Get your arm swing and pivot in sync

[sblack5]

awesome stuff

[RMT28265]

I will try this again:

I spent 4 hours with Dan on Saturday and a very large amount of the time was spent trying this drill. It is great. When I got there, he spent a few minutes letting me try to hit golf balls as I normally would. Made a couple of small adjustments(grip and hand position), then we went into this drill. Was very difficult for me at first due to how bad of a flipper I am. If I was like Jack Hamm, I would make dolphin noises at impact every shot, that bad. By the end of the lesson, I actually had some shots that had no flip in them at all. The best part of this is that I can work on it in my backyard with my net. THe best part of the lesson with Dan is that I now have more of an understanding of what I am doing and what it should feel like when done correctly. Played Sunday morning(morning after lesson) and shot my best score of the year thus far. On a few shots where I reverted back to my old swing, I knew instantly what I had done wrong and was able to correct it before my next swing. And back to the backyard tonight for 100-200 more swings.

Josh

[Jayman101]

Thanks for the video Dan... Really helps. Super quick, slightly OT question: I recently realized my left leg isn't straightening through or after impact. It looks like yours has a slight bend through impact but quickly stiffens post impact. Is that correct and if so, is that what you would suggest with full swing as well?

[WT Door]

Dan--

I've tried a number of these 'sync' drills and none have been as effective as yours. The movement in this drill not only feels better but it is obvious my AoA has shallowed some.

I'm still working to get used to having my wrists set by the point the drill calls for as I'm trying to overcome run away arms and wrist breakdown at the top. Any suggestions or does it simply take more reps?

Thank you for taking the time to post the video.

[Hawkeye77]

Thanks for posting that. Helps a lot.

[Stryker]

Dan, my right elbow seems to point down towards my shoes when I am doing this drill rather than towards my butt like your elbow does. Am I doing something wrong? What would be the causes and effects of this?

Thanks for the drill!

[iteachgolf]

Not 100% sure I understand and don't want to comment unless I'm crystal clear. Can you post a photo or video of what you mean?

[iteachgolf]

[quote name='WT Door' timestamp='1366318583' post='6873635']
Dan--

I've tried a number of these 'sync' drills and none have been as effective as yours. The movement in this drill not only feels better but it is obvious my AoA has shallowed some.

I'm still working to get used to having my wrists set by the point the drill calls for as I'm trying to overcome run away arms and wrist breakdown at the top. Any suggestions or does it simply take more reps?

Thank you for taking the time to post the video.
[/quote]

Wrist set simply adds speed and some height. Can be done without wrist set. Like I said in original post, wrist set when hitting a ball will be gradual.

[iteachgolf]

[quote name='Jayman101' timestamp='1366318570' post='6873633']
Thanks for the video Dan... Really helps. Super quick, slightly OT question: I recently realized my left leg isn't straightening through or after impact. It looks like yours has a slight bend through impact but quickly stiffens post impact. Is that correct and if so, is that what you would suggest with full swing as well?
[/quote]
Legt knee should be bent at impact, but be gradually straightening and will become straight about halfway through followthrough.

[iteachgolf]

[quote name='jotay21' timestamp='1366317982' post='6873555']
I will try this again:

I spent 4 hours with Dan on Saturday and a very large amount of the time was spent trying this drill. It is great. When I got there, he spent a few minutes letting me try to hit golf balls as I normally would. Made a couple of small adjustments(grip and hand position), then we went into this drill. Was very difficult for me at first due to how bad of a flipper I am. If I was like Jack Hamm, I would make dolphin noises at impact every shot, that bad. By the end of the lesson, I actually had some shots that had no flip in them at all. The best part of this is that I can work on it in my backyard with my net. THe best part of the lesson with Dan is that I now have more of an understanding of what I am doing and what it should feel like when done correctly. Played Sunday morning(morning after lesson) and shot my best score of the year thus far. On a few shots where I reverted back to my old swing, I knew instantly what I had done wrong and was able to correct it before my next swing. And back to the backyard tonight for 100-200 more swings.

Josh
[/quote]

Glad to hear Josh! Keep it up

[CrisPy3]

Dan, let me be the first to say "How's this?" Seriously though, didn't have the best light, my half swing is apparently a full swing and I have no idea what's happening to my right arm at impact as it looks like i'm double-jointed. I'm not. Anyway...

[media=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VX4QvsArik&feature=youtu.be[/media]

Keep going back to the video... This frame looks so powerful as all you have to do from here is turn. Literally the next frame is impact with a flat left wrist facing the target. This is what I want to learn how to do...

[attachment=1641573:`1234.JPG]

[Stryker]

[quote name='iteachgolf' timestamp='1366327359' post='6874485']
Not 100% sure I understand and don't want to comment unless I'm crystal clear. Can you post a photo or video of what you mean?
[/quote]

Here you go.....thanks for any tips.

[jfzhorseman]

Dan,Is your nickname Zach Johnson? uncanny.

[iteachgolf]

[quote name='Stryker' timestamp='1366328155' post='6874545']
[quote name='iteachgolf' timestamp='1366327359' post='6874485']
Not 100% sure I understand and don't want to comment unless I'm crystal clear. Can you post a photo or video of what you mean?
[/quote]

Here you go.....thanks for any tips.
[/quote]
My elbow is in a very similar position. Your seeing my upper arm (line is on my tricep) and getting confused because of the black sleeves

[iteachgolf]

[quote name='CrisPy3' timestamp='1366327961' post='6874531']
Dan, let me be the first to say "How's this?" Seriously though, didn't have the best light, my half swing is apparently a full swing and I have no idea what's happening to my right arm at impact as it looks like i'm double-jointed. I'm not. Anyway...

[media=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VX4QvsArik&feature=youtu.be[/media]

Keep going back to the video... This frame looks so powerful as all you have to do from here is turn. Literally the next frame is impact with a flat left wrist facing the target. This is what I want to learn how to do...

[attachment=1641573:`1234.JPG]
[/quote]
Your right shoulder has to work down and towards the ball as your arms work down. Notice how much closer my right shoulder is to the ground and how long the gap between my hands and right shoulder stays relatively the same.

[CrisPy3]

That's brilliant. Thanks (again) Dan

[daco81se]

Great thread, and great drill. I've been working on it, one thing it did big time for me is enlighten me that my right arm has been bending immediately and stays on my side throughout the BS, I believe this comes from working hard on moving the club back with my shoulders/pivot vs my arms (been told I had a armsy takeaway and swing and that the shoulders need to take the club away). Moving the club back back with both arms straight isn't a problem, but setting the wrists as I keep them straight almost seems impossible (the right arm wants to bend as soon as I start setting my wrists), which I'm sure is just going to take some work. Is it such a problem for me because I've been setting the wrists incorrectly all this time?

[callmehandsum]

Is anybody else hitting pulls to pull hooks with this drill? I am. Actually, the more I try to extend my backswing, the more I pull hook it. The shorter the BS, the straighter the shot. I need to record my swing and see where I'm messing up.

[iteachgolf]

Arm your arms in front of you and extended in the followthrough?

[i am taylor(made)]

i don't quite understand keeping the arm straight on the downswing. Isn't the right elbow suppose to connect to the right hip. This will naturally create an angle in the right arm, thus not being straight.

[iteachgolf]

I didn't say it'll be straight coming down. Read the OP and watch the video of me doing it. When you hit a ball the right arm will fold, has no choice, and will stay bent and gradually straighten in the downswing. The right arm does not connect to the right hip. if it does youre in trouble. The intent is to keep it straight. Not what actually happens.

[sblack5]

bit of feel vs real. even in Dan's video you can see his right arm bend once it gets past hip high....but THE THOUGHT is to keep both straight and it produces a simplicity and easiness that we are all after in his video.

[iteachgolf]

[quote name='zakkozuchowski' timestamp='1360693849' post='6414407']
[color=#333333]By Dan Carraher (iteachgolf), GolfWRX Featured Writer[/color]

[color=#333333]This is a drill to train you to keep your arms more in sync with your pivot and working faster, which has the other benefit of helping you hit the ball farther. I want you to make some swings with both arms straight from side-to-side about hip-high to hip-high. The key part of this is I want you to set/c0ck the club fully, but do it without bending your arms. The majority of golfers over-bend their trailing arm in the backswing and the leading arm in the follow-through. This drill will force the club to stay in front of you and teach you to separate cocking the lead wrist and folding the arms. The sensation while doing the drill will be that it is very army, but if both arms stay straight while doing it, the club will stay in front of you and you will pivot back and through.[/color]

[color=#333333]You can't swing the club with your arms straight without turning -- it's not possible. The turn will happen subconsciously. The goal here is to swing the arms while keeping them straight and set the club from hip-high to hip-high as fast as possible. This drill is done without a ball, and meant to be done with speed once you feel comfortable with the motion.[/color]
[color=#333333]Once you feel comfortable doing it without a ball, I want you to go hit balls while maintaining the same feel while keeping your arms below chest-high. If you were to film these swings, I expect the trailing arm to fold slightly in the backswing and the lead arm to fold slightly on the through swing.[/color]

[color=#333333]The wrists will c0ck the club slower and later than it feels (it will be very gradual). I also expect the swing to be longer than you feel like it is and the ball will go farther than you expect it. [/color]
[/quote]

Seems some arent actually reading this part

[callmehandsum]

[quote name='iteachgolf' timestamp='1366384337' post='6877923']
Arm your arms in front of you and extended in the followthrough?
[/quote]

Not sure. I got to record my swing. Quick background, I'm using a reverse K setup, 2 1/2 knuckle grip, clubs are too long and upright and I'm hitting off mats. It also feels like I may be failing to get to my left enough on the transition. I may also be trying to lengthen my BS too much.

[J13]

Dan, thanks for the video. Compared to me you are SO much flatter. I have some work to do. Would you say a good swing thought at address is to make right shoulder and hip just work straight back (behind you) while maintaining a straight right arm for as long as possible?

[valkare]

Dan, can I ask you a question with respect to transitioning this to woods / driver? I tried this today with some really great success using my irons -- very crisp, effortless, and I noticed my abs / core were really engaged (everything was swinging together). When I tried using my driver, I had some fantastic shots (felt like such little effort to hit the ball so far), but I also had some pushes and push fades. I felt like my grip was pretty strong, so is this a matter of not releasing my wrists properly? Perhaps being too stiff in the arms and hands?

[rockwallraider]

Val, for me I tend to slow arms on downswing when hitting push and push fades, concentrate on speeding up arms on way down, read hstead or iteach one say that and it worked for me

[Hstead]

[quote name='valkare' timestamp='1366414383' post='6880737']
Dan, can I ask you a question with respect to transitioning this to woods / driver? I tried this today with some really great success using my irons -- very crisp, effortless, and I noticed my abs / core were really engaged (everything was swinging together). When I tried using my driver, I had some fantastic shots (felt like such little effort to hit the ball so far), but I also had some pushes and push fades. I felt like my grip was pretty strong, so is this a matter of not releasing my wrists properly? Perhaps being too stiff in the arms and hands?
[/quote]

val, I am hesitant to answer sometimes because I haven't seen you swing, and Dan would probably say there are many possible causes. I do not want to speak for Dan what so ever and can only speak to what Dan changed for me. Dan does not teach everyone the same things, and he bases his changes on the persons build, current swing, etc. With that said, take this for what it is worth.

With the longer clubs, the arms need to be a little higher, or more lifted than the shorter clubs. This is why I have said before that the longer clubs including driver are actually easier for me to hit than the wedge. Once you start the takeaway, and you try to feel like the right arm stays straight all the way to chest high, for a wedge you are done, but for the driver and long irons, you let the hands move straight up from the ground. You have to make sure they go straight up and not behind you. The reason they are easier is because it gives you more time on the downswing. So with driver, once you hit chest high with what feels like both arms straight, you just let your hands move straight toward the sky about two or three inches, and then start down back to the ball with everything moving together, hands chest hips etc. You want everything moving at the same rate to hit the ball dead straight.

So this is how I do it. It may or may not work for you depending on your swing now. I have a feeling you may not be getting the arms high enough with the long clubs and the club isn't over your right shoulder and is going around behind a little bit, making the arms slower than the chest and causing the push, but I am just guessing in the dark too.

[Hawkeye77]

So rather than "guessing in the dark", and not saying your guess is wrong, wouldn't it be better to have his question addressed by the person it was asked of, who would not be guessing? Just a thought that might keep the Q & A more focused, and less confusing. Looks like iteach has been pretty prompt and thorough in answering questions about the drill he has described, and very much appreciated.

[Hstead]

[quote name='HAWKEYE77' timestamp='1366461690' post='6882599']
So rather than "guessing in the dark", and not saying your guess is wrong, wouldn't it be better to have his question addressed by the person it was asked of, who would not be guessing? Just a thought that might keep the Q & A more focused, and less confusing. Looks like iteach has been pretty prompt and thorough in answering questions about the drill he has described, and very much appreciated.
[/quote]

This drill was not meant to hit driver, Dan has mentioned that in this thread. val had a question about longer clubs and and rockwallraider directed him to read my posts, so I thought I would help val with longer clubs, and what Dan taught me, not this drill. Sorry I confused you.