Build a Better Backswing

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If you watch any golf on TV you’ll notice that there certainly doesn’t seem to be one backswing that is universal to all Tour players. Their backswings range from long to short, laid off to across the line and fast to slow. The million dollar question is which one will work best for you and your game. Watch this video to start to understand your options…

Length of Backswing

  1. Don’t be overly anxious to shorten your backswing. If the arms are collapsing or the hands are letting go then by all means work towards making the necessary upgrades.

  2. Longer backswings should almost have an across the line look, while shorter backswings simply must have the clubhead more behind them with a laid off look.

Amount of Time

  1. Ideally the amount of time taken once the club starts the motion away from the ball is right around 1 second. 0.75 seconds up to the top and 0.25 seconds for the downswing.

  2. Try the rapid fire drill to gain a sense of the appropriate amount of time as the vast majority of golfers take too much time and actually swing too slowly.

  3. The rolling start drill gets the club moving as it kicks the motion off.

Clubface Position

  1. Open face golfers will typically have a difficult time hitting low shots and generating enough compression. The clubface is almost always open in the early downswing and this leads to flipping through impact to get the clubface around.

  2. Closed face golfers will struggle to get their long irons in the air. Compression is fine and the ball goes far enough, but getting an appropriate trajectory is a challenge. Get the clubface vertical in the early part of the backswing. Have the intent to hit the ball really high in practice.

Ponder a few of these ideas, try a few of the drills and I hope that a few of these ideas help you to enjoy your next round of golf that much more.

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Cheers!

Trajectory Tricks

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The loft on the clubface at impact is largely responsible for the launch of the ball. When it comes to wedge play friction also plays a significant role in determining the launch angle, but the purpose of this article is to share an idea to help you improve the loft you deliver to the ball at impact.

Most of us will either hit the ball overly high or too low. This video illustrates a simple drill to get you to feel what you need to feel in order to grasp what is required to deliver either more, or less, loft.

For the high ball hitters:

  • Using a pitching wedge get set up with a narrow stance
  • Position the ball off the tip of your front foot
  • Feel the handle or butt of the club travel a long way forward into impact
  • It’s not easy but do all you can to hit low launchers

For the low ball hitters like me:

  • Stick with the PW and a narrow stance
  • The ball should be in line with the tip of your back foot
  • In the downswing you’ll feel the clubhead swinging a ton. The clubhead should feel like it outraces the hands
  • This will feel scoopy and that’s a good thing

Notice where my hands are just post impact in the image below - the low ball hitters need the hands less forward while the high ball hitters need to sense how much more forward they need to be…

It’s never easy making changes as they always feel so uncomfortable. Let’s get away from associating discomfort with ‘wrong’ as you work towards improvement. I know this exercise seems like it’s the opposite of what it should be, but as the task becomes more challenging (which this one is) we have no choice but to adapt.

The good news is that this drill applies directly to your long game too, so don’t be afraid to incorporate a few of these drills with those full swings too.

Thanks for checking in and I hope this helps you to enjoy your golf a little more.