So I've been working on Tom's methods and practicing a lot over the last couple of months. I continue to fine tune what I am working on but I think I have finally found a combination of feels that are helping me to strike the ball better than ever.
My approach
- Upper arms close to the side at address and throughout the swing
- Start the swing by tilting the lead shoulder down so it feels like I am doing a side crunch
- At top of backswing point my shirt buttons up to the sky while keeping my trail elbow as close to my side as possible and my trail palm facing up to the sky
- Start downswing by putting most of my weight on the outside of my lead foot
- During the downswing keep my trail elbow as close to my side as possible and point my trail palm to the ground all the way past the ball. I like to feel like my arms are moving a bit inside out and I am hitting the back inside quarter of the ball and swinging to right field
- Keep my head back until the ball is gone.
The hardest thing for me is to keep my head back until striking the ball. If I hit a bad shot, 9 times out of 10 is that I let my head move forward on the downswing.
I am hoping to post a video soon of my method in the hopes that it would help others.
Hit them long and straight this weekend!
Doug S, I have a putting tip that has done wonders for me.
I've figured out that, everything bad in my putting, happened in the backswing.
what I discovered was, shortening up my backswing to like 3" on a 10 foot putt, fixed everything. You will be surprised how hard and far you can hit it. Not a pop but, a hit and follow through swing.
IMO, the tight right elbow is really good for "over the top" swings. dont squeeze your arms in too tight. put a glove or headcover under your right armpit. ( im giving a lot of advice , like im some kind of expert) but IMO, as long as you turn your shoulder down like Tom teaches, your right elbow should be ok. Have you ever tried Tom's head on the wall drill ? That drill is amazing.
The 1 thing not mentioned in this post is, we have to let the tension out of our arms. Tension makes us retract. No tension allows us to let the weight of the club extend our arms out to the ball.
Today I adjusted my stance by angling the toes of both feet out about 20 degrees or so. Tom calls it "goofy feet" I believe. It really does seem to make the hip turn easier and when applying pressure to the outside of my lead foot at the start of the downswing, it definitely helps me rotate through the shot without having to think about it. I am really liking the feel and results.
Sounds like your turning your shoulders like the Tom" teaches and your also doing the " Hogan Elbow" that Tom also teaches. IMO, your describing "Saguto Golf". You mentioned that Tom should try your new discovery but, almost everyone here is doing close if not exactly that . I'm glad you found your groove. Keep it going. My advice is, don't try to build on that too fast. Really get it down first.
Thanks Tom. And I hope they work for others. I would be very interested to see if people try it if they have as much success as am having!
I would also be interested in what would happen if you tried my method and what results you see. Now that would be fun!
Sounds like a winner, @rcissell56. Thanks for sharing the feels that are working for you!