How To Lower Your Handicap Over The Winter
An excellent time to make lasting changes in your swing movement. Why? Because it takes slow deliberate repetitions to teach your body to change motions or patterns which you probably would not be willing to do during the season because you want to play.
1) Must Have a Good Grip.
Most golf professionals have a golf club along side they’re sofa. After all, we do have to make any television viewing productive. When a silly commercial message comes on you hold the golf club in your hands right up in front of your face so you so you can see your grip. Grip the golf club slowly.
Notice where your fingers are and how it feels to you. You need to grip the golf club in your fingers. If you have one of those training grips that would be a good idea as a reference. One commercial use the training grip, and next commercial use the golf club. Compare the too and keep doing it until the golf club grip feels and looks very similar to the training grip.
Once you think you have the two grips feeling similar then stand up and make a stance. After you make a stance lift your grip up in front of your face again so you can see and feel the proper grip.
2) Drills for Your Address Position.
It would be best if you could do this in front of a full length mirror. You’ll also need a helper the first time to help put masking tape on the mirror.
Stand before the mirror as in the picture below. Then place the tape where I have the lines drawn. If your address position does not match the one in the picture below, please put your masking tape according to my picture and now follow those lines and angles in setting up to a golf ball.
Step back and set up to the ball again once the tape is on the mirror. Once you think you’re set up properly swivel your head up so you can see where you are. BE CAREFUL NOT TO LIFT YOUR BACK OUT OF POSITION! Just slowly swivel
your head. If the angles are perfect step back and do it again. You can’t do this too much. If you can’t set up to the golf ball perfectly every time, how can you expect to produce the same ball flight every time.
Get to work on your down line view. Look at the picture below and follow the same procedures. The big key here is the 90 degree spine angle found in every successful golfer.
3) Top of the Back Swing Position.
Remaining in the down line view make a back swing, hold the top of the back swing position, turn very slowly and swivel your head looking at the mirror to see if you have lifted your spine out of position. You MUST maintain spine angle to be consistent! You may need to feel as though your chest is working downward on the back swing in order to stay level. Many golf professionals talk of the back swing as being down hill.
Go for the frontal view and see if you remain in the proper position at the top of the back swing. Also notice if your head moves slightly backward at the top of the back swing. Moving your head laterally if fine just avoid any upward or downward movement.
4) Starting the Down Swing.
Once you’re at the top of the back swing position, stop and look at the mirror, then very very very slowly start your arms straight down toward the ground while holding your body perfectly still. The more you do this the better.
The arms and golf club have more territory to cover on their way to the impact position so they must get a head start on the body. This drill will really help in
your creating a feeling of the arms moving first on the downswing without the body helping or shifting laterally prematurely. An early turn of the body is the killer of many a good golf swing.
5) The Finish.
Go ahead a make a full golf swing now. Once you make a swing hold your finish. If you have trouble holding your finish position you have a problem somewhere in your swing motion.
Once holding the finish swivel your head over to the mirror and see if your back is nice and straight and that you’re balanced on your front foot. Any bending in your spine, (the reverse “C”) is not desirable.
