See it, Feel it, Play it.
GolfPunk Magazine (China) December 2015
Upper Body Position for Improved Motion During the Golf Swing
90% of bad shots are caused from poor fundamentals.
The first things I look for when giving a lesson are the basics:
Grip, Alignment (Clubface and Body), Stance and Posture. If these basics are good, you are in a much better position to make a good swing.
When I look at Andy’s position (photo 1) I can only see his left arm. This is causing his left elbow and shoulder to sit high and makes the backswing too steep.
From this high elbow and shoulder position in setup, Andy is pivoting onto his target side foot and leaning towards the target at the top of his backswing (photo 2)
The result of this backswing position is that when Andy reaches the impact zone, his body is blocking his arms and the golf club from swinging, and so in order to make contact he needs to “jump” into impact, causing his head and target side foot to lift up (photo 3). This is ultimately inconsistent and results in a loss of balance in the swing.
By placing a piece of red electricians tape onto Andy’s right forearm, it gives Andy a visual cue to use when practicing, as it highlights a good and bad arm position for him in the setup position (photo 4).
By tucking the left elbow in towards his chest, Andy can allow the left shoulder to drop into a more relaxed position and it is now possible to see the front half of Andy’s right forearm and the red tape (photo 5).
In his backswing, Andy can now rotate behind the ball, loading into his left hip and left leg, feeling his body weight is “heavy” into his left foot, which will allow him to keep balanced and controlled during the backswing and downswing (photo 6).
At impact, Andy is now able to transfer his weight towards the target, creating a strong right foot and leg to accept his body weight during the energy transfer. He also has not had to jump into the impact zone, making his golf swing more controlled as he does not need to control any height change during the swing (photo 7).
