Mike Malaska - Getting the club in front of you. Made easy...

[CrisPy3]

Monte, Dan... Please tell me the swing works this way, because it makes a TON of of sense in my mind.



Mike explains that one needs to actually try to stand the shaft UP to start the downswing. In fact, if you watch most of his videos, it's about 1 of the only things he teaches so he must feel pretty strongly about this. And for those willing to discount it too quickly - I believe he worked with Jack at 1 time and currently works with a few LPGA players... Anyway this is the OPPOSITE of laying the club down and shallowing out (something everyone is fascinated with at the moment). Is this another "illusion" the golf swing plays on us?

[mtsmith]

I like that. Funny thing I've been doing that here and there while playing.....never seen that video....nice to see it explained on maybe why I like that feeling

[Grayback1973]

Wow,thanks for sharing that video.It is VERY different and I've never seen or heard an explanation like that.Almost seems heretical!

[ofortuna]

[quote name='CrisPy3' timestamp='1442797554' post='12341534']
[url="https://youtu.be/1ii-FU3PouE"]https://youtu.be/1ii-FU3PouE[/url]

Monte, Dan... Please tell me the swing works this way, because it makes a TON of of sense in my mind.

Mike explains that one needs to actually try to stand the shaft UP to start the downswing. In fact, if you watch most of his videos, it's about 1 of the only things he teaches so he must feel pretty strongly about this. And for those willing to discount it too quickly - I believe he worked with Jack at 1 time and currently works with a few LPGA players... Anyway this is the OPPOSITE of laying the club down and shallowing out (something everyone is fascinated with at the moment). Is this another "illusion" the golf swing plays on us?
[/quote]

This looks like what Jim Waldron teaches. The arms work up and down just right of your sternum and the pivot provides the around. It's not so much that he teaches this, but more that he observes this is what happens in a good golf swing as opposed to throwing your arms across the center of the body as it appears to most people.

[pgagolfstuff]

I spent a couple weeks a few years back being coached by Mike. He has been a Golf Digest top 100 instructor for multiple years. He is a good guy and a great teacher. He worked with Jim Flick and follows a bunch of the fundamentals from Mr.Flick and Mr.Nicklaus.

[CerroGordo]

Im also curious to hear what the teaching pros have to say about this "feel". Here's another video with an explanation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzKZjIl5f9Y

[dornstar]

I was in bed checking out this site, saw this video and couldn't take it, so I went to "the lab" to test it out. Considering I literally rolled out of bed at 3am and started hitting balls without any warmup, the results were pretty darn accurate. Here's the 25 or so shots I hit here. The furthest left was 7 yards. Furthest right was 5. Most are within 3 yards or so. The ball basically just wants to go straight with no real curvature or "side spin". Wasn't really going after any distance, so not sure how that was. This technique feels very easy to repeat and works well with other feels I have used to get the club in front of me which is my primary issue. Love the above the hands drill and I really like the mental image of the "corners" that he talks about. Both will probably be added to my toolkit of feels. I'm off tomorrow, so I'll probably dive head first into it to test it out.

 

[Shane1]

I may have missed something in the video, but how do you go from this drill, to hitting balls?

[Ghost of Snead]

A lot of Mike's vids seem to have the same theme ... preventing the hands from getting too out on the downswing and the club behind the hands.

[BeautifulNice]

This is consistent with Justin Rose's drill and the drop hands thread a while back. There's something to it.

[Millbrook]

Saw a different video of his last week and tried it at the weekend. First 6 holes 1 par and 5 bogeys, lost it for the next 5 holes and could not get the ball off the ground - 14 over par, got it back for the last 7 holes 1 par and 6 bogeys.

Now I'm a high handicapper but for the middle 5 holes I was on for a sub 90.

This video explains it better than the one I saw because he has a pupil showing the good and the bad (I provide the ugly).

It also explains why the flip happens which is what I do and means the odd feel I get when I do this reinforces that I'm doing it right.

Just went and hit 30 balls in the field behind me using this and it worked a treat. Depression from the weekend is lifting slowly.

[Dave D]

this is the exact feel I have in my downswing of the hands going vertically down and club out, my hands move too out and shallow the club a lot, on an explanar my hands work down more and this is the feel It gives me

[OsmondHagby]

Very interesting. I'd love to hear what Monte thinks about this. I went and tried this on the range and hit it great. Didn't get my swing on video to really see what was happening, but the ball flight was promising. I'll try it on the course tomorrow.

[crkranz]

[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKkSmqlWays"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKkSmqlWays[/url]

[TravAz]

Wow, its like he is speaking to me directly. The bad move he demonstrates at the beginning is me to a T. The bigger my turn or the more I try to retain the lag on the downswing, the more shanks I get. Frustrating because I can have some really good days striking the ball, think I have it sorted, then the next time out its crap.

Excited to try this feel!

[jay65]

Seems like a bonafide and useful drill for some guys, but I would argue that it may only work if your sequencing is correct in the first place. If hips are firing too early, which in turn is causing this 'trapped' move, and hips to stall, then this move won't work until the hips stop firing too quickly. Sequencing first, positions later if still necessary.

That's just how I see it of course, and I agree with others, Montes' viewpoint would be very welcome.

[Tax Man Golfeth]

This is very interesting. If you play any of the videos posted here in slo-mo (youtube, setting, bottom right... playback speed, FYI), you can see that in no case do the players actually stand the club up in transition or downswing. I think this is a FEEL used to counteract another opposite/overblown feel, rather than a universal prescription for golfers.

I personally fight a strong tendency to ACTUALLY stand the club up as he describes and get steep, which to me results in having to muscle the weight of the club around the body and square the face; something that is extremely hard to do consistently.

Good thread. I'm interested to see what folks think.

[Hstead]

I like this feel myself. Me and a buddy that is a plus 3 were messing around with it and both of us liked it. It actually shallowed my divots and I have been really hitting it crisply. I lost about a a half club but the flight is so straight. One of my problems is to get too under plane, drop the right shoulder, and then have to raise the handle and back out of it to make decent contact. This feel helps me get my right shoulder out to the ball and keep the club in front of my better and not get under plane.

[cz13X4]

never seen his stuff before but I like what I'm seeing so far. Will have to work with it and see how it feels.

[nova6868]

[quote name='Hstead' timestamp='1442859320' post='12345308']
I like this feel myself. Me and a buddy that is a plus 3 were messing around with it and both of us liked it. It actually shallowed my divots and I have been really hitting it crisply. I lost about a a half club but the flight is so straight. One of my problems is to get too under plane, drop the right shoulder, and then have to raise the handle and back out of it to make decent contact. This feel helps me get my right shoulder out to the ball and keep the club in front of my better and not get under plane.
[/quote]

I have this exact same issue, and really work on getting my hands low and letting my right shoulder rotate out to the ball. I really like the drill posted above.

[dornstar]

[quote name='BeautifulNice' timestamp='1442847135' post='12344024']
This is consistent with Justin Rose's drill and the drop hands thread a while back. There's something to it.
[/quote]
Yeah, I immediately thought of Justin Rose when I watched it as well.

I've hit a few more balls today with it and it really feels like my arms work down closer to my body rather than flying away and the club getting behind my hands.

[AntLockyer]

There are some other videos well worth watching on the same subject.

https://youtu.be/1_0QzxQmbUs

[Oldnavycdr]

Took this drill to the range today with very good results. I think it does a couple of things in my case -- improves sequencing and gets my right shoulder moving out toward the ball. All other attempts at moving the right shoulder out produced an OTT move and a pull hook. This eliminated that. Sure would like to hear Monte's view on this drill.

[dornstar]

After further experimenting with it, I hit the ball straight as an arrow doing this. It's really hard for me to curve the ball one way or another, BUT I'm a solid club shorter.

[Oldnavycdr]

Watched some of his other videos. Mind blown!

[leekgolf]

[quote name='CrisPy3' timestamp='1442797554' post='12341534']
[url="https://youtu.be/1ii-FU3PouE"]https://youtu.be/1ii-FU3PouE[/url]

Monte, Dan... Please tell me the swing works this way, because it makes a TON of of sense in my mind.

Mike explains that one needs to actually try to stand the shaft UP to start the downswing. In fact, if you watch most of his videos, it's about 1 of the only things he teaches so he must feel pretty strongly about this. And for those willing to discount it too quickly - I believe he worked with Jack at 1 time and currently works with a few LPGA players... [b]Anyway this is the OPPOSITE of laying the club down and shallowing out [/b](something everyone is fascinated with at the moment). Is this another "illusion" the golf swing plays on us?
[/quote]

I'm not sure this is correct. See Monte's post from the "leading with the right elbow thread:

[quote name='MonteScheinblum' timestamp='1378761828' post='7821641']
The left arm must rotate to rotate the club so it stays connected and the club rotates with the turn. Most people don't do this. If your first move down is to steepen the club, then you CANNOT do this move or the shaft will get REALLY steep.

You also need to pivot/turn the club left after impact. This can also be a steepening move.

So leading with the right elbow, shallows, which allows you to rotate the left arm and turn hard left without steepening.

This is why you can't zero out impact positions and path. You have two opposing forces creating everything...which is the way most things in the swing work.

This is why when you see Hogan with his elbows so close together it looks so good. He leads with the right elbow and massively rotates the left arm. They cancel out and produce poetry in motion.

Tiger does neither of these things very well, he is just zeroing out positions artificially and is poultry in motion. He just happens to be the finest manipulator of the golf club I have ever seen...and works his tail off.

This is a concept that needs more attention. I have seen few who understand it...even fewer who talk about it.
[/quote]

I may be misinterpreting this post. I read it to mean these are complimentary yet opposing moves. Without the rotation and steeping, does he mean leading with the right elbow would create a severe rights or flipping problem, while just doing the rotation per Malaska's video without the shallowing move could create another set of problems like a steep downswing, stalling the pivot, and loss of clubhead speed?

Malaska has a video with Mike Dobbyn where they discuss leading with the right elbow AND this forearm rotation.

[leekgolf]

Here is the Malaska video with Dobbyn


[url="https://youtu.be/Y0iUwD28CZE"]https://youtu.be/Y0iUwD28CZE[/url]

[Ghost of Snead]

Since the Malaska move is intended as a feel, I don't think you'll ever see too many good golfers actually "stand" the club up vertically on the downswing. However, this downswing drill/move seems to get the clubhead tracking on the correct arc to the ball, straightens the trail arm, and gets the hands nearly back on the same path on which they went up. The hips seems to clear properly as well and the right shoulder works out. For someone like me who has always been an inside-out swinger, it's all good.

Not sure why anyone would lose distance/workability with Malaska's move ...

[sheldonjhacker]

Doesn't this move prevent the right shoulder from moving out...and therefore prevent OTT ? Im confused. Seems to keep the right shoulder back...and delaying rotation until the hands and club are in front during the downswing. Thoughts ? Monte, Dan ? thanks

[Fade to Black]

Would be nice to actually see her (or him) hit the ball with that drill