DaveF Apr 13, 2016
Ross,
Once the shoulders return back in front of the hips on the downswing, do you personally feel a substantial difference in the steepness of the shoulder turn between driver and wedges or even 9 iron, or is more of a mid to minor variation where you mostly feel like you are “sweeping” the ball vs. “hitting down” at it with the shorter clubs? Or does it largely feel like the same motion with just sitting down more? Are we trying to turn “as level as possible” with every club? I have had equal amounts of success and failure with either feel maintaining the fundamentals of the method, but not sure at this point what I should be going for. Hard to explain but I hope you know what I mean. Thanks.
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Ross Apr 13, 2016 · Edited
First… I don’t think I’ve ever said “the shoulders return back in front of the hips”… I say, the body’s rotation brings the arms/club back in front, so they’re not left behind. This is just a “position” so to speak as you’re turning through impact. Nothing happens at impact. There is no feeling difference at impact. The body is accelerating, and the ball gets in the way. There is no sense of “sweeping” or “hitting down” at it. All I feel is my body unwinding to face the target. Nothing has to be done or change, if all was right during the backswing.
As far as the shoulders go… if you think about them just winding up, and then being unwound, 90° to the the spine, you’ll be in good shape. The “being unwound” is like a total body task… like throwing a ball. You let your body unwind to move your throwing arm through. When I throw a ball, I don’t ever feel like my shoulders take over or help on their own… my entire body unwinds like a rubber band. As far as your “turn level” question goes. You setup with the shoulders essentially “level”, but they turn around the spine at 90° on what ever “tilt” angle your spine is on (for the club and lie you have). So, if you have a short club, they still turn 90° to the spine, and that will cause a steeper angle of attack… BUT, you don’t have to worry about this.