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Ross Aug 03, 2016
The Drill is primarily about, getting the arms/club back down in front of the body (using the body’s rotation to move the arms/club).Now, the job of the elbows, are to keep the radius the same length if possible for more consistent results. The back (right) elbow has to bend some on a full backswing, while the front arm is (basically straight)… and the front (left) elbow will bend (down), after impact eventually, while the back (right) arm straightens.
I would not practice a straight right arm on the backswing, because it needs to bend at some point. You want to feel the body “WAIT” until the backswing is finished, so the body can then bring the arms/club back down. Many times if someone has problems leaving the arms/club behind it is because, the body did not wait … or the backswing is out of position or way too long due to a breakdown.
If you start with a short “ALL SHOULDERS” backswing… you can easily wait for the shoulders to stop… then use the body and feel the arms/club come back down and around to the left. Keep it short to learn. Don’t worry about elbows. Just make sure the arms/hands are not helping on the backswing so they are “submissive”.
Ross Oct 11, 2017
I don’t mention it much, but a lot of golf to me is about angles. After many years of searching and teaching putting, I was able to find, what I believe, to be the “critical angles”, that maximize impact on the ball for putting. Dave Pelz’s “Putt Like the Pros” was a plethora of information that helped me develop my method.If you haven’t found it, at duplessisgolf.com in the “More” section, is the “Putting Routine” section. You’ll find some very helpful info there. In general you can grip the putter any way you’d like as long as when it hangs, the grip/handle is slightly ahead of the putter face, and the putter face is EXACTLY 90 degrees to the path your shoulders move your arms/putter*. You can NOT change any of these angles during the stroke. If you have to have a death grip on the handle so it does not flip do it! The face must stay square and your wrists can NOT change ever during the stroke.
BTW, I’ll mention the arms must hang straight down to gravity (they can be bent, but can’t change during the stroke) underneath your shoulders (no reaching out). Now, the next critical part … when to make impact with the ball. This is forward … on the upswing … after the bottom of the swing arc … on the “sweet spot” of the putter face. This is like an inch or two past the bottom of the arc. Experiment. This will put wonderful end over end roll on your putts for great distance control. Again, you must hit that sweet spot, and you will if you let your arms hang and don’t change any thing during the swing and just let your shoulders do the work.
* You can test this path by practicing your putting stroke, slightly off the ground, above a club shaft lying on the ground or any tile line in the kitchen. Something that you can look down upon to see that the club face stays perfectly square (90 degrees) to the line back and through during your stroke.
Ross Oct 30, 2017
Hi Dan
It is all about angles. You want to find your ideal launch angle. This is one reason I teach playing the ball out in front of the front foot, so you’ll already be hitting up (or ascending into) the ball. This gets the “angle of attack” into the ball, after the arc has bottomed out and the club face is traveling up again*.Now for the tough technical stuff… “Effective Loft”. If you have a Driver with “X” loft and you hit the ball before the club head has reached the bottom of the swing arc, you’ll be de-lofting or reducing the loft (causes lower flight). Now, if you play the ball like I teach, the effective loft at impact is “X+” because the club face has more loft as it is ascending… SO, you may need to be changing the loft to “less” depending on where you’re playing the ball. Another thing that happens is when the club face loft is optimized, you’ll be catching the ball on the upswing which will turn into roll later when the ball lands vs. too much loft kind of slipping under the ball adding backspin and not much roll. Hope this helps.
* This assumes you’ve kept the club face square through impact and have not flipped (which can ruin everything).
One thing you may check is that your upper arms are on top of your pecs and not to the side. If you start with your arms out in front of you, take your grip and make sure your elbows are close, then let that hang, you upper arms should be on top of your pecs. Then you can sit down athletically to the ball. You can watch the Athletic Setup Lesson Video if you’re not sure.
Ross Oct 19, 2017
If you’re talking about using my method, we don’t use the arms/hands to takeaway the club so it would not go “outside” on the takeaway (the hands/arms do that). There in lies the rub. We use the shoulders to move the arms/club (Large Muscles). If you learn to start and use the shoulders for the backswing, you’ll see and feel a much different result…. THEN, on the downswing, you’ll be able to use the body, unwinding, to move the arms/club to the left (not using the arms to pull the club). The reason you can’t fade is your arms are passing the body’s rotation and then closing the club face. It is much easier to keep the club face open a bit for a cut, when you keep rotating through impact to the finish, while maintaining a slightly open club face. The body slightly leads* the arms/club through impact, as it unwinds.* This is hard to explain… the arms are not left behind, and are in front of the body, but everything is not exactly lined up. The arms/club are catching up and the body is controlling the arms all the way to the finish.
No, the arms do not drop or move on their own. The arms are brought down by the body unwinding. Everybody has different body styles and shapes, so movement will look different with different individuals.
Make sure you’re not adding and extra lift (of the arms) on the backswing. That can disconnect the arms from being controlled by the shoulders.
Ross Nov 19, 2017
Hello and welcome to duplessisgolf. You’ll learn in the forums and blogs, that I don’t talk about equipment very much. I do know quite a bit about club fitting, but prefer to keep my discussions about my method. I will say in general, the stiffer the flex, the more control you’ll have with direction.Ross Nov 20, 2017
Yes, you can focus on the wrists (like you describe), as long as you feel the body unwinding bringing them down in front and around to the left. You don’t want to have your hands/wrists grabbing the club and doing the work. The arms (template) needs to be controlled by the shoulders & body (backswing and downswing).Ross Nov 21, 2017
Hi Sterling
NO! We want the shoulders to control the arms. If the arms continue after the shoulders have finished*, the arms disconnect and many problems can occur. Also, there is no benefit in having the arms continue. When the shoulders finish, so do the arms… so then, the lower body can start the downswing by unwinding, bringing the arms back down.* Depending on the shot (like full swing) the shoulders will turn the hips a little just before the top of the backswing… but on a short pitch shot, the shoulders turn a little and the hips are not needed (for power) so they should not move.
Ross Dec 02, 2017
Maintaining the angles forces you to learn to use the Large Muscles (shoulders & body rotation) to get the job done.Ross Dec 01, 2017
You can also work at keeping the shaft inline with the front arm (front wrist flat and back wrist bent) longer through impact. Your photo has a little back hand flip look. Feel more like you’re dragging the arms/club around to the left, using your body rotation. Turn through (accelerate) all the way. Nothing happens at the ball.Ross Dec 20, 2017
I’d experiment with both and go with what you feel is best for you. My opinion, is learning to use “normal wedge clubs”, will force you to become more precise with your setup and ball position, to make solid, crisp shots off of any lie.Ross Nov 14, 2017
Hi Gary
I’m glad you’ve improved your drives and the main reason is that you moved the ball forward allowing you to rotate freely and pick up the ball as the club is ascending. NOW… I don’t think you’ve spent enough time to learn the DUPLESSISGOLF method which plays the ball much more forward and weight forward to be able to use the body’s rotation and body mass for the source of power (and repeatability). There is no way you can rotate playing the ball in the middle or near the back foot. You should watch in the “Swing” section the “Ball position and the front hip rotation” lesson video to start to get a sense of my method. It is also critical that you setup with at least 60% weight on the front foot and it stays there on the backswing. This will help you make great contact just inside the front foot through impact. Sorry there is no quick fix.Ross Nov 12, 2017
Hi Gary
I want to know the names of the clubs (and their lofts), that you’re having problems with and where in your stance you’re playing the ball (for each). There are different reasons for shanking and fat shots, so I suspect there is a combination of things going on.Gary’s reply came to me in an email:
(From Gary)
Thank you for your reply….My Fairway woods are..Integra Sooolong…The lofts are as follows (9) is 40 degrees…Pitching Wedge is 45 degrees…Lob Wedge 50 degrees.
Playing positions..Ball..(9) middle right….Pitching Wedge 1ball back from above…Lob Wedge..just inside right foot at address..I am a right handed player.Struggling with these lofted clubs…( So much so that I still carry stranded irons in these lofts as cover)Ps.Today used your driver set up on 18 holes and never miss a fairway all day,and out drove other players by 40 meters.So l have now dialed in your setup nerver to be left at home again.(Where have you been for the last 40 years, Lol.)Thank you for your advice.
Gary Trethewey NZ,Ross Dec 25, 2017
Grip pressure is a tough subject. The goal is to be in the correct position back at impact when so many different body parts are moving. Again I’d say experiment and maybe look at a swing video of yourself at impact to see what your wrists look like. These days I’m preferring a little tighter to keep that shaft in line with the front arm through impact.