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Ross Sep 16, 2018
Many golfers don’t keep their left (front) arm straight on the backswing and hit the ball great. It is a repeatability issue. Some can bend the front arm a bit on the backswing and get it back to straight by impact and have no problems.Yes there is tension in the backswing if done correctly. The shoulders turn around the spine and windup the back muscles. This should not affect the front arm being straight. Plus, the backswing should not be very long. It ends when the shoulders can’t turn any more. Jon Rahm is a great example of this.
Ross Nov 10, 2018
Yes Joerog! Working with a short chip shot will teach you so much. A little pitch shot is just a small version of the full swing. Remember, the shoulders always move first and hips are turned by the shoulders later if more distance is needed.Ross Nov 04, 2018
Hi Anthony
There is the “Ross Move” and there is the “Ross Move Drill”… two different lesson videos. The Ross Move Drill, is a much shorter version… meaning, the backswing is very short, so the back elbow has not gotten to the point where it starts to bend. Bending is not needed. We are just turning the shoulders a little so you can easily feel the body control the arms back down and through to the finish. Yes, the arms fall back in front due to gravity, but the feeling is the unwinding of the body accelerates, or kind of pulls the weight of the arms and club back down in front to speed them up. You do NOT have to actively rotate your elbows. Just let the arms/club return back down and around to the left (right hander).Ross Jan 05, 2019
Yes, we are trying to maintain this setup angle during the backswing, and back down into and through impact*. Watch The duplessisgolf Setup (in the setup section). Some of my students let their front wrist raise up a bit at setup and some don’t and are both successful.BTW, the shaft of the golf club bends down through impact raising the wrists up a bit due to inertia anyway.
* Many golfers feel the need to hinge so they can throw the club head at the ball for more power. Hinging and throwing causes many problems. If you learn to maintain the setup position on the backswing and back through impact you’ll be much more successful with solidness and direction.
Ross Jan 04, 2019
The initial setup is not a wrist hinge. It is just the shaft in line with the front arm* and the back wrist bent inward to help hold that shape. This is also how the shaft and wrists should look later on in the swing, moving through impact, for a solid golf shot. You don’t bend or hinge your wrists to get into this position. You just take your grip with the shaft in line.Yes, you just maintain the initial setup position in the backswing and back down through impact and it will eventually release on it’s own after impact.
* The shaft in line with the front arm, should create a flat front wrist. This may even increase to bowed out due to dynamics of the downswing.
Yes, pretty much or maybe a slightly larger step for 3 wood.
What we’re trying to do is meet the ball with a 3 wood, right at the bottom of the swing arc and then as the woods get shorter and more loft like 5 wood, we want to meet the ball just before the bottom of the swing arc… just a little. This will impart the loft of the club onto the ball so we’re not de-lofting (hitting down too much) or hitting the leading edge of the club face into the equator of the ball if the ball position is too far forward (after the bottom of the swing arc).
Sorry to be so technical, but that is the geometry of this. Either meeting the ball with an “angle of attack” descending … or straight into the ball …or ascending into the ball.
Ross Mar 21, 2019
Some say “choked up” and some say “choked down”… my reference means to grip the club with your hands closer to the club head. This essentially shortens the shaft. As you shorten the club, remember to still “sit down” to the shot… do not bend over to get to the ball. You must stay in balance at setup.Hi Ed
Yes! It gives you much better control. It shortens the radius, so you can be aggressive on short shots. Experiment and see the results you get.If you are asking about how long the Driver’s length is? it does not matter. Shorter Drivers have more control, so there is a trade off… longer more distance (maybe), but less accuracy.
I also do not talk about swing plane, because every club is different and swing plane plane is controlled by the shoulders (when you learn to use your shoulders to move your arms/club around your spine). Once you’ve setup athletically and balanced, based on the club length and conditions for the particular shot, you’ll just rotate your shoulders around your spine. We never try to direct the arms/club on a particular swing plane (not repeatable). The Large shoulder muscles can do the the work and are more dependable. I don’t have a side view of Driver, because if there was one, my students would try to copy my swing and they need to just focus on using their shoulder and let the arms and club follow how and where their body moves. This will give them a better chance to return back through impact correctly.
Ross Jul 16, 2019
Yes. Or you can change clubs to change loft. Personally, I prefer just one (56°) and make it do what I visualize.Ross Jul 16, 2019
Hey Dan
Doing Great. Great to hear from you. I don’t have any exact pointers for the shot you’re describing, but in general that kind of shot is about using your imagination. You want to imagine the entire trip the ball will take. Imagine the ball in the air, landing on the spot that will allow it to roll and finish at or in the hole. This line you’re imagining, must allow for the break once the ball starts rolling. One way to practice the shot, is to actually throw a golf ball underhanded to your spot, at the speed needed for the ball to land and continue rolling and stop at the hole. By throwing and practicing like this, you’ll develop an imaginary “feel” for the speed and trajectory to get the job done. Then next time you’re actually playing and you have a pitch/chip shot, think back to your underhand practice and I’ll bet your result will be improved. Keep in touch.Ross Jul 20, 2019
Hi Anthony
First, the back elbow never straightens out completely, until after you’ve made contact with the ball. In other words, at impact, the front arm is straight, with the elbow pointing back at the front hip, and the back arm is still slightly bent. Your conclusion from the first part of the video is the most correct. There are many different parts moving at different rates and most of the movements are rotary.I would like to mention something that you may be thinking happens, but does not… I say at impact, the arms/club have returned back in front of the hips, but the hips are not exactly how they were at setup, they’re in the process of turning all the way to the finish. They don’t stop and wait for the arms to get back in front. So, (roughly) when the arms are back in front on the downswing, the back elbow is closer to the back hip, but the front elbow is a little farther away from the font hip, because the hips are turning and opening up to the target. This is hard to explain. I hope it helps.