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Hi Mike
(your “how much sand” question)
Every bunker shot is different . It depends on the lie and the conditions and kind of the sand. There too many situations a to mention. You could be in very soft sand and buried… all the way to hard-pan or no sand to speak of, sitting right on top. How much sand you take, depends also on how you want the ball to come out and react. How much sand also depends on how much bounce you have on your SW, and how much you’ve opened/closed the face. The more you open it, the more it slides through the sand vs. closed which creates a “dig sole” and pulls the face down into the sand to help gouge it out.(Your “hit ball first” question)
In general… you hit ball first (if you can), when you’re farther away for a clean hit… but once you’re too close to the green, you hit sand first, use the sand to “lift” the ball out. If it is hard-pan you still want to hit ball first with a square face, or the club will bounce off the hard-pan into the ball an skull it.Ross
Ross Jan 10, 2017
Not sure. Everyone is a little different and depends on the width of the stance when/where impact will be. You want it to feel solid and just past the bottom of the arc on the up swing for end-over-end roll. The worst is to hit down on the putt (ball hops). At the bottom, the ball slides before rolling. Again, I think slightly on the up swing for perfect roll*.* This also assumes your shoulders are parallel to your intended path, and the putter is 90° to that path. Dave Pelz had an easy way to see if your shoulders are aligned, but letting your arms hang and pointing your thumbs towards each other, then rocking your shoulders. This will show your your shoulder path… and it better be parallel to the target line.
Ross Jan 09, 2017
Yes. All you’re really doing is aligning the shaft of the putter with the front arm vs. a bent in front wrist. This is just something to try and experiment with. The ball must be forward, like just inside the front foot so you’ll hit on the upswing. Not sure how this will work for left hand low. Key is no flip… shoulder(s) onlyRoss Jan 31, 2017
Sorry brooster, I don’t use the term “stay down”. I don’t know what it is used for, because the word “down” implies a “downward” movement of some kind, and we don’t have that in my method.I guess if someone is coming up and out of their tilt, I might use, “Stay in your setup position” or “Stay Athletic” or “Turn your shoulders around your spine” or “Maintain your spine angle” until your back shoulder touches your chin* on the downswing.
I have used, in the past, “stay behind” if someone is sliding forward or coming up and out too soon on the downswing.
* Doing this must not restrict the body’s rotation in any way… like the worst tip ever “keep your head down”. The head must follow the shoulders up and out just after impact. The body unwinding from ground up, must be UNINTERRUPTED, accelerating to the finish!
Ross Feb 18, 2017
Hi Dave
Sorry for the late response, I wasn’t receiving emails from the forum for some reason. Great way to explain the concept.Ross Feb 12, 2017
Yes. Remember the backswing is wound up from top-down (like a spring being wound from the top as the bottom is held). As you start the downswing, your shoulders/arms are not lined up with the hips, but as the body unwinds (from ground up), the shoulders/arms eventually catch up and will pass the hips (after impact) when the hips can’t turn any more. It is like the shoulders/arms are “closing in” on the hips during the downswing (if that makes sense). This to me is just like throwing a ball… as your body unwinds to move your arm through and you let go of the ball.No body parts move independently or disconnect… all body parts work in harmony like a rubber band anchored to a table and the top winds first (backswing)…then it wants to unwind (by itself) from ground up due to the potential created.
Ross Feb 18, 2017
I did want to add one other concern.In general, you want to rotate or finish (about) 90° from the instep of your back foot at setup. Many golfers setup that back foot 90° to push off the instep to face their target when finished. This means, you may want to try turning the back foot in a bit (if it is flared open) at setup. Hogan would have the back foot 90° to target and a slightly opened front foot for easier rotation.
This does not mean everyone should do this. Just experiment with width of stance and flaring and squaring the feet for different results*.
I have some of my students open the front foot, so the can finish their rotation…. if they can’t let their weight go to the outside of the front foot at the finish. Helps the turn without restricting the front knee as much*.
*If you ever have pain with any of these changes… stop! and find a more comfortable setup.
Ross Feb 18, 2017
Let your feet setup under you so you feel athletic and balanced. You must be able to feel, that you can easily rotate to your front side from the stance you’ve chosen. In general…the closer the better… and as the clubs get longer, a bit wider. Another way to think about it, once setup, you should not feel like you can’t easily rotate around your front hip socket. If you feel like you need to shift a lot to get to your front foot, you’re too wide.Ross Feb 20, 2017
I don’t have a video on manipulating the hands, because we don’t during the swing.Everyone grips the club differently and different grips can produce different results. Make sure you’re starting with the club shaft in line with the front arm. Make sure the pad behind the little finger, on your front (left for a right hander) hand, is on top of the grip. Watch the Grip lesson video for more.
Now, if you’re setup correctly and are only using your shoulders on the backswing, the leading edge should be roughly at t 45° angle without the need for manipulation.
If you continue to struggle, you need to send me a couple swing videos so I can see what’s happening.
Ross Jun 01, 2016
Spine angle will ultimately be determined by club length and the conditions of the lie of the ball. There is no easy way to explain this and each individual is built differently, so there is no one sure fire method to find it. In general “Balance” and the freedom to “Turn your Shoulders” are key here.Yes, the more upright your spine is, the flatter the swing plane and vice versa…, but the more upright you can be, the easier it is to turn your shoulders. The shoulders can’t turn very far when you’re bent over.
Does swing plane matter?… some, but not much. It will influence the club heads path and add some influence on the ball flight, but face angle is WAY more important… like 80%. It all depends on when the club face meets the ball… on the descent, or at the bottom.
There is a spine angle that satisfies, the length of the club, and conditions of the lie of the ball and BALANCE… everyone has to experiment to find what works for them. HINT: You must feel once setup, that you are straight down to gravity! … as if no one could move you in any direction… SOLID… not leaning in any one direction.
The knees also play an important role to help adjust getting down to the ball and keep yourself in balance. This is what moves when I say “and sit down”.
A flatter swing plane is not the reason for blocked shots… the reason is ball position too far back and/or an open club face. A flatter swing will have the path more in-to-out, … but with a square face at impact, you’ll get straight or a slight draw depending on ball position.
This is pretty heavy stuff to discuss and is unnecessary to know or digest, to have a repeatable, balanced swing. If you watch the Athletic Setup lesson video, I show you how to find the spine angle… hope this answered your questions Claude…
Ross
Ross Mar 25, 2017
I don’t mention many specific positions unless there may be a specific issue someone is having to help them. My method is not about specific positions… we use Large Muscles in an athletic movement.If the elbows start towards each other, and facing back towards the hips … that’s how they should return (pretty much) during the swing, through impact. Now, if an individual gets his back elbow in a position of returning through impact pointing “to his right” (not in front of the back hip pointing at the hip), then I might say (so he knows the correct position and feeling)… feel the back elbow “lead” on the downswing, so it is leading his back forearm and returns in front of the back hip, pointing at the hip. Sorry, this is hard to explain.
Ross Jun 04, 2014
Hi Bill
The ball is “pinched” when the shaft is in line with the front arm, leading the club face at impact. Now, with my method, this is much easier because we use the body rotation to move the arms around to the left (right hander). If you are hitting chunky… you are either starting with too much weight on the back foot, or are moving to the back foot, and then not getting back in time… and “flipping” or throwing the club head at the ball… it is releasing (not good). We want to keep the 60% weight on the front foot during the backswing and you will not chunk the ball (ever).Now, your thin shots are purely “flipping” for some reason. Many times it is because the back elbow gets stuck on the back hip as you are rotation (that flips the face)… that back elbow must lead on the downswing, back in front of the body and around to the left… THIS IS ALL DONE VIA THE BODY ROTATING. The body rotation brings the arms back down and around. This is harder to explain than do.
Ross
Ross Apr 07, 2017
1. No thoughts.2. I have not experimented at all with a palm grip, so I don’t have an opinion. I would be careful of the palm grip… due the lie angle of your conventional club vs. his custom clubs, because you may dig the toe into the ground from a “too upright swing plane” as a result of the palm grip. Please watch “The Grip” lesson video for info on grip options that I’m familiar with.
Thank you so much for your dedication and testimonials. This is such an important part of a reliable golf swing.
Ross Apr 11, 2017
I failed to mention, everyone has issues hitting into the wind. There is only so much you can do. A friend of mine use to hit off of the deck (no tee) and had good results. If you try this, that ball has to be right at the bottom of the swing arc or it won’t work.Also, you answered above and added a word I don’t use and I wanted to clarify, so others don’t think that came from me or my method … the word “low” Just keep turning and the body’s rotation brings the arms/club around to the left (right hander).