I see SO many folks playing golf who for some reason cannot recover if they start hitting weird shots on the course, meaning they don't have the ability to quickly revert back to the fundamental swing positions. There are many ways to recognize swing issues simply based upon ball flight and/or impact feel. Yet, I see many folks smolder and go up in flames, then say "I lost my swing". But if they know they "lost their swing"...then why can't they "find the swing" they claim they lost?
I think the main issue is far too many folks do not sufficiently understand how to "read" and "interpret" ball flights and impact, whether thin, fat. I also see S&T guys floundering into oblivion also. From an external point of view of their ball flight, along with their swing, the cause of their flaws is not really that difficult to discern, but if I tell them anything it's like talking to a brick wall.
Anyway, I was wondering what others think. When I'm on the course I immediately know the 98% culprit that caused a lousy shot. I rarely repeat the same bad shot twice. I'm not gifted, I just think I've studied S&T and followed Tom so much it has become far easier to adjust on the course.
So yesterday I started shanking balls again. It started on the range and, as usual, paranoia set in and my brain scrambled and shanked shots on the first 5 holes. It's maddening but then again, golf is meant to be maddening. LOL.
However, I found the problem on the course using a golf cart windshield as a mirror. The other thing I did between holes was I put a tee in the ground and tried to swing the club just inside the tee. Much to my shock, I kept hitting the tee (Shank swing). This all started out of seemingly nowhere. Then I took a quick look at my notes on my phone and the last item I was working on was the "shoulder down" movement. That was an "AH HA" moment. This is why keeping date sequential notes is invaluable.
I have been working a LOT on left shoulder down....it's a must. BUT....while I was working on that move I didn't realize I was getting into taking the club up too steep. So while my lead wrist faced slightly downward on the takeaway, check, my trail wrist stayed straighter as the club moved to the top, which cupped my lead wrist at the top. Try this at home and you'll see what I mean. If my lead wrist cups at the top, my trail wrist WILL throw the club out-to-in.
When I was working on the left shoulder down, I also didn't realize my trail hand was "trying to help" that movement by lifting the club to the top. The position of my trail wrist at the top was such that if I opened my trail hand at the top, my palm would facing directly forward, or even slightly down towards the ground in front of me.
I guess my point is to be careful with the shoulder down move because it's really more of a 45* rotation down, not an "elevator move" down because that can promote the trail hand to start lifting the club to the top, resulting in a very steep club shaft. We want to rotate the shoulder down such that the club shaft is at a 45-50* angle at the top of the backswing vs. looking like a flag pole.
The other thing I noticed with the steep, shoulder TOO MUCH DOWN move is it can move my weight towards my toes at the top, which can also send the club outward on the downswing. So there's also some weight distribution dynamics associated with various movements.
The most amazing part is all of this stuff evolved a little at a time, then POW.
My last comment here is to make sure the LEFT SHOULDER isn't drifting to the left upon the start of the downswing. Played with an S&T guy today and his left shoulder literally drifted left 5 to 6 inches left at the start of his downswing. It completely messes up an otherwise decent swing. IMO left shoulder "drift" is why folks blade wedges because the club head is moving laterally vs. like a pendulum, or a grandfather clock pendulum...back...up...down...up...vs. back and "across"..
Golf Lives Matter is spot on, I think I'm getting better about this. It is crucial what he said for sure.
@GolfLivesMatter - Nice post. We are all going to occasionally leak some oil out there on the course, and that's why it is so important to have a "default mode” that can be dialed up mid-round when we sense that is happening. Many members use the swing provided by Drill 2.8, which is actually the full swing minus just a couple of power accumulators. For others it might be the 90% Weight Forward Drill or the Flying Wedge. Whatever it may be, it should enable us to keep the ball in play with sufficient distance as we try to figure things out.
I think you are right. For me, learning the Saguto swing is a godsend. By following this swing system, one can self analyze easily. Before I could not do this correction. I don’t know what S&T is but sounds good 🤔