in inconsistent contact and unpredictable ball flight.

6) you'll "chicken wing" and/or flip through impact

7) pain, discomfort, and/or possible injury