Our next video series will address the age-old, WAY-too-common, over-the-top move that is seen as the single most prevalent hurdle to consistently solid ball striking.
This move causes nearly every crooked shot from pull-hooks to push-slices, from fat shots to thin shots;
> and the oh-so common garden variety slice that most golfers settle for and make their golf journey geared toward learning how to manage, by aiming well left of targets and using much longer clubs than would be needed if the ball was struck squarely from an inside-to-out swing path, versus outside-to-in.
The real question which we’ll address herein and, again, in the next video series is “What is the root cause of the over-the-top move?”
> When we understand the root cause of this move, then we can approach curing it effectively.
First, let’s look at the typical approach to curing this move so you don’t feel badly or hopeless that you haven’t been able to fix your swing;
> and so you can see why the opposite approach of what you’ve been told to do to fix this prevalent problem is required to get the results you seek.
In my opinion, the obvious prevalence of this kiss-of-death move is the most tangible stain on mainstream golf instruction;
> precious few students ever cure it, as can be confirmed by watching practically any golfer on any given day at any given driving range.
The typical approach is to train to the student, from the top of the backswing, to turn the hips open first, then the shoulders and then have the arms and hands follow; using the body as the source of motion for the arms and hands;
> that is, to spin the body open while leaving the arms behind so that the arms and hands will be catapulted and whipped forward while trailing the spinning body.
By definition, this ‘body-first with arms-last’ move will absolutely make the hands move out of sync with the body;
> only the most gifted and well-trained athletes can learn to re-sync the hands with the body turn by the time impact occurs.
> Further, only the most gifted and well-trained athlete learns how to get his hands to square the club face to the ball at impact with this body-first approach.
The root cause of the over-the-top move is that the hands aren’t trained first how to square the club face to the ball, that leaves the body, most visibly the shoulders, to square the club face to the ball;
> leaving the shoulders to try to square the club face to the ball by twisting open right from the top because in order for the shoulder turn to square the club face in time for impact they need to start turning very early, as the shoulder turn is very ineffective at squaring the club face.
On the other hand, the hands are very efficient at squaring the club face to the ball; if we educate the hands how to react to the free momentum of the club head and to square the club face at impact;
> then and only then do the shoulders realize that they aren’t needed for the job of squaring the club face to the ball and therefore don’t need to twist open early in an ineffective effort to square the club face to the ball.
Educating the hands FIRST how to square the club face to the ball is not the consensus approach, but it is the orthodox approach.
Similarly, learning and experiencing how the hands are naturally the source of motion for the body is not the consensus approach, but it is the orthodox approach.
By orthodox I mean that the step-by-step approach I’ll cover on the upcoming video series is absolutely learnable at any age because it doesn’t require one to be a particularly gifted and determined athlete in order to consistently strike the ball squarely to produce straight shots and slight draw shots that seek your target with proper trajectory.
Signing off for now – Ted Williams, Certified Instructor – Croker Golf System
Comments…questions…ideas for future articles and videos…email me at TWilliams@MyGolfingStore.com
