Even though I got my handicap down into the mid-single digits by the end of last year, video of my swing indicated that I have some serious flaws: an extremely bowed left wrist, a huge over-the-top move, and a blocking-like non-release of the club. With Yoda & Co. a bit far away, I decided to do the next best thing and enlist the help of my local PGA professional.
What he's having me do:
Basically, he has me doing a "pump" drill, where I pump the club once with wrists cocked behind my body and then swing down the same line. He emphasizes having me violently "flip" my right forearm over my left on the downswing release.
I can do this drill in practice, but even after a couple thousand reps, this move isn't translating into my actual swing, and my scores, and quality of shots, are going in the wrong direction.
This pro, by the way, is considered one of the best in San Diego, and has competed in a couple majors and PGA events, so he has game. However, I have the feeling that his approach is to teach his method to one and all, and I'm not sure that his is working for me.
So, I have the following questions:
In TGM terms, what is he teaching me to do?
Should I stick with it, or run like hell as far away as I can
The pump move is a good one to get rid of the over the top move. What you are doing is trying to "pump" your transition move. You can't come over the top if you are "pumping" it correctly downplane.
Also, as long as he is teaching your to ROLL your forearms and not FLIP them through, that is fine as well.
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I'm not a TGM or PGA certified Pro, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night
Thanks for asking and trying to reconcile with TGM. Good news and bad news I'm afraid.
Downstroke Waggle and Horizontal Hinging are the distant TGM cousins of your drills.
But those drills are just a part of the whole for each. In other words, they are incomplete. But you can learn a few things from them.
The most valuable thing in the pump drill is seeing the plane, assuming your instructor told you to point the butt of the club at the base of the plane. That will be the path of the right shoulder and hands downplane. The problem with the drill is that it ignores the total motion, that of the pivot and release point.
The arm roll drill is the feel of horizontal hinge roll, and follow-through swivel. If you are holding the left wrist from it's natural swivel, then this might help give you the feel of it. It's a bandage rather than finding the cure because horizontal hinging is the natural bi-product of a centrifigal force swing.
Forcing a horizontal hinge can result in hooking the ball among other things, such as engraining a faulty pivot.
Both of these drills are semi-helpful but can also be semi-harmful.
Yes, it's definitely a "roll" of the forearms rather than a flip. And yes, he definitely wants my ball flight to be right to left.
One other question that comes up. While my instructor wants me to focus on "rolling my right forearm over my left, feeling as if I have a little ball stuck between my forearms," I was under the impression that in TGM, the back of the left hand is the hinge controller. What should I really be focused on?
right hand clubHEAD (maintain bent right wrist)
left hand clubFACE (maintain flat left wrist)
Better to focus that rotation of the back of your left hand. Using the right hand is a recipe for throw away. A left handed backhand in tennis, with overspin that is low and away from you.
Drill hitting shots left hand only to feel the hinge action of the left hand - the feel he is after is horizontal hinge - full roll
Also, make sure you take every stroke to both arms straight - active or passive the right arm straightens but the right wrist does not.
chip, pitch, punch - start small and build up only when you have 'got' the level before
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