The July 2008 edition of GOLF magazine

[mr3856a]

I can't recall an issue of any golf magazine (in recent memory anyway) with as much useful information as this one. It is the issue with Adam Scott on the cover.

The feature article, Build the Swing YOU Want, with Adam Scott, offers a couple of gems:

- When your shoulder turn stops, your arm turn stops; this is something my teacher in SC harped on all the time - you might feel like you're very short on your backswing, but for those of us who have a tendency to be long, this will likely keep you parallel

- I try to keep my hands as far away from my head as possible at the top, this keeps me short of parallel and more accurate. This one strikes me as a great way to keep things parallel or short of it, and again, I've always had problems with this (and I'm sure I'm not the only one here). What an easy "feel" way to help with this!

I really liked those two tips.

Also, from The Quest for 300 Yards:

It's all in the hips - the simple drill that helped our desperate golfer shatter the 300 yard barrier

To maximize clubhead speed through impact, you have to tap into your lower body's vital power source, the hips. Try this drill: Imagine you're standing at home plate. Take your driver back until it's perpendicular to the ground, but no further, then hit the ball as hard as you can. To generate real power with a backswing this short, you must "fire" the hips. That doesn't mean they sway toward the target. Rather, you should feel like someone's grabbed you by hte belt buckle and jerked it hard toward third base. Hit balls this way until you're flying it about 75 percent as far as your normal drives. Then use the same hip-firing move with a full backswing

My first drive after doing that drill went - you guessed it - 290.

[GolfSavage]

Originally Posted by mr3856a

My first drive after doing that drill went - you guessed it - 290.

Darn, I guessed 295!

Thanks for the info. I may have to pick up this issue.

[OnePutt]

I intend to try that drill today when I go out to the driving range. I hope it works as well for me as it did for you. Was that 290 drive carry yardage or total yardage? Last week I was hitting 275 yard carry drives at the range. I'll take that any day, especially with cheap range balls.

[mr3856a]

Originally Posted by OnePutt

I intend to try that drill today when I go out to the driving range. I hope it works as well for me as it did for you. Was that 290 drive carry yardage or total yardage? Last week I was hitting 275 yard carry drives at the range. I'll take that any day, especially with cheap range balls.

That was total, but I generally get anywhere between a one and six inches of roll on any given shot.

[HackBlack]

Originally Posted by mr3856a

That was total, but I generally get anywhere between a one and six inches of roll on any given shot.

Are you McCord or Feherty?

[OnePutt]

I can't get my wedges to stop the ball inside 1 to 6 inches, you must be real good.

[mr3856a]

Originally Posted by OnePutt

I can't get my wedges to stop the ball inside 1 to 6 inches, you must be real good.

I can do that with my driver

[Bulls9999]

Where'd the quote go? Anyway, care to give a clearer picture of the hip turn, what part of the belt is pulled towards 3rd base? Ah, never mind, I'm a lefty, you're talking about a righty...ok, so my belt gets pulled towards 1st base, ok, that seems better, lol.

How do you quote someone if you're the 1st poster?

Originally Posted by mr3856a

I can't recall an issue of any golf magazine (in recent memory anyway) with as much useful information as this one. It is the issue with Adam Scott on the cover.

Also, from The Quest for 300 Yards:


My first drive after doing that drill went - you guessed it - 290.

[straightshooter]

Originally Posted by Bulls9999

How do you quote someone if you're the 1st poster?

Click on the above button, and insert text between the quote tags

Or:

Type [ q u o t e ] Text to be quoted [ / q u o t e ] (<< delete extra spaces)

[mr3856a]

Originally Posted by Bulls9999

Where'd the quote go? Anyway, care to give a clearer picture of the hip turn, what part of the belt is pulled towards 3rd base? Ah, never mind, I'm a lefty, you're talking about a righty...ok, so my belt gets pulled towards 1st base, ok, that seems better, lol.

Yep, that's exactly it.

[deronsizemore]

The when your shoulders stop your arms stop is something that I constantly fight and I believe it to be the root of all things evil in my golf swing. When my arm swing gets longer than my shoulders turn, everything gets out of whack.

When I practice I really concentrate on this and for me it usually results in the feeling of a very, very short backswing, but that's only what I feels like... when I look in a mirror I can clearly see that I'm not taking it back as short as I think.

[mr3856a]

Originally Posted by deronsizemore

The when your shoulders stop your arms stop is something that I constantly fight and I believe it to be the root of all things evil in my golf swing. When my arm swing gets longer than my shoulders turn, everything gets out of whack.

When I practice I really concentrate on this and for me it usually results in the feeling of a very, very short backswing, but that's only what I feels like... when I look in a mirror I can clearly see that I'm not taking it back as short as I think.

Absolutely, and you also have to factor in when you do a freeze-frame look in the mirror that with momentum, your clubhead is actually going to pull the club even more towards/past parallel, so even what you look at in the mirror isn't actually going to be where your swing stops. I'm a feel player and could never find a good reference for this, and the "keeping my hands as far away from my head at the top" thing has really worked for me - as soon as your hands start getting closer to your head, that's when you've overdone it.

Give it a try on the range.

[deronsizemore]

Originally Posted by mr3856a

Absolutely, and you also have to factor in when you do a freeze-frame look in the mirror that with momentum, your clubhead is actually going to pull the club even more towards/past parallel, so even what you look at in the mirror isn't actually going to be where your swing stops. I'm a feel player and could never find a good reference for this, and the "keeping my hands as far away from my head at the top" thing has really worked for me - as soon as your hands start getting closer to your head, that's when you've overdone it.

Give it a try on the range.

Yeah, that's a good thought to have I think, the keeping your hands as far from your head as possible. When I swing well, I envision a Davis Love III type swing where it almost looks like he's taking a 3/4 swing.

[mr3856a]

Originally Posted by deronsizemore

Yeah, that's a good thought to have I think, the keeping your hands as far from your head as possible. When I swing well, I envision a Davis Love III type swing where it almost looks like he's taking a 3/4 swing.

How about a Dana Quigley? He looks like he's chipping it off the tee, and he's done alright for himself.

[deronsizemore]

Originally Posted by mr3856a

How about a Dana Quigley? He looks like he's chipping it off the tee, and he's done alright for himself.

Yeah, or I think it's Alan Doyle who has a very very short swing. Some of the guys like that you wonder how they even make contact once out of twenty times let alone ever time and do it on a high level of consistency. After seeing Alan Doyle's swing I would play him $100 a hole.... then proceed to get my lunch handed to me.

Just goes to show you that you shouldn't worry about all the junk you hear in magazines, the shoulder turn, the posture, the stance, the whatever. There are a million ways to get it done in this game.

[OnePutt]

Tommy Armour III also has a short back swing. Looks more like a short iron swing then a driver swing it's so short. I read a tip not long ago for working on keeping your hands far away from your head. It stated that you should PUSH out with your right hand during your backswing. The idea is to push out and force your leff arm to stay straight and not bend, which would cause your hands to get closer to your head. I haven't tried this drill, but it makes sense and should help those with a problem of letting their hands get too close to their head. Worth a try I'd think.

[deronsizemore]

Originally Posted by OnePutt

Tommy Armour III also has a short back swing. Looks more like a short iron swing then a driver swing it's so short. I read a tip not long ago for working on keeping your hands far away from your head. It stated that you should PUSH out with your right hand during your backswing. The idea is to push out and force your leff arm to stay straight and not bend, which would cause your hands to get closer to your head. I haven't tried this drill, but it makes sense and should help those with a problem of letting their hands get too close to their head. Worth a try I'd think.

Of course if you look at Paul Goydos' swing, that whole keep your hands away from your head goes out the window.

[OnePutt]

Originally Posted by deronsizemore

Of course if you look at Paul Goydos' swing, that whole keep your hands away from your head goes out the window.

Not sure how you can say that. Neither of us know how much better he could play if he maintained more distance between his hands and his head. I for one, don't remember Paul being one of the long hitters on tour. Is he one of the long hitters? And if he is a long hitter, again, we don't know how much longer he could be if he maintained more distance between his head and his hands.

[deronsizemore]

Originally Posted by OnePutt

Not sure how you can say that. Neither of us know how much better he could play if he maintained more distance between his hands and his head. I for one, don't remember Paul being one of the long hitters on tour. Is he one of the long hitters? And if he is a long hitter, again, we don't know how much longer he could be if he maintained more distance between his head and his hands.

Yeah, that's true. He's not a long hitter by any means (around 270ish I think) but I guess what I was getting at is that you can play at a very high level without all the stuff you hear and read in magazines as far as width in the backswing and all that. Plus, since the average golfer's drive is around 200 yards, 270 is a monster drive to them, so the fact that it's possible without all the width in the backswing is just another point that there are many ways to get it done and all the extra garbage in the magazines.