Keeping The Power Package Out In Front of You
 

I have trouble letting my arms get behind me, resulting in getting stuck, being unable to 'swing left'... finishing with my arms/club too high, etc... occasionally hooking the ball off the face of the world - that kind of thing. :)

Not surprisingly, extensor action is a struggle for me, with a right arm that likes to bend too much, and a left arm that follows suit.

Any advice, concepts, drills and/or psychotherapy on how to keep the power package in front of me would be most appreciated. I know extensor action is the key, but I seem to need help implementing it. :eyes:

Andy,
I've been there and continue the struggle to escape getting stuck behind and under. It has to be the polio of golf.
Your reference to extensor action is the beginning of the cure. Daryl, EdZ, O.B., KevCarter and many others will hopefully chime in very shortly.
Part of the problem may also be attributed to bowing and rolling the left wrist as you take the club back. That stupid move will influence the move to go back and in rather than up and in. I believe the bowing is a precursor to getting it too inside. Instead of that move focus on the cocking in the Snoose Box and make sure that is operating instead of the left wrist bowing. Cocking the wrist up in the move back will, in my opinion, influence you to take the club up instead of in. The right hand, in the act of extensor action, will help with these new feels and you will be on your way. Practice very slowly for lots of reps and don't bother with a ball until you are at a point where you think it is feeling more natural.
Now, because this is my bane as well, I cannot wait for the other folks to chime in.

One other thing, Andy, go to City's thread on how he found the magic of the vertically uncocking left wrist. Lots of good stuff there as well.
Heck, anywhere you go on this site will get you started. Just dig in.

My GSEB has shown me the "insurance" of an elevated left wrist.
 

This is how I have been doing it. (John Savage GSEB, Ben Doyle pupil in the past, just shows me where I have to go and leaves the head descriptions to me.) Before I roll back my non-artificial hip, I use my left hand grip to initiate the machine by turning my impact fix grip (left hand knuckles) down about an inch giving me a bit of a closed club face. It feels like the downturn and right wrist bend happen together. My club grips are very large, though, so you will have to experiment. I hit my version of a horizontal hinge often.

Patrick

1. How's your pivot? Is your head raising up through the ball are coming back and away from the plane line?

2. Get one of them long 12 pack boxes and put some balls in it to weight it down . . .then stick some more on the outside of it to make an "inverted" plane . . . put it out there so you have to dodge it.

you probably got some kinda pivot issue that is shooting your arms off your body.

Good post Bucket. Yup, slidin' instead of turnin', I'll bet. I did.

Not bad. I took a swing in the backyard to give you a general idea - although there is no ball, of course. Here's a link to a zip file of a WMV. Click for zip file

No doubt. When the pressure is on and/or my legs and back are tired/weak (I walk) my body stops and my arms keep going - it ain't pretty....

Andy, you've got some really great Power Package stuff going on there.

Your Pivot Lag sucks and you have almost no Hip Action. But your Power Package is so great that you're getting away with it.

Your Pivot isn't helping. The Motion is ok but the lack of Lag is killing you.

I bet you struggle with long clubs but you can't miss a green from 150 yards in. :)

just my two cents.

And your Steady head and Shoulder turn is great.

Exactly right. :laughing9 My distance is decent - about 240-250 on the fly with a driver - but I lack accuracy/consistency. I injured my back (sacroiliac joint) 20 years ago, and am prone to back pain if I'm not careful. This probably explains the faulty pivot.

I remember Yoda saying somewhere that he was prone to back pain until he learnt how to pivot properly. Maybe that's where my focus should be? Any help/drills etc would be greatly appreciated! :)

I don't think that your pivot is faulty. It's just not leading. That will change everything for you.

"Fake" is probably a better word than "Faulty", don't you think?

I'm pretty sure I've sniffed around what you're referring to - it's basically the power Hogan referred to in his "Hips" video, right?

Yes, Right.

You got down the line? You got some nice stuff going on. Hips need to go forward and turn more. Your head is chasing it . . . use the ground more. You hit pushes and quick hooks for misses right? You swing your arms nice . . . ramp that pivot up and try not to let your head chase it so much . . . not sure if that's from maybe worrying about tweeking the back though? Don't need to get you in traction but that pivot needs to work more. Hips stalling and right knee shooting out at the target line. Face gonna flash likely. Get the pivot working better and you'll have more lag pressure on the handle and it will slow the face down. Let's see down the line. Holla.

think "right hip back" as you begin

you've got to get that pivot working for you

with almost no hip/shoulder turn back, you'll be stuck with all arms, but I agree you've got some nice power package alignments and clearly hit some solid shots with that motion

when the right hip clears, you'll be able to get that left shoulder turned back to your chin which will allow you to have a nice turn through

Check and double check.

Thanks for the responses guys, and the encouraging words. I believe I know, and have toyed with just what you're recommending - but I was a bit scared of it being more 'out of control' and potentially more inconsistent than my current motion. Kind of ironic.

I went to the range yesterday and went for it. Wasn't long before I felt the heaviness of the handle 12PB described. One cool thing - it got rid of any 'grey area' concerning lag - if I had any throw whatsoever in a swing, I was toast, and with the extra feedback of the heavier handle, 'dragging the wet mop' became much easier than with my arm swing. I won't bother describing the difference in ball flight and distance. ;)

Oh, and no back pain today. ^_^

It's a bit shocking to see my arms that far back behind me in my backswing, but I guess it would seem that way compared to my usual motion.

Ya its true if your pivot would be faulty then you would have have not done it too.