If you tuck your right elbow too much, here’s what will happen. First, your swing will likely be too flat at the top of your swing. If you stay tucked, your arms won’t be able to swing freely down and through, meaning your body will have to compensate and either cause you to overrotate or come over the top of the ball (as I’m showing here). And in case you didn’t know, coming over the top (from outside the target line to inside the target line) is never a good idea, as it produces all sorts of duffs, hooks and slices.
Let it fly!
Davis Love III has made quite the career by allowing his right elbow to “fly.” In other words, by allowing the right elbow to drift from the body, DL3 can make a huge upper-body turn and keep the clubshaft perfectly on plane. From the top of the swing, he then drops his arms down as he rotates his body through the golf ball.
In this sequence, I’m doing the same thing. By letting my elbow drift up and away from my side as I initiate my downswing, it becomes a lot easier to keep my club perfectly on plane. And check out my impact position in both swings. My body is much more rotated here and in a much more athletic position.
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I can’t count how many times I’ve heard other instructors tell their students that the key to successful putting is to keep your head down through the stroke. But before I digress, how many of you can shoot a basket while looking at the ball? Or shoot a target with a gun while staring at the gun?
 Watch it go in! |
In sports, where precise positioning is required, more often than not, the best way to accomplish your goal is to have the mind and eyes fixated on the target. Baseball players need to the see the baseball, primarily because it’s moving at great speeds. They also don’t have to fear hitting it too far, meaning they can swing at full throttle every time and not worry about a lengthy comebacker for par. Putting, like shooting a basketball, requires a deft touch that’s best executed with help from the eyes.
Now, back to my point. By keeping your head down, you stifle the body’s ability to rock the shoulders through the stroke, invariably causing the hands and arms to collapse before, during or even after impact.
A better way to ensure a smooth pendulum stroke is to allow the head to rotate with the putterhead through impact. This will foster a more natural forwardstroke and also help train the eyes to become more accustomed to seeing how far each putt rolls out. The eyes also can help correct any tendencies in your aiming as well, since you can see the effects of the roll.
Practice a few putts and allow your head to rotate (don’t lift your head; rather rotate it from side to side) and get a feel for how far the ball rolls and in what direction with strokes of various lengths. In no time, you’ll see and feel what it’s like to become a better putter.
Bobby Hinds, PGA, teaches at Woodley Lakes GC in Van Nuys, California. For more information, call (323) 363-7761
Source : www.golftipsmag.com
