As I progressed through S&T it became quite clear that there are a few "must haves" to consistently hit the ball well, from Driver to LW. I call these "swing cues" that I use on the course.
Left shoulder DOWN...not kind of down. This takes care of a LOT of problems. The main feel point during my practice backswing is to feel that my weight is on the inside of my trail heel during the backswing check. I see pro's all the time checking their backswing. I think "back, check", then return to my address position.
Right elbow "tuck", or "MAGIC Elbow". This creates room for the right elbow on the downswing. Watch Tom's Magic Elbow video.
Then, SNAP. The snap is creating a whip action by initiating my downswing with my lower body, and initiating my downswing as the club nears the top, not "from" the top. This is a trust move but 90% of the time this also solves a lot of problems, mainly swinging with the shoulders, or from the top down.
This is all I think about on the course. The reason for the bold print is those are the 3 words that I think of, or my swing cues. DOWN, MAGIC, SNAP. Of course, anything can go wrong even with the best of players, but I have found these 3 cues will greatly curtail running into a series of bad shots.
Other basics must be in place such as line-up, club selection, etc. If I line up wrong, or pick the wrong club, I call those "procedural errors" because they have nothing to do with my swing. So the goal is to avoid procedural "unforced" errors and think the above 3 words.
Bored...not me....I love this forum because so many of us experience the same things. I'm going crazy just trying to get a break for practice! My days off are the middle of week which is awesome but weather here in CO has been well, spring fickle!
30 mph winds yesterday with gust to 50+, plus had to have car in shop all day for 60,000 mile service. And now advanced forecast for opening day of league next Wednesday is high of 43 with chance of light snow! Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Up side staying mentally focus and keeping me hungry (like that's an issue:)!
So keep the shares and post coming! I soak them up!
Added to the above, I think my body got somewhat fatigued from playing golf. As such, my core muscles are not in sufficient condition to keep extending on the backswing...which is a MUST for my swing to be efficient. Therefore, body fatigue can lead to weird shots...shanks...and sometimes I think that's why the shanks "go away" on their own because the body had a chance to recuperate.
I've bored everyone now....I'll lose my 2 followers now! LOL.
Just an update for folks because I know many, like me, hit upon great shots and movements, then suddenly the wheels come off.
I was working on "left shoulder down"...check. But what started happening was I was SO FOCUSED on that particular movement that I started arming the club to the top...AND...my lower body was hardly turning on the backswing. NO...DON'T SAY IT!!!!.............Shank.
Therefore, pay close attention to not uber-focus on one move to "get it right" because if you're like me, other things can start to suffer. Fixed the shanks today but they goofed up my score. Oh well. The good news is I was able to catch the problem early-on vs. floundering, or not knowing WTH was going on.
I tried your swing cues and boy did it ever work! I think the one thing I have been missing is the "Snap." Over the last year I have had issue with coming up short on most of my shots and I now realize I have not been engaging my lower body nearly enough. Thanks for sharing!
@GolfLivesMatter - If your path is properly shallowed then I'm not sure why contact would be towards the toe, unless you're subconsciously addressing the ball towards the toe to protect against the h-rockets. I say this because toe hits are typically an outcome from swinging across the ball. Have a look at the Fixing Common Swing Problems section for more on this. You'll notice "toe hits" being referenced in both the Backswing and Downswing chapters.
As for that trail elbow leading the downswing - yep, that's the "Magic Elbow" - the subject of my most popular YT channel video because it singlehandedly atones for a myriad of swing sins.
Indeed, the inside snatch will bring the lead shoulder down, but then it tends to make a mess of things from there. This is why I regularly harp on taking the club back on the shaft plane. Have a look at Charlie Wi's takeaway in the DTL video in this reference swing analysis.
Aside from the great new NYT Bestseller book....here's one more cue that works for me. I only found this out recently. If I lay down an alignment stick, or get on a tile floor with grout lines, as my left shoulder goes down, and my hands go back to start the backswing, my hands follow a straight line to the right, then up.
One thing about the left shoulder down move is the hands can easily start rotating inside too quickly. If the hands trace a line, that's the feeling that makes us feel "tilted"...or much more tilted. Thus if done incorrectly, frustration may build because you may see the left shoulder moving down, which it is, but actually the hands are moving inside too quickly. This can easily send the club outward for a shank or all kinds of crap shots. Therefore one move goes with the other.
Perfect cover pic for Tom's upcoming new book....
"Stacked & Tilted...A Guy's Guide To Paying Attention to Golf
"
I'm about to head to day of my oldest daughter's dance competition. Now I'll be thinking of S&T positions the whole time. Haha. I'll start putting the feelers out for potential investors for "The Tom Saguto Stacked and Tilted Dance Company"
Hahahahaha!! Wow @Tom Saguto , this is a new side of you.. but as husband and father of 4(3 of which are girls) I immediately knew what you are talking about. Hopefully when I try it I don't break anyone's nose. LMAO
Awesome, @GolfLivesMatter!! Thanks for sharing your personal cues as I think they can help a lot of folks here.
Not to expose my normally dormant "chick flick" side, but I think you can capture all your cues by thinking "Legally Blonde", specifically the scene where Reese Witherspoon teaches her friend to "Bend (down) and Snap" to "magically" catch the attention of the UPS guy..... (Don't judge me. 😎)
As someone who literally just dove into the S&T swing(like literally this week) I found this so helpful! Thanks so much!