Downswing Matters...

Most of you have been following me for long enough to know that I believe the location and orientation of the clubhead in the early downswing are vital to an effective golf swing. The appropriate position and orientation of the clubhead will enable you to rotate freely through impact, controlling the face and compressing the golf ball. The following short video will help you understand the value of clubhead position in the early downswing and why it’s so important in building a sound impact position…

Where you position the clubhead in the early downswing is integral to your ability to rotate and manage the club face through the impact interval. Better rotation means less flipping and more accurate shots. This matters - big time.

In the following short video you will learn why, even though you may have been doing a better job with positioning the clubhead (shallowing the shaft), your game has not improved. Improper shallowing can compromise the club face angle in the early downswing and actually promote active hands or flipping through impact. Here’s the remedy…

There you have it. Getting the clubhead deeper (more BEHIND you) in the early downswing without compromising the face will produce incredible results for almost every golfer I teach. I suspect it will help your game too. A good place to start is in front of a mirror - create the proper look, don’t worry about exaggerating things, take the appropriate feel from that look and go out and practice. Keep reinforcing in front of the mirror.

A Young Jack Nicklaus

Tales from the Trail Side

I’ve found that is can be tremendously helpful for any golfer to fully understand the ins and outs of impact. Today I want to address the trail side and what my preferences are for it as we approach impact. Let’s start with this…

What are we looking for at impact?

• Hips and chest rotated open relative to the target line

• The trail hip should be lower than the front side counterpart

• As a result the trail leg is flexed and the knee has moved towards the ball

• The trail arm is flexed

• As a result the trail shoulder is lower than it started at address

• The spine has tilted away from the target (side bend)

While generating speed can be genetic to a certain degree, our ability to control the club face at impact and thus the direction and shape of our shots is largely a product of both technique and skill. Merely posing impact, as I have demonstrated in the video above, might shed some light on what you need to work on in order to better control the strike and accuracy of your shots.

Brandon Stone

You might be shocked at your results when you can start to master the trail side through the impact zone. Now let’s get to work.