My 30-Year Swing Problem—And the Move That Might Finally Solve It

JACKSON TOWNSHIP, N.J. — I had 15 clubs in my bag, hands up, knowing it was against the 14-club rule, but really, the extra one was just a penalty. Under disciplinary action. Watch your brother hit the 7-iron on the grass. See how much fun your driver sister is having on the tee? That could be you, my friend. But that’s not the case. no longer.

So the 3 wood is in place.

But it’s also tempting.

Hi Nick.

This time we hit it off, Piastovsky.

Mr. Golf Writer, you could use the extra 25 yards.

I can. So it came out.

I tipped the ball. Or I make it thinner.

again.

A few weeks ago I was thinking about how I could immerse myself in these anthropomorphic ideas and turn my clubs into living, breathing people while talking to real people. Kelan McDonagh is the Director of Instruction at Metedeconk National Golf Club. He is a golf teacher to watch. I hope he might be a wizard. In my 30+ years of playing golf, one of the biggest mistakes in my game has been the occasional near miss I’ve made. Tops and sparse are also remembered for each club, although the three-wood is their best friend. I know the root cause. Sort of like. I taught myself, and I always thought I could find a better way to hit the ball. Sometimes, I did that too. But then my ball rolled forward roughly immediately upon contact and I realized the problem was still there. It has to be something deeper. Maybe even aliens.

Maybe it’s just my right hand, as I learned after spending an hour at McDonald’s.

opening quote

If you’re no longer interested in reading the story, MacDonald sums it up this way:

Get a ball.

Throw it forward.

what happens? Bend your elbows, then extend them.

Simply do this with your throwing arm in the golf swing, moving only down toward the ball.

“I try not to get too technical,” McDonald said.

Measurement results

Before I continue, I have to write that you should also work with your own coach. What worked for me may help you a lot. Everyone is different. For this reason, my measurements will most likely differ from yours.

But this is what we do:

– Wingspan and height measurements. The former is two inches longer than the latter.

“So longer arms,” ​​McDonald says, “means you’re naturally going to have a taller, more upright stance, and your backswing plane is going to be more vertical, rather than around.”

– Forearm and biceps measurements.

– Shoulder mobility measurement. I extend my right arm out to the right, bend my elbow so my forearm is lifted, and then move my forearm as far back as possible. McDonald said I have good mobility there, even though I once tore the labrum in that area.

– The look of golf. I get into a golf stance, with my hands together, palms facing each other, and swing that way. I then place a club horizontally above my knees and make a backswing.

Grip

This is an important part of the origin of the top. My left hand is fine. It is neutral to slightly weak.

But I have some strength in my right hand. This prevents my right elbow from moving naturally. On the downswing, it gets stuck on my left side, creating more of a “sweep” rather than extending all the way down. Sometimes I keep in good contact.

Sometimes I head the ball.

So I weakened my right hand grip. I knew the handle was the steering wheel of the swing, but I was still surprised how much of an impact a simple counterclockwise wrist cock could have.

“The position of your right hand changes the direction of your arm, which affects the way you hit the club back to the ball,” McDonald said. “As we move your right hand to where we need it, your right elbow will move slightly outward so you can freely fold your arm and throw it toward the golf ball.”

An easy way to remember where your fingers are on the club

This is good. To check that my right hand was positioned correctly on the new grip, all I had to do was release three of my right hand fingers from the club and see if they were pointing toward the ground at a 45-degree angle.

However, McDonald said that was not his idea. He was a student of golf Hall of Fame teacher Mike Adams, who showed him the grip check.

“GOAT,” McDonald said of Adams.

takeout

This has also changed. Previously, my own swing idea was to “move my shoulders back,” putting the clubface in my hands on the initial move back – and resulting in more sweep.

Now, as my left arm moves across my chest on the takeaway, I also move the club toward a position between 2 and 3 o’clock on the clock. (In this case, twelve is the address.) The clubface is outside my hand.

“I have this saying,” McDonald said.

“‘Obviously, what goes up must come down. I’ve seen this in the golf scene – things moving around that can’t touch the ground.”

(That’s actually a pretty good rhyme – but during our time together, I was so focused on what I was being shown that I didn’t react, let alone laugh.)

position

This requires more movement, so we bring the feet slightly closer together and put more pressure on the toes.

If you wanted to jump, you would do the same thing.

“So, if you see a guy at MSG and he’s going to shoot,” McDonald said, “what part of his foot is he going to use? He’s going to push off the ground with the ball of his foot. That’s what I want you to do out there. I want you to use the ball of your foot to extend your leg.

“If we step on the heel, we’re sure the knee won’t extend.”

hook feel

Weak right hand grip? More takeaways? I’ve tried both of these moves in the past – though not at the same time – and after sending the ball flying to the right each time, I bet on them. I saw this again when I was dealing with McDonald. On some swings, my right arm wasn’t fully extended, causing the clubface to open up.

So McDonald told me to hook.

This feeling also takes time to develop.

“I have people come to me who are struggling with an open situation and the ball is going right in the first 10 minutes,” MacDonald said. “I really need to see the ball go left in the first half hour before it gets back straight. If I’m going to move a guy who’s hitting the ball 30 yards to the right and have them hit it straight – before they get out of the gate, the ball is going back to the right. So you have to create a feeling – the opposite of that – and then we get it back straight.”

About my dip

During the final stages of MacDonald’s work, I also wondered what I meant by “the descent.” Essentially, I don’t post with my left leg at impact; Instead, I bit the bullet and went through with it.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve blamed a torn left ACL on this funky-looking move — but MacDonald regained his grip. To show me, he first had me place my right hand against the wall and then rotate my hips forward. This mimics a strong grip – and then I sink. I then press my right hand down into his right hand and back again – imitating a weaker grip – with less of a drop.

I was stunned. Am I sinking because of my grip?

“When you land on the golf ball,” McDonald said, “your elbow hits the side of your body, which pushes you laterally, bringing your knees down, and then you try to save it with your arm. And now, when we move your right hand a little bit on the grip, your right arm is going to work more that way [straight down] contrary to this way [across the ball] So when your right arm hits the ground, you know what my legs are naturally trying to do? They rise.

“So I think, yes, it could be because of the injury history, but I think there’s a little bit of an impact on where the hands are on the shaft…it changes the direction that you’re pushing. If you’re there pushing down to the ground, your legs are naturally going to go that way. It’s just an athletic action.”

Problems

As we finished, I started looking toward the future.

What problems will I encounter during practice?

synchronous.

“If you have a good grip and arm swing, but they’re out of sync with your legs or lower body, you’re going to see the ball move a little bit to the left,” McDonald said. “So understand that the arm’s job is to close the clubface. So, if I hit the ball as a right-handed player with just the arm, no matter where the guy’s correct position is, if you just swing the arm, the golf ball should go to the left. … When the right arm bends and the clubface opens, the ball is going to bend to the right. So the arm’s job, you want them to move freely and freely. Make them swing at the speed you want them to, and let them go. They close the clubface. The face of the club.

“The lower body works, so by rotating and pushing off the ground, those two things actually make the clubface open. So it’s like a math equation. If the arms close it, the body opens it. When you bring them together, the ball goes straight. When you hit the ball with your arms instead of your legs, typically you’ll see it move to the left. When you hit the ball with good spin and body work, but your arms are hanging on top, you’ll see it move to the right.”

Then comes my biggest problem.

How long does it take for this to work?

When can the 3-wood join the others?

“With everything we do in life, the more you do it, the quicker you get better at it,” MacDonald said. “If you were going to do it once a week, if it was in an indoor simulator in the city or something, I would just take that — obviously, you can bring the whole bag if you want, but you can also bring a 9-iron, a 7-iron Number irons and your hybrids. And then go in and start hitting the ball with just your arms. Make sure you’re holding the club right, your stance is the right width, and then cutting the ball into the net and seeing how you’re relating to the club face and where you’re hitting it and things like that.

“Because at the end of the day, if you’re playing this game on TV for millions of dollars, or you’re just starting out, there’s nothing better than hitting the ball from one end of the scale to the other in the middle of the clubface.”

Editor’s note: Below is a short video summarizing my time with MacDonald. If you are interested, here is a way to donate to help McDonald’s father, who is battling cancer.

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