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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).
Ross Apr 10, 2017
Hi Peter
My suspicion is that you have a “flip” just before impact that is adding loft to the shot. We want the angle of attack on the upswing/ascending into the ball, but if you have a driver with a lot of loft or a senior/lite flex, you will hit it higher than desired … especially if you add a bit of a “flip”. The photo below shows how your front wrist/shaft should look just before impact. Actually the shaft on this driver is a bit soft and it’s lagging, but you get the idea. Look at a video of your impact using driver and see if you can get a straight line with shaft and front arm. You may have the club head flipped. If you don’t, I’d move it back a bit in the stance or maybe consider less loft on a driver so your “effective loft” will be correct at impact to achieve what you’re after. You must be rotating, maintaining the correct shape through impact and around to the left, and not flipping, to get the “stinger” effect you’re after.
Ross May 01, 2017
I grab a SW (other clubs too) dozens of ways. All up and down the shaft and have taken shots holding only the metal shaft off the grip completely (rare but it was needed). Another thing I do is change my grip. I may use Vardon or Interlocking or 10 finger and like all of them. It really does not matter if you’re not flipping through impact. It really depends on the shot I see in my mind and how to get the job done. I love to choke down for control. The important part is that the SW leading edge must be “flat to gravity”*In general, I’d teach … having the pad of the front (left for right hander) behind the little finger “on top” of the shaft, but that is not in stone. That is old school and is a good starting point.
* Okay I made up another term, but it makes sense. If the ground was perfectly flat (no slope at all), the leading edge would be exactly flat, (no toe off the ground**), so the loft of the SW will move the ball exactly forward and square off the face 90° to the leading edge. This is CRITICAL especially around the green. Now, if you’re on a slope, you MUST adjust the leading edge to still be “flat to gravity”. This might mean adjusting the shaft angle up or down (holding the heel off the ground or the toe off the ground), so the ball will come off the face straight and roll end over end without side spin.
** Many sloppy golfers (or just don’t know), setup short clubs with the toe up off the ground. This makes the ball go left. Watch “Setup Sandwedge” at DUPLESSISGOLF in the Setup Section for more info.
Ross May 19, 2017
You don’t use a club for this. The thumbs give you your shoulder line. If you move your front shoulder down, then up (correct for putting), you can see your path. This is the path the ball will roll if you have a square putter face. Now… if you move your shoulders around your spine*, you will change your path. This is why most right handed golfers miss left, because their front shoulder moves behind them on the downswing (changing the path) vs. pulling up with the front shoulder to not change the path.
* We do not turn our shoulders around the spine for putting or chipping. We do turn the shoulders around the spine for all other golf shots. This is for more control when we don’t need much power.
Ross May 15, 2017
Hi Ed
Sorry this got a bit long, but it is all great stuff that will work well once incorporated.#1
In a perfect world, the shoulder line and toe line would be parallel to the target line*. I know my feet are a bit closed, but that is okay because the path the putter head moves along, is exactly underneath the shoulders, and can be seen/practiced, by letting the arms hang**. What this means is, the shoulders dictate the path, not the feet. The path won’t change unless you let your hips or head move (a nono [nono]). The shoulders are the only thing that moves with my method. Have a friend watch you to point out how many other body parts move during your stroke. It takes a lot of work to not move anything except the shoulders.Now, the putter face is exactly 90° (perpendicular) to this target line, and hangs (about 1/2″ off the ground) above this line, exactly on the sweet spot … and your eyes*** must be over this line too. These all add up to many more makes.
#2
No, there should not be any contact with the body during the stroke.* The target line is the line you want the ball to start on that allows for break if needed. This may be a line straight thru the cup if no break is needed.
** Once setup, with the arms hanging, you can find your shoulder alignment, and the path the putter head will travel, by pointing your thumbs towards each other (Thanks to Dave Pelz)… then while pointing your thumbs towards each other, push down and pull up the front shoulder to see the path. It is easy to see if your path is in-to-out, or out-to-in, to your target line… we want straight back and straight thru along the target line. We don’t use the hands/arms to manipulate the path, the shoulders must do the work while the arms hang. Then, setup using your putter the same way. Just make sure the putter face is exactly 90° to the path your shoulders make. HINT: The grip end must be setup ahead of the ball a bit, and you must keep firm wrists during the entire stroke, to keep the putter head from flipping ever.
*** As you let your arms hang at setup, you want your eyes exactly over the target line too. Once setup, you can drop a golf ball from the bridge of your nose, and see where it hits on the ground, to see if your eyes are over the line. Most are surprised when they try this. You may need to allow for a bit more tilt, to get your eyes over the line to not brush your body during the stroke. If you add more tilt, this must still be athletic and in balance (no lean out or reach out).