----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, May 07, 2006 2:02 PM
Subject: Re: ShopTalk: Tips for out to in
swing
Sadly, it seems I have an ability second to none in
the heartbreakin' bidness! So buck up, and when you speak of it, be kind
;-)
Now for the inside/outside stuff. I went through much
of what you're describing. My handicap went from 7 to 14 within a 9 month
period. No distance, a lot of pull/push stuff, etc. I was hitting the ball on
the range a couple of months ago when our ass't pro yelled at me from the
proshop "Flan, you're shutting the face down." What I was doing to compensate
for the weak sclaffs was to close the clubface, which of course made it even
worse.
In desperation I went back to a lesson I had in the
early '60's. I think it was called something like "basics". Re-examine grip,
feet separation, distance from ball, ball position, hip and shoulder turn,
starting down, and so on. Then I started, with a 6 iron, a really simple
drill. With feet about 4" apart, I pulled my right foot back from the square
setup line about 6", lifted the right heel off the ground, and hit about 10
shots with half-swings, with the ball at mid-stance. Then 10 more full
swings/square stance, and back to the narrow stance, and so on. Voila! It
started to come back.
When I said it isn't possible to hit a ball inside out
from a square or open stance, I meant it. Too often what happens when a person
starts hitting weak shots to the right, or low pulls, the reason is mostly
because there's little or no lower body movement. The club is "cast" from the
top, the angle formed between the left arm and club shaft breaks down, and a
weak hit results.
One way to visualize this is to get a plate, or a disc
of some sort, and set it parallel to the intended line. Then simply twist the
plate in one direction or another and observe which way the arc of the swing
changes. It's interesting.
TFlan
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, May 07, 2006 5:33
AM
Subject: Re: ShopTalk: Tips for out to
in swing
Tom, you're breakin' my heart.... congrats on the grandson...
what am I going to do with all my spare time?? ; ))
Re: square
stance... are you saying I must be open or closed to accomplish this poor
swing? Honestly... if I had a camera I'd take a video. I don't
know when this started but I swear I am square to my line according to the
video I've seen of my swing during lessons. To make your head
shake a little more... I seemed to start doing this last year some time, at
the beginning of the year my index was 10.3 and at the end of the year it
was 7.3... all the while losing a lot of distance and accuracy with
this. Lowest handicap of my life, but it felt like the most
frustrating golf year of my life. Go figure. I was taking
lessons this winter indoors to work on it and the instructor just kept
saying I'm getting away with it because I'm athletic. I interpret that
as "I can't figure out how the h*** you are hitting the damn ball with that
swing"!!
Jen
TOM FLANAGAN wrote:
Jen, my once and only;
You may recall I had a long give and take about this
very subject a couple years ago. Briefly, the point
was this; unless you adopt a particularly awkward
stance, it's physically impossible to drive the
clubhead through the hitting zone with an inside path
with even mediocre results. As I recall, another one
of my idols, Professor Tutelman, agreed, as did
several others. Quite simply, ya can't do it from a
square stance. Nope. No can do.
TFlan
BTW: I guess it's over between us, romantically.
JanFlan and I became grandparents for the first time a
couple of weeks ago. Now, Nolan Gibson Flanagan is "He
Who Must Be Obeyed". Son Mike and his SWMBO, Missy,
finally came through! So, it's been fun. Try to
remember the good times.
--- Jen Kuntz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hey gang,
I've been fighting an out to in swing path for a
little over a year now
and having trouble with ways to practise to get rid
of it.
I tried the "inside approach" thing this winter and
it was ok but I
don't want to buy one. I've also tried just using a
couple
sticks/shafts parallel to the swing path on the
ground and trying to not
hit them. I find I keep hitting the damn inside
stick and it just
reinforces the problem instead of helping me work
through it.
Anyone have any drills they've tried that worked for
them to get rid of
this?
Thanks in advance,
Jen
