Mind Blown -- The BEST DRILL EVER

[DonRSD]

Free bump.......

 

I cant stop coming over the top and "hitting the ball" not swinging to the target.

Will throw some old clubs before tomorrow morning round and report back......wish me luck lol

[DeadPoets]

.

 

Edited August 11, 2021 by DeadPoets

[xabia]

this has worked well for me but I think of it like a left handed one-handed backswing in tennis. 

 

Exact same thoughts / sensation for me

[Spongerob]

The great Tommy Bolt always said "throw the club down the fairway. That way you don't have to go out of your way to pick it back up."

 

Seriously the throwing motion is a great way to feel a proper swing.

[DeadPoets]

Great thread.  My only warning with the throw the club drill is to be careful that you aren't dropping your trail shoulder too much and then carrying that over to your swing.

 

My path was 10+ degrees in to out after implementing the "throw the club" feel. Not bad for a chronic OTT'er, but also not good to take to the course.

[pshabi34]

I'll revive this one. I've been a LONG time lurker on here and I have posted under a different name in the past. Haven't logged in for a while and this account was just one I created to purchase some wedges last year when I couldn't access my old email that was tied to my original account.

 

I've been a struggler for longer than I'd like to mention and my promise to myself is that I'm going to stick with Shawn Clement's philosophy this year come hell or high water. I've been wanting to get out and throw clubs for a while but it just hasn't happened for various reasons. Got to do it today. Holy smokes!

 

I did a couple of one handed (right) tosses before I put my second hand on the club. I was getting 45 yards or so whipping old 6/7/8 irons at my targets. A few went left, but not super left like the first time I tried this 6-7 years ago. Eventually, the importance of an intermediate point became evident.

 

When throwing my club (toward a tree), I really wanted to look at the tree. I looked at the cutoff man when I threw the ball in from centerfield. I didn't want to do that here, because you don't look at the target throughout a golf swing. But, I eventuallly started picking intermediate points 4-5 feet in front of me that were aligned to my tree target. That immediately helped with the direction of my throw. After about 15 or so club tosses, I pulled out a 9i as that was all the room I had in the area I had available.

 

I hit 18 balls and had some great success. Bye bye swing thoughts. Just set up in an athletic stance, pick an intermediate point, and make the same club throwing motion out over the right of that intermediate point. I was hitting nice baby draws. Higher than normal...and what seemed to be longer than normal too (I was in a big field in a park). I was finding the sweet spot on the face every time. I tend to play a draw almost exclusively and when I default to HIT BALL, I get some terrible 35 yard hooks that ruin my life. I can't fade (or even slice) a ball to save my life. After 15 draws I did attempt to fade a couple of balls and although the first was a fat, I did see fade ball flight. The second one I tried to fade was nice!

 

Just for frame of reference, I've been as low as 7.9 and currently play at an 11.1. This drill/thought/intent is promising.

Edited April 17, 2022 by pshabi34

[FormerBigDaddy]

Reviving this again… I’m been lost in tilts and turns and really struggling lately. I grew up playing baseball and was a pitcher. I’m pretty athletic and this idea of throwing clubs seems like a great one. I really need to get out of my head. 
 

I would think in order to throw clubs to an intended target your tilts would need to be good? I don’t want to completely abandon ship on my feeling of left side bend/tilt/turn and connection in the backswing but I also really need to find a way to liberate my swing. I have athleticism so hoping this does something for me. 
 

Does anyone also use this thought for their backswing? Like slinging/throwing a club back on plane?

 

 

Edited June 19, 2022 by FormerBigDaddy

[Dinosaur]

Puts me in mind of an old song lyric...."I'm a big disgrace to the Aborigini (sp) race and me boomerang wont come back". 

[enormous13]

On 4/16/2022 at 6:36 PM, pshabi34 said:

I'll revive this one. I've been a LONG time lurker on here and I have posted under a different name in the past. Haven't logged in for a while and this account was just one I created to purchase some wedges last year when I couldn't access my old email that was tied to my original account.

 

I've been a struggler for longer than I'd like to mention and my promise to myself is that I'm going to stick with Shawn Clement's philosophy this year come hell or high water. I've been wanting to get out and throw clubs for a while but it just hasn't happened for various reasons. Got to do it today. Holy smokes!

 

I did a couple of one handed (right) tosses before I put my second hand on the club. I was getting 45 yards or so whipping old 6/7/8 irons at my targets. A few went left, but not super left like the first time I tried this 6-7 years ago. Eventually, the importance of an intermediate point became evident.

 

When throwing my club (toward a tree), I really wanted to look at the tree. I looked at the cutoff man when I threw the ball in from centerfield. I didn't want to do that here, because you don't look at the target throughout a golf swing. But, I eventuallly started picking intermediate points 4-5 feet in front of me that were aligned to my tree target. That immediately helped with the direction of my throw. After about 15 or so club tosses, I pulled out a 9i as that was all the room I had in the area I had available.

 

I hit 18 balls and had some great success. Bye bye swing thoughts. Just set up in an athletic stance, pick an intermediate point, and make the same club throwing motion out over the right of that intermediate point. I was hitting nice baby draws. Higher than normal...and what seemed to be longer than normal too (I was in a big field in a park). I was finding the sweet spot on the face every time. I tend to play a draw almost exclusively and when I default to HIT BALL, I get some terrible 35 yard hooks that ruin my life. I can't fade (or even slice) a ball to save my life. After 15 draws I did attempt to fade a couple of balls and although the first was a fat, I did see fade ball flight. The second one I tried to fade was nice!

 

Just for frame of reference, I've been as low as 7.9 and currently play at an 11.1. This drill/thought/intent is promising.

Only issue I had with purely throwing the club to a target as a swing thought was the club face. For me, I’d get the face wide open, basically to the point I was hitting hosel rockets. If you like that IP thought closer to you, try Shawn’s doorframe concept - still target focused though. For whatever reason, that’s really done wonders for me (plus his strong grip). 

Edited August 13, 2022 by enormous13

[kevinmdowney]

On 9/29/2017 at 12:02 AM, GMR said:

 

When I hit I'm very much thinking about throwing with my right hand. Growing up I played baseball, football, tennis (and others) and am just used to generating power with a right arm throwing motion, so that works for me. But honestly I think either would work. Try the drill with both arms and see which feels more natural to you in terms of throwing the club the furthest, and then just recreate that feeling with a ball, but don't actually let go of the club and let the ball get in the way.

Take video of self doing this. If I were trying to throw club as far as I could - I might do a happy Gilmore or something. 

 

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by kevinmdowney

[Delacroix]

Here is another stupid question to complicate this... Like how is the club rotating when you release it? Like in a scooping vertical spin... or has the toe kicked out and is spinning in a more diagonal shut club face position?

 

A video of a master club chucker would be very appreciated

[IMAway]

10 hours ago, Delacroix said:

Here is another stupid question to complicate this... Like how is the club rotating when you release it? Like in a scooping vertical spin... or has the toe kicked out and is spinning in a more diagonal shut club face position?

 

A video of a master club chucker would be very appreciated

Just go to youtube and search Shawn Clement throwing clubs.  He's the master - might as well go to the source.

[parfromthere]

Reviving again.  I came across this just browsing.  Gave it a try and low and behold but it worked pretty well for me.  Haven't done it enough to really ingrain the feeling, but when I'm able to replicate the motion and "feeling" in my swing, I saw great results.  I'll keep trying it.  Thanks for offering up the drill. 

[DaveMc82]

Bumped as I had to fix myself with some club throwing today. Old habits (from junk instruction) die hard and I’d started hitting the block release that necessitates a lot of grip twisting to square the face. 
 

Off to the deserted field I went with 5 old irons and had 30 minutes realising just how bad it’d got. The 1st 10-15 went left of left I was holding on so bad. Once I got the timing sorted, I got back to flighting the club high, mid and low on its way through the air. 
 

Big key for me in reference to something others have mentioned - point the toe at the target at address and release it to the target as such! My instructor showed me this and it’s critical for not developing a massive hook. 
 

Trip to the range on the way home and hit 50 balls. Miles better compression and body action was far more in sync with arms. Back to my expected distances and ‘heavy’ ball flight that doesn’t get hit by the wind. 

[Srthom12]

Read through this entire thread when I should have been working today. It all seemed like it was the solution to my swing problems recently. I haven’t had any confidence over the ball and wayyyyy too many swing thoughts. I took it out to the park by my office after work and started chucking some clubs. 
 

my first throw went about 30 yards off line to the left, next was about 30 to the right. Then was right down the line and high up! Threw about 30 more and really got the feel for the lag. The park I was in does not allow hitting any balls but there were some pine cones laying around me so I decided to try hitting some of those, not necessarily worrying about direction of flight but just contact. The swing felt so free, so natural, something I haven’t felt in a very long time. 
 

here’s a before from a recent range session and after from today

 

 

 

[Srthom12]

2 minutes ago, Srthom12 said:

Read through this entire thread when I should have been working today. It all seemed like it was the solution to my swing problems recently. I haven’t had any confidence over the ball and wayyyyy too many swing thoughts. I took it out to the park by my office after work and started chucking some clubs. 
 

my first throw went about 30 yards off line to the left, next was about 30 to the right. Then was right down the line and high up! Threw about 30 more and really got the feel for the lag. The park I was in does not allow hitting any balls but there were some pine cones laying around me so I decided to try hitting some of those, not necessarily worrying about direction of flight but just contact. The swing felt so free, so natural, something I haven’t felt in a very long time. 
 

here’s a before from a recent range session and after from today

 

 

It’s not the prettiest swing by far but it’s better than it has been for a while!

[LBB]

Somehow stumbled on some YouTube videos by Marcus Edblad and incorporated some of his thoughts on focusing on the hands more than anything about your shoulders, hips, and all that stuff that gets in your head.  I had some really great results in my ball striking after just one short range session before heading on the course.

 

What he was teaching was resonating with me because I almost never focused on my hands.  I was focused on weight shift, swing plane, and sequence of my downswing...among 10 other things...and figured that if I do those 13 things correctly, then my club face will automatically square up and release properly at impact.  His teaching was that your hands don't do anything automatically.  But if you focus on releasing your hands properly, you'll realize with a lot of practice the only way to release your hands well it is to have your swing on plane.

 

This club throwing drill seems to reinforce that thought of focusing just on releasing the hands to then in turn fix everything else.

 

Of course this is not some magic potion that makes you suddenly hit everything dead straight.  But what was really cool was that when I hit some loose shots, I could feel how my hands were not in a good position or releasing how I intended.  

[khalespace]

Why am I throwing it to the left? I need to fix this and try to throw it straight. I am throwing into my golf simulator screen and it consistently goes left. This is probably why I play with a fade/slice.

[Srthom12]

21 hours ago, khalespace said:

Why am I throwing it to the left? I need to fix this and try to throw it straight. I am throwing into my golf simulator screen and it consistently goes left. This is probably why I play with a fade/slice.

Without video, I can only assume holding on to the release too long or an out to in swing path. I have to emphasize how beneficial it was for me to get to an open field and see the distance and path that the clubs would fly. It helped a lot, had one of the best range sessions I have ever had the day after. 

[iacas]

On 6/28/2023 at 9:07 PM, khalespace said:

Why am I throwing it to the left? I need to fix this and try to throw it straight. I am throwing into my golf simulator screen and it consistently goes left. This is probably why I play with a fade/slice.

 

You could make a great swing and if you don't literally let go of the club at the right time… it could go right or left. I don't know if this "drill" is all that. 😉 

[RoyalTroon]

10 hours ago, iacas said:

 I don't know if this "drill" is all that. 😉 

 

Then do the drill yourself, and do it properly, and then you might know.  

 

On 6/26/2023 at 9:01 PM, Srthom12 said:

It’s not the prettiest swing by far but it’s better than it has been for a while!

 

You're on your way to becoming an arc master.    There are a couple videos on this channel about throwing clubs, and there are several other channels too that have the topic-drill.   Don't really need clubs either, you can use maybe 3 foot sections of 1-inch wood dowel rods you can weight at one end, be creative.     I had a friend who had a bag of maybe 20 of them and threw them often.  One of the best strikers I've seen. 

 

 

Edited June 30, 2023 by BALLYBUNION

[iacas]

3 hours ago, BALLYBUNION said:

Then do the drill yourself, and do it properly, and then you might know.  

You are on my ignore list because you say dumb things like this. 😀

 

One doesn’t need to try the drill to know that if you literally let go of the club too early or too late it will go right or left.

 

You could make a “good“ swing and throw it right or left and you could make a “bad“ swing and throw it straight down the target line if you just let go at the “correct” time.

 

I have used this idea with some students in the past but it’s not magic in the least. I’m more likely to get them to throw it way to the right or way to the left if anything.
 

Edited June 30, 2023 by iacas

[Srthom12]

41 minutes ago, iacas said:

You are on my ignore list because you say dumb things like this. 😀

 

One doesn’t need to try the drill to know that if you literally let go of the club too early or too late it will go right or left.

 

You could make a “good“ swing and throw it right or left and you could make a “bad“ swing and throw it straight down the target line if you just let go at the “correct” time.

 

I have used this idea with some students in the past but it’s not magic in the least. I’m more likely to get them to throw it way to the right or way to the left if anything.
 

So if you release it too late or too early, like in a golf swing, you’re going to have a bad result. Sounds like the point of the drill is to learn what a free swing feels like And to help make it more natural. Nothing you said refutes this drill. 

[Srthom12]

4 hours ago, BALLYBUNION said:

 

Then do the drill yourself, and do it properly, and then you might know.  

 

 

You're on your way to becoming an arc master.    There are a couple videos on this channel about throwing clubs, and there are several other channels too that have the topic-drill.   Don't really need clubs either, you can use maybe 3 foot sections of 1-inch wood dowel rods you can weight at one end, be creative.     I had a friend who had a bag of maybe 20 of them and threw them often.  One of the best strikers I've seen. 

 

 

 

I intend to practice this probably once a week, I’ve got an old set of beater clubs that I used to learn and will just take those out and throw several one handed on both the right and left as well as using two hands. It feels very liberating to not have to worry about exactly perfect knee bending and extending and rotation, and just doing what feels natural. 

[RoyalTroon]

6 minutes ago, Srthom12 said:

 

I intend to practice this probably once a week, I’ve got an old set of beater clubs that I used to learn and will just take those out and throw several one handed on both the right and left as well as using two hands. It feels very liberating to not have to worry about exactly perfect knee bending and extending and rotation, and just doing what feels natural. 

 

Beater clubs will work too.  Just hook those arms up like Jackie says and enjoy your discoveries.  Good job.  I was kinda wondering if the repositioning of your right thumb on the shaft came from a different, or new, awareness of throwing.

[Srthom12]

2 minutes ago, BALLYBUNION said:

 

Beater clubs will work too.  Just hook those arms up like Jackie says and enjoy your discoveries.  Good job.  I was kinda wondering if the repositioning of your right thumb on the shaft came from a different, or new, awareness of throwing.

Right thumb I think was a result of the throwing only with the right hand. Hard to release the club properly with that thumb on top, felt like I had no control or wrist movement, moved it it around and had a better result. Another aspect of it for me was the problem I was having of holding the club too deep in the palm of my hand, like throwing a ball you don’t want it deep in the hand because it messes with your release, throwing a club correctly told me A LOT about my swing. 

[RoyalTroon]

1 minute ago, Srthom12 said:

Right thumb I think was a result of the throwing only with the right hand. Hard to release the club properly with that thumb on top, felt like I had no control or wrist movement, moved it it around and had a better result. Another aspect of it for me was the problem I was having of holding the club too deep in the palm of my hand, like throwing a ball you don’t want it deep in the hand because it messes with your release, throwing a club correctly told me A LOT about my swing. 

 

Excellent!

[iacas]

2 hours ago, Srthom12 said:

So if you release it too late or too early, like in a golf swing, you’re going to have a bad result. Sounds like the point of the drill is to learn what a free swing feels like And to help make it more natural. Nothing you said refutes this drill. 

No. I’m talking about when you literally let go of the club. If you did it early in the downswing you would throw the club away from the target. I don’t care if you’re Tiger Woods in the year 2000, let go of the club too early or too late and it won’t be down the line toward the target and that’s not an indication at all that the swing is bad.

[Srthom12]

Still throwing clubs, still seeing improvement

 

 

 

[RoyalTroon]

Nice.  Might want to stand a touch taller then you'll have somewhere to go when you throw downward.   Here's another throw video to consider that is spot on, Paddy knows.  Might need to open the middle link in a new tab.

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2023 by BALLYBUNION