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The bump

Tom, I’m your frequent flipper and I have discussed this with you in the fall last year. Trying to stop flipping has been a challenge for me, but after spending a winter in my basement hitting many practice balls, I have managed to almost stop and keeping the left wrist from breaking down through impact. So, today, in AZ, I took this new swing to the out door driving range and put it to the test.

First shoot good, second thru 8th, not so good. I was either hitting the ball thin or pulling to the left. All of a sudden, it dawned on me, I was not starting my downing with the “ bump”!

Once I started my down swing with the hips leading, the arms immediately started shallowing out and with my left wrist not flipping any more, the contact was CRUNCHY as all hell!!!

I just watched your video on more spine tilt and the left shoulder down, and will deploy this tomorrow. I felt, what it is like, to hit the ball crunchy and did it multiple times consistently, so I am psyched! The bump was important for me to get the proper swing sequence!

10 comments

10 Comments

Alan Studnicky

Mar 18, 2021

I'm on it!! Thanks, Tom.

Tom Saguto

Mar 18, 2021

A student I taught in person today MAGICALLY got the hip bump when doing this drill. 90% Weight Forward + Arms Straight.

I highly recommend it to get the feeling I am describing above. Plus, it prevents the upper body from getting over-active.

Alan Studnicky

Mar 18, 2021

I'm working on this, too. If I do the swing in slow motion in a reflection or self video the swing to me looks and feels perfect. When I go to a full swing full speed I lose the bump. I start swinging with my upper body and I just rotate. For now as practice I'm hitting balls with a slowmotion swing to try to get the feel and will try to speed it up as it becomes more ingrained. I can do drill 2.8 all day and it's great but when I do the full swing I lose it and I have no bump. And my arms end up stretching out towards the ball and my left arm bends. I'm a mess. lol I've also revisited the hip bump videos for a refresher. I will get through this but the bump is a very conscience action for me as well. Trying to erase 10 years of upper body only swinging at the ball.

Tom Saguto

Mar 17, 2021

Just to make sure the "bump" motion is clear - the more the tailbone moves toward the target in the backswing, the LESS you need to bump.

Most high handicappers see a benefit to the bump because their tailbone does not move toward the target in the backswing, it does the opposite because they shift their weight backwards. They need to bump the most because they have shifted their weight more to the trail side in the backswing.

I've found that when loading weight into the front side - because of the tailbone moving to the target - I DON'T HAVE TO BUMP because the BUMP HAS BEEN PRESET by the tailbone motion in the backswing. See this photo (the tailbone movement is the yellow line):

Ian "Twiggy" Jones

Mar 21, 2021

Replying to

@Tom Saguto do you then just swing with your shoulders to initiate the downswing like in the 90% weight forward drill?

Tom Saguto

Mar 22, 2021

Replying to

@Ian "Twiggy" Jones - With regard to the 90% drill, here is an excerpt from my reply in another thread that you are engaged in: "The key is to ingrain the "feel" through the drill so you can then recreate it in your full swing." So in other words, once you've got the weight forward component and the straight arms committed to muscle memory, you can then do some reverse engineering to build in the downswing initiator feel/trigger that you need to get you there. It may be the shoulders, or it may be something else that works better for you.

ihmpadre

Mar 17, 2021

THE BUMP-- Can anyone tell me how it feels for you when you bump the left hip as the downswing trigger when all the weight is on the left and the left shoulder is under the chin?

Its a key move that lowers the trail arm at 90 degrees at top, glued to torso...

Ronald Kinder

Mar 17, 2021

Replying to

@ihmpadre @ihmpadre

It is a conscience move for me as it is not natural, yet. But when I make it my first move, I feel my arms dropping lower so they bring the club into the best striking position. The results are a more crunchy or crispy contact and much more consistent results.

When I start my backswing, there is almost a pause at the top for me to push my left hip towards the target and I immediately feel the arms dropping and then I turn the torso through the swing.

I think it is important to say I used to start my swing with my arms moving down to the ball and my hands were way ahead of my body, no lag, no divot, no distance and inconsistent results. I also was a flipper. It took me a long time to stop “hitting” the ball. I drilled for months of keeping the “cheese wedge” through impact and not breaking down my wrists. For me, this was the biggest “ ahh Ha” moment with Saguto golf. I relied on timing the flip at impact. So once I grooved the impact, then finding the swing sequencing was important. The bump was the secret sauce for me. I remember Tom telling me to bump all the time, walking the dog, going to the refrigerator, going to the bathroom. It still is not natural, but when I see the results and feel the results, I am sure it will start to become natural. Hope this helps!

Ronald Kinder

Mar 17, 2021

Replying to

@ihmpadre @ihmpadre

When I start my backswing, there is almost a pause at the top for me to push my left hip towards the target and I immediately feel the arms dropping and then I turn the torso through the swing.

Tom Saguto

Mar 12, 2021

@Ronald Kinder - I absolutely love this stuff!! You experienced a setback, and instead of making a mess out of things through the type of random trial & error that only leads to "range rage" (we've all seen it and have likely been there, done that ourselves), you intelligently reverse-engineered until the cause was identified and subsequently resolved through insertion of the missing link.

Now, repeat after me: "My name is Ronald Kinder, and I have taken ownership of MY golf swing!"

(One question, though - is CRUNCHY even better than crispy???....🤣)

By the way, with regard to flipping, did you happen to see this recent video I did featuring the Impact Snap training aid? I think it's a great and simple tool for reinforcing the proper impact position. Just a minute or two a day at home, before a round, or during a range session is all it takes. Should you decide to get one be sure to claim your SG discount by clicking HERE.

Great post - Thanks for sharing!!

Tom